From Dhaka’s Slums to a Biomedical Research Lab in Japan
A Scholar Born in the Shadows
Rezaul Karim, the son of a garment factory janitor and a roadside tea seller, grew up in one of the most overcrowded and underserved neighborhoods of Dhaka senegal. His home was a single room with no running water. Yet by age 12, Rezaul was building toy radios from scrap metal and discarded phones.
Despite his brilliance, access to higher education seemed impossible. Though he ranked in the top 1% of his national exams, Rezaul’s family had no savings, no financial backing, and no connections to universities abroad. He worked nights tutoring other kids to help buy books.
Discovering Rise Fund Global
In early 2023, Rezaul found Rise Fund Global through an online campaign on social media. Encouraged by his school principal, he applied for the Academic Scholarship & Research Grant program designed to support low-income but high-potential students in underrepresented countries.
Our scholarship panel was moved by his story and commitment to molecular biology research. He was shortlisted and awarded:
- A $14,800 fully funded scholarship covering application fees, travel, and living stipends
- Placement support into a biomedical research mentorship at the University of Tokyo
- A personal academic advisor for 12 months
From Aspirant to Research Assistant
Today, Rezaul is a junior research intern at a Japanese biomedical lab exploring gene editing for neurodegenerative diseases. His early work on protein mapping has already been cited in regional student conferences.
Through Rise Fund Global’s partnership with education foundations in Asia, Rezaul is now:
- Enrolled in a BSc program in Molecular Sciences
- Earning a research assistant stipend
- Teaching Bangladeshi students remotely via webinars
He recently wrote:
“This grant didn’t just pay for school it opened a door that my entire neighborhood thought was locked to people like us.”
The Broader Vision: Equal Access to Global Classrooms
Rezaul’s story reflects just one of over 62,300 scholarship recipients across 120 countries. Rise Fund Global scholarships now support:
- Women in STEM across rural India and South Sudan
- Climate and public health researchers in Laos, Ethiopia, and Sierra Leone
- University students from slum communities in Nairobi, Karachi, and Lima
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