The Office of Research Support in the Research and Graduate Studies Sector of Qatar University organized the Internal Grant award announcement ceremony in the Presence of Prof. Mariam Al-Maadeed Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies, Faculty members, Associate Deans for research, Centers' Directors, Researchers, Industry stakeholders and a delegation from the Japanese Embassy.
At the event Mr. Toshiaki Hato, Director of Marubeni Doha, expressed the importance of collaboration with QU to strengthen the bond between Qatar and Japan on Education, Culture and Research. He announced the introduction of two new programs sponsored by Marubeni: Concept To Prototype (CTP), a specific program which hopes to achieve the best fundamental research outcomes and leverage them to the next level of prototyping and exploitation; and the Qatar-Japan Research Collaboration (QJRC) Program, a collaboration program between QU and eleven Japanese Universities. The addition of these programs and the continuity of previous ones has seen an impressive increase on the number of new grants at Qatar University with 116 new grants.
At the event, the Office of Research Support previewed the statistics of the grants. It was shown that the College of Arts and Science (CAS) and the Colleges of Engineering (CENG) lead the way by collectively claiming almost up to 60 percent of the total grants. The College of Business & Economics (CBE) increased its awarded grants mainly on the newly introduced CTP program. The College of Sharia & Islamic Studies (CSIS) received its first grants through the Collaborative Grants program.
International Collaboration through the International Research Collaboration Co-Fund (IRCC) has heavily benefited all the Research Pillars of Qatar University, consisting of; Energy and Environment, Health and Biomedical Sciences, Information and Communication Technologies and Social Sciences and Humanities. Similarly, the new QJRC and CTP programs were supported by the increase of output in each sector, especially the Information and Communication Technologies and Energy and Environment sectors.
This year, through the IRCC, Qatar University initiated joint projects with Sultan Qaboos University as a part of the Qatar-Oman Research Collaboration (QORC). Together the two Universities successfully co-funded 6 projects. The collaborations will further strengthen ties with Sultan Qaboos University, which is seen as a strategic regional partner.