TEHRAN, Aug. 28 (Mehr News Agency) -- Iranian researcher Nushin Khosravi Talebi recently received the first award of the South African National Research Foundation.

Khosravi, who is married to an Iranian diplomat, traveled with her husband to South Africa in 2001 and continued her studies in the Ph.D. chemistry program of the University of Pretoria.

"I chose to do research on the paint industry since it is not a developed industry in Iran. The industry is very advanced in South Africa, which has many resources such as zirconium and vanadium," she said.

"I presented my first paper at the convention of the Chemists Association of South Africa in 2003, which was entitled 'Spectroscopy of Zirconium, Vanadium, and Phosphorus'.

"I later did research on old ceramics and the reason for their high stability, and presented my second paper. My third paper was a research work on old Iranian artworks," she added.

"I was selected the best chemistry student of the university in 2004, and my research on blue colors was selected as the best research," she said in conclusion.