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| Didace Ndahimana from Rwanda holds a bouquet in front of his laboratory at Gangneung-Wonju National University (GWNU) in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, Wednesday, after receiving a doctor of science degree from the university. / Courtesy of GWNU |
By Park Jae-hyuk
A Rwandan professor received a doctor of science degree from a Korean university, Wednesday.
Gangneung-Wonju National University (GWNU) said Thursday it awarded a doctorate degree in nutritional science to Didace Ndahimana, 38, for his thesis, "Development and validity assessment of the equations for the prediction of energy requirements in older adults - Using the doubly labeled water method and indirect calorimetry."
The paper is a summary of his research jointly conducted with his academic adviser, Kim Eun-kyung, a professor at the university's department of food and nutrition.
They did the research for the National Research Foundation of Korea, according to GWNU.
Ndahimana, who will go back to his former workplace in Rwanda, said he wants to contribute to the development of his country's nutritional science, based on his knowledge and skills attained from his three years of study at the national university in Gangneung, Gangwon Province.
"The most difficult thing I've experienced in Korea was learning Korean. Preparing for the TOPIK exam was the toughest task," he was quoted as saying. "The happiest moment in Korea was when I was rewarded for my oral presentation on my first thesis at a Korean Society of Clinical Nutrition's symposium in the summer of 2016."
When he was serving as a professor at a university in Rwanda, after earning a bachelor's degree from Alexandria University in Egypt and a master's degree from Senghor University in the same country, the Korean government invited Ndahimana to Korea and awarded him a scholarship.
He came to Korea in September 2014 and entered GWNU's graduate school in September 2015, after having studied Korean language for a year.
GWNU said the Rwandan participated in seminars with graduate students at his laboratory every week, and presented abstracts of his 12 theses regarding energy metabolism at symposiums held in Korea and other countries.
He also published six of his papers through journals listed on the National Research Foundation of Korea and the Science Citation Index (SCI).
In 2016, Ndahimana received an award for his oral presentation on an abstract of his thesis, "Accuracy of DRI predictive equation for estimated energy requirements in female tennis athletes and non-athlete college students: A comparison with the doubly labeled water method."
The National Institute for International Education also rewarded him in December 2017 for his excellent academic achievement.
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