QNA
Applied research projects at Qatar University (QU) occupy the largest area in the university research map, aimed at developing knowledge and localizing innovation in light of the university’s strategy for the years 2018-2022 and in line with Qatar’s strategy for research, development and innovation 2030, and aspirations of Qatar National Vision (QNV) 203) and its aspirations towards building a knowledge-based economy.
The Office of Research Support (Grants and Contracts) at QU manages applied scientific research projects that respond to national priorities and meet the country’s needs in sectors of high priority, such as health, energy, food security and technological readiness, in which cooperation is carried out with a number of entities inside and outside the country with the aim of promoting knowledge and localizing innovation.
QU is exerting unremitting efforts to support applied projects to develop knowledge and localize innovation through existing research programs such as the High Impact Grants Program and the Cooperative Grants Program with internal funding, and also by issuing new research programs that support transformative research proposals said Director of the Office of Research Support Dr. Mohammed Al Salem in an interview with Qatar News Agency (QNA).
He pointed out that the number of funded projects that received a patent grant amounted to 46 projects, while the number of patent registration applications of other projects exceeded 200 locally and internationally, many of which are close to obtaining a patent grant certificate. He explained that these granted innovations cover multiple fields, including industry with 3 projects, chemical engineering with 13 projects, electrical engineering with 7 projects, technology with 14 projects, two health care projects, one environmental science project and six in computer engineering.
Dr. Al Salem noted the cooperation with the industrial sector contributes to the promotion of applied research projects such as QU’s cooperation with QAFCO through eight application projects on food security. He also referred at the same time to the partnership with the Japanese Marubeni Corporation, through a grant program to finance the development of research concepts with advanced results at Qatar University to communicate with industrial partners and businessmen in the first step in the prototyping phase, indicating that seven projects were nominated from this program, and two specialized projects for the Vegetable Factory Pilot Plant to support food security and the electric vehicle.
QU also has a partnership with other industrial institutions through the program of high-potential projects, and innovative projects proposed by research centers at QU, and is particularly looking for sustainable solutions at the level of technological readiness.
Dr. Al Salem said that the Office of Research Support at QU establishes and supports the university research community through efforts aimed at paving the way for good and successful research results at QU, and helps faculty members and researchers in preparing and submitting proposals, finding new sources and opportunities for funding, and identifying research funding opportunities by working with local industrial entities, Qatari government agencies and international partners.
He noted that the Office manages three types of research, which are internal research that is funded by QU, external research, which is funded by other bodies such as the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), and industrial research, which is funded by companies and institutions from the various sectors in the State. He added that the internal research grants aim at conducting distinguished research activities between QU and its local partners such as companies and private and public institutions.
QU offers six types of internal research, namely collaborative grants and high impact grants aimed at conducting high-impact research activities in cooperation with the corporate and government sectors, a concept development grant that provides an opportunity to fund university research that leads to advanced results to communicate with industrial partners and businessmen, grants for students to build their research expertise, grants for the National Capacity Building Program for Qatari faculty members at the university, and the International Research Cooperation Program grants launched in 2018 to collaborate with foreign universities and enhance international research cooperation, with the aim of supporting co-financed cooperative projects.
Director of Research Support Dr. Mohammed Al Salem pointed out that internal and external grant programs such as those funded by QNRF encourage the financing of high-quality research proposals for Qatari researchers. Moreover, more than 120 Qatari researchers have benefited from these grants, which have witnessed an increasing demand during the last three years in relation to the number of Qatari faculty members participating in internal and external research, he added.
Regarding local and international research partnerships, he said that the International Research Cooperation Program formed a research platform for cooperation between QU and local and regional universities such as Education City universities such as Texas A&M University at Qatar, where two research papers were funded in cooperation with them and with the mother university in Texas in the United States during 2019, in addition to 11 prestigious international universities. Also with Sultan Qaboos University in the Sultanate of Oman, 4 research was funded within the International Research Cooperation Program.
In a related context, he pointed out that the internally funded collaborative grants include a large number of external partners from various regions of the world, as more than 100 local and international research institutions have been contracted to cooperate in internal grants. The university, within the framework of external grants funded by the QNRF, has cooperated with 363 institutions internationally and internally within ten years, Dr. Al Salem pointed out. Dr. Al Salem emphasized that all research programs support the participation of university students, whether at the undergraduate or graduate level, pointing out that there is a specialized research program for student research funded by QU, as well as a National Science Promotion Program that aims to provide an excellent opportunity for high school students in Qatar and undergraduate students at the university to work together under the supervision of the university’s highly qualified faculty and researchers.
Director of the Office of Research Support Dr. Mohammed Al Salem told QNA that QU is now working on establishing a new internal research program to fund new scholarships for post-graduate students and support postdoctoral research, in addition to programs funded by QNRF namely the Undergraduate Research Experience Program (UREP), the postgraduate scholarship and the postdoctoral research grant program.
Dr. Al Salem attributed QU acquisition of a large percentage of funding and research grants at the state level to being the first national university for higher education in the State of Qatar.
He also noted that QU provides a supportive environment for consolidating a culture of scientific research and innovation and qualifying students to contribute to knowledge, by providing research facilities and laboratories equipped with the latest technologies, in addition to developing cooperation with local, regional and international research institutions.
Dr. Al Salem explained that QU is one of the first universities in the Arab world that supported research for more than ten years, noting that the quality of research and studies is relevant to local and regional challenges and contributes to achieving the needs and aspirations of society. He also affirmed QU’s support for high-impact multidisciplinary research and studies that fall under the basic research priorities and the four approved research pillars, which are health and biomedical sciences, energy and environment, social sciences and humanities, and information and communication technology.
On the most important current and upcoming research projects for the current year, Dr. Al Salem said that the Office of Research Support seeks to focus efforts on directing research opportunities to be in line with QNV 2030, therefore, it seeks to link research with the witnessed industrial development in the country, as the challenges are mainly related to strengthening more research cooperation with the industrial sector in the State of Qatar in the fields of energy, environment, resources, sustainability, society and identity, health and information and communication technology.
He noted that the grant supported nine projects covering five research areas: basic molecular research, clinical research, social-behavioral research, infectious disease epidemiology, and e-health.
He also referred to the Concept Development: Emergency Response grant (CD-ER) covers seven additional awarded projects.
The university is in the process of implementing the Transformational Science and Technology Program (TSTP), which is a specific research program on Transdisciplinary Science and Technology (TST) in the pillars of Qatar University.
