The scholarship covered complete tuition fees, accommodation, medical insurance coverage, and monthly stipends. But the course to the scholarship was filled with multiple rejection e-mails.
“This journey featured a number of ‘love letters’– rejection letters. I received numerous ‘we are sorry to notify you’ emails,” he said.He remembered applying to many programs, getting ready for standardized exams, sending out cold e-mails to teachers, and in some cases paying application charges while pursuing his dream of studying abroad.During his master’s program, Ibukun enhanced his scholastic profile and research study identity. His Master’s thesis was released in the procedures of the ACM Symposium on Applied Computing in Italy in 2025, a major academic milestone for a young researcher.He also provided research study at Deep Learning Indaba in 2023, among the biggest expert system and artificial intelligence conferences in Africa. Alongside his academic work, he developed experience as an AI engineer, information scientist, researcher, speaker
, and author.In 2025, barely a year after finishing his master’s degree, Ibukun protected another major academic opportunity.He was granted the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Fellowship, one of the most prominent and competitive doctoral fellowships in Europe, moneyed by the European Union.The fellowship supports his completely funded PhD research study in Computer technology at Aarhus University, providing among the most competitive doctoral research positions available in Europe.Reflecting on his journey, Ibukun credited the mentorship and support he received throughout his master’s program, particularly from his thesis supervisor, who helped him publish his very first term paper and provided a strong suggestion letter.”My master’s degree formed my research identity and provided me the structure to complete at the greatest level, “he stated. He likewise motivated other trainees looking for worldwide scholarships not to give up despite the obstacles.”To everyone attempting to get
a fully moneyed scholarship, keep at it. Dreams do come to life, we only need the nerve to pursue them,”Ibukun said.