A university campus with strict gender segregation, white doves on a golden mosque: Matthias Marx, who is studying Marine Environmental Sciences in Oldenburg, gained a wide range of impressions while attending a conference on student research in Qatar. His travelogue.
It all began in June 2016 with the forschen@studium conference at our university. I presented my market analysis on microplastics in cosmetics there - and learnt about the planned first conference of the global network (Council on Undergraduate Research; CUR) for student research. Host country: Qatar.
Dr Susanne Haberstroh from the Department for Study Affairs expressed the hope that Oldenburg students would also be present in Qatar. Another student, my friend Anna Lyubina (Master Sustainability Economics and Management) and I submitted our English-language abstracts for the conference. We were both admitted, and the university also received the financial "okay" to participate via the project "Research-based learning in focus" (FLiF+).
After much anticipation, we finally started in November - but without Anna, who was unable to travel due to visa difficulties and could therefore only give her presentation ("When should a hotel be considered sustainable?") via Skype. So our mentor Susanne Haberstroh and I travelled alone to the emirate on the Persian Gulf.
On arrival, Susanne Haberstroh and I went to the shopping mall attached to the hotel in search of food and drink. The large supermarket there also had Christmas decorations - which illustrated that not everyone belongs to the same religion. Of Qatar's two million or so inhabitants, only twelve per cent are native Qataris: obviously an immigrant society.
At six o'clock in the morning on the first day of the conference, a shuttle bus with students from the United Arab Emirates took us directly to the University of Doha. After being welcomed by the president of the university and the conference organisers - the American Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR), the Australasian Council on Undergraduate Research (ACUR) and the British Conference on Undergraduate Research (BCUR) in addition to the local organisers at Doha University - the presentation of papers from a wide range of disciplines, cultures and countries began. In the evening, a large dinner was held in one of the hotels in front of the Pearl-Qatar. The Pearl is the answer to the high-rise buildings and "The World" in Dubai. Magnificent hotels arranged in a circle on artificial islands - and artificial islands in the centre.
My presentation "Market review on microplastic use in cosmetics" took place in the library. I was delighted with the positive response. A professor from the USA approached me and signalled her interest in my results.
The library, like the entire campus, is gender-segregated. We guests at the conference were allowed to enter both areas. For example, we were also able to look over the shoulders of female students conducting research in the laboratory.
Prof Khelifa from Qatar University, who was responsible for the management and planning of the conference, told a small group that gender segregation is still maintained primarily so that fathers also send their daughters to university. 70 per cent of students at the University of Doha are women. One student also told us that many young men tend to study abroad. Will Qatar's education sector change in the coming decades? I suspect so.
The country's typical dress consists of a white robe for men and a black robe for women, with usually only the eyes visible. On campus, however, we also saw faceless headscarves or a western style of dress.
In the evening, we visited the Souq Waqif - a market where yesterday and today meet. Qataris are known for keeping falcons as pets, so there is a falcon market, but also a "souq" for spices, handicrafts, clothing, everyday objects and gold. At dusk, the hustle and bustle really gets going; stalls and small restaurants with food from the various Gulf states offer refreshments.
Having been on holiday in Egypt and Turkey in the past, I was prepared for a lot of hustle and bustle and hassling vendors. It wasn't like that at all. It was possible to trade in just a few sentences - or not. The Souq Waqif is a market that is not primarily aimed at tourists, but at the locals for their everyday shopping.
In addition to poster presentations and honours, the last day of the conference also offered an evening excursion to Katara, a newly built cultural village with art, music and a beach for tourists. I saw white doves flying along the golden mosque there - for me a moment of symbolic peace.
After the conference, I stayed on for a few more days and explored Doha and the surrounding area: a walk along the Gulf promenade and a canoe trip in the mangroves, a visit to the Museum of Islamic Art and the camel market, swimming at Katara Beach and an encounter with flamingos in the wild.
Another thing that struck me as a student of marine environmental sciences, who gave a lecture on microplastics, was that even here in the deserts and the third and fourth rows of hotel façades, the understanding of waste is unfortunately different from what would be good for the environment...
My conclusion: The trip enabled me to exchange ideas with students from other countries and cultures, to present my own research at a conference - and to get to know a country worth seeing.
