On Wednesday June 25, as part of its ^100th anniversary celebrations, the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris welcomed nearly 400 participants to the Paris event of the 2025 France Alumni Day season. This year's event, organized by Campus France for the^3rd year running, was attended by Philippe Baptiste, Minister for Higher Education and Research, Anne-Marie Descôtes, Secretary General of the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, Senegalese novelist and Prix Goncourt 2021 winner, and Jorge Chaminé, opera singer and former resident of the Cité internationale.

During a gala evening, the winners of the "Young Scientific Talent", "Young Artistic Talent" and "Committed Establishment " awards were announced.

L'Oréal Unesco 2024 Award - Alumna France Excellence - Born in Kabul, Muzhda studied pharmacy at Kabul University. After a first internship in France in 2008 at the Hospices Civils de Lyon, in the field of hematology and immunology, she continued her studies between Afghanistan and France, specializing in immunology.

In 2019, she was appointed Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at Kabul University. Then, after the arrival of the Taliban in power, and the restrictions imposed on women, she decided to apply for a doctoral fellowship at Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1.

Thanks to a collaboration between UCBL's Institut des Sciences Pharmaceutiques et Biologiques (ISPB) and Kabul's Faculty of Pharmacy, in 2022 she will begin a thesis at the Physiopathology of Immunodepression Associated with Systemic Inflammatory Responses Laboratory (PI3 - Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1).

She is interested in the inflammatory and immunosuppressive mechanisms responsible for immune alterations in patients admitted to intensive care. In the long term, her work could help reduce ICU mortality and improve the prevention of secondary infections.

Zakaria Bourouba is a passionate Lebanese-Tunisian pianist whose musical journey began at the age of 4. In 2013, he was awarded the First National Piano Prize, a distinction that underlines his precocious talent and deep commitment to music. Nurtured from the start by the works of Beethoven - his favorite composer - Zakaria develops an artistic sensibility marked by the expressive power of the classical repertoire.

Over the years, he has broadened his musical universe by exploring jazz, and blues in particular. Inspired by the harmonic richness of classical music and the rhythmic freedom of jazz, he now composes original pieces blending these two worlds. This fusion reflects a singular quest for artistic identity, at the crossroads of genres.
Alongside his musical career, Zakaria is pursuing a demanding degree in statistics and quantitative finance atParis-Dauphine University.

Currently on a work-study program at BNP Paribas, he is developing his skills in data analysis, modeling and risk management.

The "Prix des Établissements Engagés" recognizes both a remarkably dynamic approach to international alumni networking and an in-depth understanding of the strategic issues involved. At a time when links between alumni, higher education establishments and the professional world are becoming increasingly important, this award highlights initiatives that strengthen the international influence of French higher education.

For this first edition, Campus France and the Cité internationale universitaire de Paris have chosen to honor two exemplary winners: the Fondation universitaire Paris Nanterre and Excelia Alumni, for the quality of their commitment, the structuring of their networks abroad and their ability to mobilize their alumni communities around meaningful and impactful projects.

Photo credit: Oleksander Slusar