After suffering a series of fateful setbacks, Hadil Najjar arrived in Austria in December 2015. At the time, she did not speak English or German. "The university system was completely different to what I knew in Syria. I wasn't sure if I could keep up with the Austrian students, but I knew one thing for sure: I wasn't going to give up until I had a university degree." 

Hadil was accepted to the JKU’s Master's degree program in Molecular Biology. "As a recipient of the Borealis MORE Scholarship, I could better concentrate on my academic studies. In addition to attending classes, I also learned German and English as quickly as possible." Her ability to become proficient in both languages was so strong that she was able to catch up on all of the examinations and assignments by the second semester and complete the semester successfully. She completed all of her courses with a "Sehr gut" from her third semester onwards and continued improving her language skills, earning a Master's degree (and a Master's thesis grade of "Sehr gut" in 2020). She was subsequently accepted to a PhD program at the JKU and within the first two years, Hadil published enough to successfully complete her PhD by the end of 2023, also with a grade of "Sehr gut".

In addition to her academic success, Hadil has another reason to celebrate as she earned her Austrian citizenship last year and was also recently featured in the Upper Austrian newspaper, OÖN, as Upper Austrian of the Day. She is continuing her work at the JKU until September as a post-doc in molecular biology.

About the MORE Initiative
The MORE Initiative at the Johannes Kepler University Linz seeks to facilitate integrating refugee students and fostering their academic talents. The initiative provides financial aid and support services to help refugee students get footing in Austria, learn German, receive academic advising, and hone their social skills set (to, for example, learn how to interview for jobs, etc.). The Borealis MORE scholarship is a special cornerstone of the MORE initiative. Launched in 2017, the program provides financial support and services to refugees and displaced persons who are eligible to attend university.