Mrs Paul will investigate the clinical use of the bacteria in creating a potential antibiotic.

While the bacteria has been found in soil Mrs Paul with a team at CSU Orange and NSW Health Pathology will investigate its potential for helping people.

She was one of 26 people to be awarded a PhD scholarship as part of a $1.5 million state government program to further health and medical research by young people.

Mrs Paul was born in Tehran in Iran, went to school in Sydney and then university in Orange.

She graduated from CSU in 2013 and has since worked as a pharmacist in Orange and Leura.

She lives with her husband, Dr Mitchell Paul, an industrial chemist, and their 20-month old son Darcy in the Blue Mountains.

Mrs Paul said the funding meant she could concentrate full time on the research which could take up to three years.

“This will be for a salary for me or it could be for the project,” she said.

“Getting the scholarship means I can have a bit of financial support.

“Absolutely, this has been a dream come true for me honestly.

“This is a dream for me to finish the project.

“Discovery of new classes of antibiotics is of great importance for developing therapies against drug-resistant bacteria.

“It is very early. We don’t know anything about humans yet.

“If it is not toxic to humans it could be used for anything.

“The possibilities are limitless at this stage.”

Mrs Paul said she and her husband had to consider the time that would be involved in the work while balancing being a new mum.

“Very much so, it took us a lot of time to consider all the options.

“It is definitely for me.

“I am sure he [son Darcy] will be proud to know his mother tried for her dream, to be involved in higher university.

“I will be a good role model for him.”

Mrs Paul said the bacteria discovered by herself and CSU researchers secreted an antibiotic-like compound.

The research project will now examine the bacteria’s chemical structure and its activity.

It will be supervised by CSU’s Dr Peter Anderson and Dr Gregg Maynard.

The NSW Health supervisor will be Dr Tim Kudinha.

Parliamentary Secretary for Western NSW Rick Colless said the scholarship would help complete “groundbreaking” research.

“This is a great program that fosters the knowledge and talent of our next generation of health and medical researchers,” he said.

“Funding for the scholarships will be matched by host universities or partner institutions.

“The scholarships are an important investment in developing the therapies, drugs and research leaders of tomorrow,” he said.