DUBAI: Nouf Al-Numair, a jet-setting young scientist from Riyadh, is working tirelessly to encourage Saudi youths to take an interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
She could be the perfect role model for those who wish to make a name for themselves in the field, especially considering her call for lab-bound scientists to get out there and show off their achievements on social media.
She obtained an MSc and a Ph.D. in bioinformatics and molecular genetics from University College London (UCL).
Despite still being in her early 30s, she now works as a bioinformatics and molecular genetics scientist at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center.
She is also an assistant professor at the College of Medicine at Alfaisal University, and is engaged in volunteer work.
After pursuing her undergraduate studies in Saudi Arabia, Al-Numair headed to the UK. “After my internship at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, I spent time rotating between different labs,” she told Arab News.
“It was then that I realized I wanted to explore how two different scientific fields — the pathology of molecular genetics and the technology of computer science — could merge. At the time of my placement, this approach wasn’t available at universities and hospitals in Saudi Arabia.”
But the fashionable scientist, with perfectly-coiffed hair and a chic abaya, insists the move was about so much more than just her academic dreams.
“Going abroad and studying there, living there and exposing myself to a different education… will enrich me as a person,” she said.
“Everyone can access knowledge — on the Internet, in books — but the experience itself… is one of the main reasons.”
Al-Numair is especially grateful to her family for supporting her desire to pursue her dream. “When a family sees potential, they should really take care of it and polish it to convert this interest into a real thing,” she said.
But young aspiring innovators who do not have family support should still follow their passions, as it is up to the individual to make it work, she added. “I wasn’t taught this dream or passion, I practiced it.”
Al-Numair is now one of the first Saudi scientists to major in molecular genetics and programing biological information, a precise science that enables practitioners to read the future of diseases before they come into existence through genetic mutation.
She uses more than seven programing languages to analyze human genes. She has published several papers and has spoken at multiple international conferences.
“Since I was young, I always thought of myself as a creator, an innovator. Even then, I wanted to be a pioneer of an interesting field,” she said.
In 2014, Al-Numair was honored by the Saudi ambassador to the UK in a ceremony celebrating outstanding students for their scientific achievements.
She decided to return to the Kingdom to pursue a career in STEM as “Saudi Arabia is my birth country. Who does not want to return home?”
In the Kingdom, she works tirelessly to encourage interest in the science and technology sector. “I’m a member of the MiSK youth community (the Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul Aziz Foundation). MiSK focuses on the country’s youth and provides different means of fostering talent, creative potential and innovation that paves the way toward opportunities in the arts and sciences,” she said, calling on more young people — especially women — to take part.
“I hope that more Saudi and Arab women will join the field. This is why I’m participating in the #Championofscience campaign and developing videos with the British Council. We’re doing this because we believe it’s important to shed more light on stories of incredible women working in STEM, to inspire the next generation of girls to become leading scientists.”
British Councils across the Gulf are working to highlight Arab women working in STEM who are making a real difference in terms of research and innovation in their countries.
The council invited participants, including Al-Numair, to film a short video explaining why they chose to follow their dreams, in a bid to encourage young people to show an interest in STEM.
“Writing is good as you can express yourself, but a video, even if it’s only one minute… you’re speaking the language of the young generation, and with social media it’s crazy now,” Al-Numair said of the campaign.
“We as scientists should be out there more. We should use social media and put ourselves out there and express ourselves. Why not use Snapchat just to picture my daily stuff like the labs and students? This lets the young generation understand that it’s a joy, because sometimes they stereotype science as boring, but it’s really not. If you really love what you’re doing, you’ll enjoy it,” she said.
“I believe it’s time for the media to put these achievements in the spotlight, and for scientists to use the power of social media to reach larger audiences and inspire future generations.”
Should scientists be on social media? Meet the groundbreaking Saudi researcher who thinks so
Should scientists be on social media? Meet the groundbreaking Saudi researcher who thinks so
As an uncertain 2026 begins, virtual journeys back to 2016 become a trend
- Over the past few weeks, millions have been sharing throwback photos to that time on social media, kicking off one of the first viral trends of the year
LONDON: The year is 2016. Somehow it feels carefree, driven by Internet culture. Everyone is wearing over-the-top makeup.
At least, that’s how Maren Nævdal, 27, remembers it — and has seen it on her social feeds in recent days.
For Njeri Allen, also 27, the year was defined by the artists topping the charts that year, from Beyonce to Drake to Rihanna’s last music releases. She also remembers the Snapchat stories and an unforgettable summer with her loved ones. “Everything felt new, different, interesting and fun,” Allen says.
Many people, particularly those in their 20s and 30s, are thinking about 2016 these days. Over the past few weeks, millions have been sharing throwback photos to that time on social media, kicking off one of the first viral trends of the year — the year 2026, that is.
With it have come the memes about how various factors — the sepia hues over Instagram photos, the dog filters on Snapchat and the music — made even 2016’s worst day feel like the best of times.
Part of the look-back trend’s popularity has come from the realization that 2016 was already a decade ago – a time when Nævdal says she felt like people were doing “fun, unserious things” before having to grow up.
But experts point to 2016 as a year when the world was on the edge of the social, political and technological developments that make up our lives today. Those same advances — such as developments under US President Donald Trump and the rise of AI — have increased a yearning for even the recent past, and made it easier to get there.
2016 marked a year of transition
Nostalgia is often driven by a generation coming of age — and its members realizing they miss what childhood and adolescence felt like. That’s certainly true here. But some of those indulging in the online journeys through time say something more is at play as well.
It has to do with the state of the world — then and now.
By the end of 2016, people would be looking ahead to moments like Trump’s first presidential term and repercussions of the United Kingdom leaving the EU after the Brexit referendum. A few years after that, the COVID-19 pandemic would send most of the world into lockdown and upend life for nearly two years.
Janelle Wilson, a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, says the world was “on the cusp of things, but not fully thrown into the dark days that were to come.”
“The nostalgia being expressed now, for 2016, is due in large part to what has transpired since then,” she says, also referencing the rise of populism and increased polarization. “For there to be nostalgia for 2016 in the present,” she added, “I still think those kinds of transitions are significant.”
For Nævdal, 2016 “was before a lot of the things we’re dealing with now.” She loved seeing “how embarrassing everyone was, not just me,” in the photos people have shared.
“It felt more authentic in some ways,” she says. Today, Nævdal says, “the world is going downhill.”
Nina van Volkinburg, a professor of strategic fashion marketing at University of the Arts, London, says 2016 marked the beginning of “a new world order” and of “fractured trust in institutions and the establishment.” She says it also represented a time of possibility — and, on social media, “the maximalism of it all.”
This was represented in the bohemian fashion popularized in Coachella that year, the “cut crease” makeup Nævdal loved and the dance music Allen remembers.
“People were new to platforms and online trends, so were having fun with their identity,” van Volkinburg says. “There was authenticity around that.”
And 2016 was also the year of the “boss babe” and the popularity of millennial pink, van Volkinburg says, indications of young people coming into adulthood in a year that felt hopeful.
Allen remembers that as the summer she and her friends came of age as high school graduates. She says they all knew then that they would remember 2016 forever.
Ten years on, having moved again to Taiwan, she said “unprecedented things are happening” in the world. “Both of my homes are not safe,” she said of the US and Taiwan, “it’s easier to go back to a time that’s more comfortable and that you felt safe in.”
Feelings of nostalgia are speeding up
In the last few days, Nævdal decided to hide the social media apps on her phone. AI was a big part of that decision. “It freaks me out that you can’t tell what’s real anymore,” she said.
“When I’ve come off of social media, I feel that at least now I know the things I’m seeing are real,” she added, “which is quite terrifying.”
The revival of vinyl record collections, letter writing and a fresh focus on the aesthetics of yesterday point to nostalgia continuing to dominate trends and culture. Wilson says the feeling has increased as technology makes nostalgia more accessible.
“We can so readily access the past or, at least, versions of it,” she said. “We’re to the point where we can say, ‘Remember last week when we were doing XYZ? That was such a good time!’”
Both Nævdal and Allen described themselves as nostalgic people. Nævdal said she enjoys looking back to old photos – especially when they show up as “On This Day” updates on her phone, She sends them to friends and family when their photos come up.
Allen wished that she documented more of her 2016 and younger years overall, to reflect on how much she has evolved and experienced since.
“I didn’t know what life could be,” she said of that time. “I would love to be able to capture my thought process and my feelings, just to know how much I have grown.”
