From software engineering to AI research: Syrian woman finds her calling in Vietnam

Shirin Shujaa is completing an accelerated master's program in AI at RMIT University Vietnam and is expected to graduate in December before moving to France for doctoral studies.

Discovering passion for responsible AI

When Shujaa arrived in Vietnam in 2022, she had never imagined pursuing a career in academic research.

"I didn't enter university with the goal of becoming a researcher. I initially chose software engineering simply because I wanted to build good products," she said.

"But when I started exploring natural language processing and recognized biases in language models, research stopped being just a requirement for passing courses and became something I genuinely wanted to devote my time to." 

After being invited to join a funded research project while still an undergraduate, Shujaa gradually gained experience in AI research.

During her studies at RMIT University Vietnam, she contributed to seven research publications on natural language processing and responsible AI.

Her recent master's thesis defense was recognized as one of the two best presentations in the program.

Her research activities opened up opportunities to pursue an academic career internationally.

In 2025, she attended the International Conference on Asia-Pacific Digital Libraries in the Philippines, where she presented two co-authored research papers on large language models and chaired a conference session.

Developing fairer AI for communities

What began as curiosity gradually developed into a clear research focus. Shujaa has worked on projects examining gender bias in language and cultural biases embedded in language models.

She has also developed AI applications to support communities, including a platform that helps autistic people prepare for job interviews.

For Shujaa, the value of technology lies in its ability to address real-world problems and improve people's lives.

"My research focuses on building fairer AI systems for everyone. I want AI to reach groups that are often overlooked in discussions about the technology," she said.

"I'm not particularly interested in AI as an abstract concept. What matters to me is who AI can actually help."

She has also sought to apply her expertise to the business sector. During an internship at technology company DIGI-TEXX, she helped train AI models using Vietnamese medical data and develop tools to automate document processing.

For her graduation project in collaboration with Intel Vietnam, she contributed to developing automated workflows and reporting processes that reduced processing time from around four hours to less than 15 minutes while maintaining accuracy.

Shujaa has also taken part in technology competitions, winning first prize at the CoverGo AI Hackathon and runner-up honors at the RMIT x Katalon Testathon and the 2025 Accessibility Design Competition.

Beyond her academic and research work, she has volunteered at events for school students, educators and community members, helping promote interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.

Vietnam helps shape academic journey

From 2022 to 2026, Shujaa received the academic excellence scholarship for international students in recognition of her outstanding academic performance.

The scholarship allowed her to focus on her studies while pursuing research, participating in industry collaborations and attending international conferences.

At La Rochelle University in France, she plans to research how language models can be used to analyze historical texts and explore narrative structures in digitized documents.

As she prepares to leave Vietnam for France, Shujaa said she would take with her not only academic knowledge but also the critical thinking habits she developed during her studies.

"One thing I learned at RMIT was to always ask myself, 'Is this result actually reliable?' before drawing any conclusions," she said.

Looking back on her time in Vietnam, Shujaa said the country had helped her discover abilities she had never imagined she possessed.

"I will always remember Vietnam because it helped me discover a version of myself I had never thought possible, from a first-year software engineering student to someone who has had the opportunity to represent her research on international conferences," she said.