Q & A

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I am collaborating with non educational institution (local Qatari company) in a solar project. Can I include one of their engineers as collaborator?

Yes, an experienced engineer is qualified to be a collaborator. We require that at least one of the mentors has a PhD or equivalent. In this case, it would be you. As for the second part, UREP allows a maximum of 3 students per one Faculty Member, which excludes Mentors from non educational institutions.

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:19:21

I am in the midst of planning a joint UREP proposal with a faculty member from a different institution here in Qatar. Must the students be from the same institution?

Students must be of the� institution of the PFM. Inclusion of students from different institutions on the same project is not permitted

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:18:12

Which of the following would be counted as a faculty member?

Since UREP is mainly a grant specific to introducing the undergraduates to the research culture, a large educational component is involved in the mentoring and supervision of the student. Three of the evaluation criteria of the proposal revolve around this point.Hence, it is essential that the faculty member be in close proximity to the students.UREP allows for mentors at other research institutions in Qatar, such as Hamad Medical Corp, government research centers, private sector research lab, etc.. to be supported mentors for UREP proposals, mainly because of their proximity as indicated above

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:15:50

Will the peer reviewers have a background in the area of the proposal being evaluated?

There is a slight possibility that the peer reviewer would not be a specialist in the exact field of specialization, but that they definitely are in the general academic field of the research proposal. - The peer reviewer is allowed to return the proposal if he/she feels that the area is outside his/her competence to evaluate. UREP will then send the proposal to another peer reviewer immediately

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:14:29

Could you describe the peer review process?

Each proposal will be reviewed by three independent peer reviewers. - Each reviewer will score each of the four evaluation criteria. They will also be asked to write a comment or technical advice on the project.� The� median of the three peer reviewers, for each of the four evaluation criteria, the final grade, their comments and the result of the evaluation will be emailed to the faculty members and students of the proposal. - The peer reviewers are a mix of experts of the community in Doha but not working for any of the educational institutions participating in UREP, mostly Arab expatriate scientists and some international scholars.

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:13:37

Is there a minimum score to qualify for a grant?

For each cycle, the threshold grade for awarding the grants will be determined by QNRF to reflect the required quality of the submitted research proposals and is limited by the allocated budget. For example, this threshold score was set 83% for the past two cycles (7th and 8th), and 80% for the four cycles before that.

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:12:48

Will the peer reviewers have a background in the area of the proposal being evaluated?

Yes, they definitely are qualified in the general academic field of the research proposal. -Furthermore, the peer reviewer is required to return the proposal if he/she feels that the area of expertise is outside his/her competence to evaluate. UREP will then send the proposal to another suitable peer reviewer

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:11:37

How much time should the students spend on the project? What is a significant amount of work?

Flexibility is left to the faculty member(s) in determining the work schedule and the timely execution of the project. -However, it is expected that at least several number of hours per week is assigned for each undergraduate student to spend on the project and a few hours per week are also allotted for the mentoring of the student's work by the faculty member. These hours should be clearly stated in section G. Timeline/Milestones in the proposal as the peer reviewers will give a score for this criterion

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:10:50

How will the 25 points for the participation of the student be assessed? Is there a certain number of hours to be mentioned in the proposal

The following are the guidelines for the peer reviewers in evaluating this criterion: - Overall time schedule to complete the research work - Estimated time duration of each of the anticipated tasks or each student and the student's role in the project - The estimated time for submitting the final research product - Mentoring and Evaluation plan or each student or team of students - A short description of the final outcome of the research product - Once the faculty member outlines the tasks and the number of hours per week that the student is expected to work on the research proposal and the faculty member's number of hours for mentoring, then it is left for the peer reviewers to decide upon the details provided by the faculty member in the research proposal. - We didn't want to give a set format or rules to follow as different projects may have different requirements according to their fields of specialization

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:07:21

Does the additional $4000 cover expenses such as books, printing, etc or just the categories mentioned in the presentation?

Yes, they do cover the above mentioned items under publishing. These items should be clearly itemized in the project proposal's budget.

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:06:34

Who owns equipment purchased through funds in the project?

Equipment purchased through funded projects must be inventoried and will belong to the student's institution.

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:05:50

Can the funds be used for research in another country?

Research should be performed primarily in Qatar. If the research proposal demands travel to other countries, then it should be detailed in the proposal and its expenses mentioned in the budget Section of the proposal online submission channel.

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:05:06

Can a student get grants from both Qatar University and from the UREP?

Students and faculty can receive grants from other sources for the same project, as long as the other grants do not duplicate the coverage of the same expenses as UREP's for that project.

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:04:11

Can the faculty and/or student attend a conference relevant to their research proposal? How much will UREP cover of traveling?

Travel for conferences or other educational purposes is permitted and encouraged upon presentation of receipts within the additional $4000 allotted per each student in a research project. -These expenses must be mentioned in the original budget of the proposal to be reimbursed. -The disbursement of these items is subject to the procedures and guidelines of each educational institution as they are paid by the Finance Directors of the relevant institution. -The Finance Director at the educational institution will disburse the registration fee upon presentation of the officially stated registration cost by the sponsors of the conference and their confirmation that the research work has been accepted for oral or poster presentation,. The rest of the funding for attending the conference can then be withdrawn when required, e.g. for travel and accommodation, if the conference is not held in Doha. The total amount to be withdrawn should not exceed the amount under the detail for attending a conference specified in the submitted awarded proposal.

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:03:26

If a faculty member is supervising more than one student, what is the amount of money given to him?

For every awarded student supervised, the faculty member will receive $2000 from each student. -In the case of multiple faculty members, say (M), and multiple students, say (N), per research project, the student support will always be US$4000 per student irrespective of the number of students. However, the support (S) to be received by each faculty member will be calculated as follows: S= N X 2000/M.

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:01:51

Is there a set number of hours for the students to do the actual research to cover for the $4000 stipend?

No, it is up to the faculty member to decide how many hours is needed and how many hours of mentoring is needed for each research project/proposal. The peer reviewers will then judge (by scoring the relevant criterion) whether this is sufficient or not

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:01:15

Is there non-financial support given to the research projects, for example marketing such projects to companies and industries?

UREP is not planning such venues at the present time

Modify date: 09/28/2011 14:00:10

What are the typical time lines for the UREP cycles for the submission of the RFP, announcement of the awards and the submission of the proposal?

Cycle timelines vary slightly from on cycle to another. However, each cycle's schedule is published in its RFP, which should be consulted for more an accurate estimation of time frames.

Modify date: 09/28/2011 13:59:20

How much time should the projects take?

The awarded project must be completed within a year from the announcement of the award, as indicated in the timeline. Project schedules themselves are at the discretion of the faculty members, as long as they include a significant amount of work by the undergraduate student(s). This could mean, for example, an intensive summer research project, a year long project, a senior research project or other kinds of research-intensive projects.

Modify date: 09/28/2011 13:57:44

Having read through the proposal instructions for the UREP I am not clear in who should be writing the proposal?

The faculty member should be writing the proposal with the greatest amount of input from the student. The participation of the student, to the extent possible, in preparing the proposal is part of UREP sought after educational experience in engaging undergraduate students in research activities.

Modify date: 09/28/2011 13:51:51

What does it mean for the project to be relevant to Qatar?

The applicants should create their own compelling argument for relevance of the proposed research proposal to Qatar's needs, the region or the world. UREP does not have a specific list of topics of work that is relevant to Qatar. QNRF's other major research funding program, the National Priority Research Program (NPRP) [ /fund_program/nprp/index.php ] a list of examples of research areas that are relevant to Qatar's needs.

Modify date: 09/26/2011 13:08:29

When should the research projects start?

Each cycle's timeline is published in its RFP, which is posted on UREP's webpage of QNRF's website.

Modify date: 09/26/2011 13:03:43

Is there a timeline for the research project?

Timeline of each UREP cycle is included in its RFP. The timeline for UREP Projects include dates for the submission of progress and final reports. These dates should be adhered to, except where there is a genuine need to change them, in which case, a "Change of Status Request Form" should be submitted to request extensions.

Modify date: 09/26/2011 13:02:59

What is the format of the research proposal that is to be submitted?

It must be uploaded to the online submission channel in PDF format.

Modify date: 09/26/2011 13:02:00

Can the proposed research project be the same as already accepted for a research grant at Qatar University?

Yes, since UREP's grant is complementary to Qatar University's research grant as they fund separate areas

Modify date: 09/26/2011 13:01:11

Can students apply for grants by themselves?

Students can initiate the projects if they have ideas for a research topic. However, all students will need a faculty adviser who will submit the research proposal

Modify date: 09/26/2011 12:59:58

Does QNRF intend to carry out big research projects?

QNRF is supporting larger research projects

Modify date: 09/26/2011 12:58:56

Why isn't there a list of research projects related to Qatar published for the faculty members and students to choose from?

We leave the choice of the research topics open to the faculty members and the intended students in order to ensure their interest in the research topic and to encourage novelty in their choice of topics.

Modify date: 09/26/2011 12:55:43

What kind of training in methodology should the students receive?

Faculty members should describe their plan for the training of undergraduate students in the methodology of research in their proposals and according to the nature of their discipline or academic areas. Training could include one-on-one mentoring throughout the project or group sessions hosted by the university as a presentation or short course.

Modify date: 09/26/2011 12:52:15

What language should the proposal be in?

Proposals can be written in English or Arabic. The RFP (in English or in Arabic) and the Submission Form (in English or in Arabic) are provided on the UREP web page in both languages. If proposals are written in Arabic, it is required to translate the title and the abstract. The personal information about the participants should be in English.

Modify date: 09/26/2011 12:51:19

Who decides on the subject of the research topic in the proposal?

Either the student chooses a topic and convinces the faculty to mentor the work or vise versa

Modify date: 09/26/2011 12:49:47

Is it possible to do part of the research outside Qatar?

It is preferred to do the research in Qatar since it will be related to creating the research culture in Qatar. However, if it is essential, then this needs to be detailed in the proposal and its expense to be included in the budget section of the proposal. The faculty member should get the parental approval for the undergraduate student's travel before submitting such a research proposal.

Modify date: 09/26/2011 12:49:28

There are two areas of research, applied research and basic research. Is one going to be favored over the other when assessing the proposal?

No, there is no difference between applied and basic research in this program. The peer reviewers will judge the scientific quality of the proposal and its relevance to Qatar and primarily its benefit to the undergraduate student.

Modify date: 09/26/2011 12:49:09

What should the scientific or academic quality for each project be?

It should be appropriate to an undergraduate level

Modify date: 09/26/2011 12:48:48

Can the project be initiated by the student with the consultancy of the faculty or does it have to be initiated by the faculty?

The proposal topic can be initiated by the student and in collaboration with the faculty mentor. However, the proposal itself must be submitted by the faculty member according to the items in the RFP.

Modify date: 09/26/2011 12:42:34

Do the proposals need to go through our university before submitting them to QNRF?

Starting from the 5th UREP cycle, all submitted proposals must be first administratively vetted by the university's Research Office to ascertain that it complies with university policies and guidelines before it is received by UREP for further processing. If any modifications are required on the submitted proposal, the primary faculty member will be notified by the RO

Modify date: 09/26/2011 12:18:54

Can the proposed research project be the same as already accepted for a research grant at Qatar University?

UREP proposals need to be original. However, supplementary grants are allowed from other sources for the research project as long as the other grants do not duplicate the same expenses as the UREP’s items that are detailed above.

Modify date: 09/26/2011 11:39:44

Does the 3:1 students to staff ratio includes industrial mentors?

No, the ratio is of students to faculty members only, excluding mentors, as is the letter of the RFP. Mentors will be financially supported in the same manner as faculty members, but will not attract new students to the project.

Modify date: 09/26/2011 11:28:06

How will QNRF check for originality of the proposal?

QNRF will deploy measures to check for originality and will exclude proposals that are found not to be original from the reviewing process.

Modify date: 09/26/2011 11:24:34

Who is the major beneficiary from doing the research? The student or the faculty member?

Modify date: 07/03/2011 12:00:01

Who will own any Intellectual Property resulting from the research?

Modify date: 07/03/2011 12:00:01

Is it possible to consider supporting the preparation of the students for doing research by providing for them workshops, training courses

Modify date: 07/03/2011 12:00:01

Will the granted projects be published or taken a further step once completed?

Modify date: 07/03/2011 12:00:01

How many research proposals can a faculty member or a student participates in a UREP cycle?