“Great experience in the Netherlands; learning science, visiting beautiful places and meeting wonderful people”

Dr. Saeed Shaffiei Sabet Guilan, Iran PhD candidate, Animal Behaviour, Behavioural Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Leiden University

Why did you choose Leiden?

I chose Leiden University to study because Leiden University is one of the best universities in the world having famous behavioural biologists doing research in a broad range of animals.

In 2006, I received my Master of Science degree (MSc) in Fisheries Science from Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources (Iran) in the field of fish reproduction. After that I was thinking to have an international collaboration in science and decided to choose a new field of study that I am interested in and it was behavioural biology, doing research on fish again but at this time, the effects of anthropogenic noise as an environmental pollution on fish behaviour.
I got admitted to Leiden University in the Netherlands for my postgraduate studies in animal behaviour and decided to come to the Netherlands (2012) to do a PhD in what to me was a completely new research field and totally different from my background. My project was carried out in the Faculty of Science, Department of Behavioural Biology at the Institute of Biology Leiden (IBL), the Netherlands.

Hereby I would like to give my special thanks to people who helped me to complete my PhD degree at Leiden University. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Hans Slabbekoorn not only as co-promotor but also, even more, as one of my best international friends, who devoted time to guide and to encourage me with incredible patience. In particular, I am grateful to Hans for enlightening me with the first glance of research in Behavioural Biology.

Tell us about your experience in Leiden, about study, the town, the students etc.

When we arrived in the Netherlands my supervisor, Hans, was waiting for me in Schiphol airport and that was my first meeting with him and I really was impressed by his friendly welcome with a candy box in his hand. I do never forgot that moment in my life.

I visited and enjoyed from many festivals and Dutch national holidays during my stay in the Netherlands (For instance fruitcorso , Bloemencorso, Queen’s day in our early years of stay and then King’s day in our last years of stay. I also liked taking part to drink coffee with my international friends in Leiden, biking in Leiden streets and going open market every Saturday in Leiden.

What are you doing right now?

After I left the lovely city (Leiden), in the Netherlands and moved in Iran, I have been appointed as tenure track assistant professor of behavioural biology in fisheries department, faculty of natural resources at University of Guilan . I am currently giving lectures and supervising graduate students.

I am an independent researcher with keen interest in behavioural biology. I am fascinated by the effects of anthropogenic noise on fish behaviour and I have a passionate interest to explore how sound exposures with different temporal patterns may affect swimming behaviour, spatial distribution and predator prey interactions. I am also competent to dealing with behavioural studies experimental design, communication in conference presentations and enthusiastic to exchange knowledge with other scientists.

Why you want to become a Leiden Ambassador and achieve with it?

I would love to being helpful for all beginners, especially young students, at Leiden University and also those students and researchers who are live in Iran and are interested in doing study and research in the Netherlands. It is a great honor for me to be connected again with Leiden University, this time, as a Leiden Ambassador in the Middle East, Iran.

Dr. Saeed Shafiei Sabet
Assistant Professor, Behavioural Biology 
Fisheries Department
Faculty of Natural Resources 
University of Guilan
Phone # 98 13 443235 148 cell: +98 911 144 7909
Sowmeh Sara, 1144. Guilan, Iran

PhD candidate, Animal Behaviour, Behavioural Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Leiden University.
PhD thesis title: The noisy underwater world: the effect of sound on behaviour of captive zebrafish
Promotor: Carel J. ten Cate
Co-Promotor: Hans W. Slabbekoorn
Start and graduation year: April, 2012- April, 2016

The Persian poem on a wall in Leiden by Shafiei Kadkani