QNRF awards 52 research proposals

Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) yesterday announced the outcome of the 11th cycle of its funding programme, the Undergraduate Research Experience Programme (UREP).

In this 11th UREP cycle, QNRF received 135 research proposals, each of which was independently reviewed by three international peer reviewers, none of whom had any affiliation or connection to the institutions whose proposals they reviewed. 

QNRF says that this principle ensures the utmost integrity and transparency throughout the submission and review processes to further guarantee complete independence

In order to maintain a high quality level for the awarded UREP proposals while achieving a good success rate, the QNRF steering committee decided to adopt a cutoff score of 83% for this cycle, which resulted in the award of 52 research proposals engaging 179 undergraduate students across six academic institutions. Successful proposals were distributed across the following disciplines: natural sciences (12), engineering and technology (16), medical and health sciences (18), social sciences (four), and humanities (two).

Abdul Sattar al-Taie, executive director, QNRF, said: “We were overwhelmed by the interest in UREP and very impressed with the caliber of the proposals submitted. QNRF has implemented, since October 2006, 11 UREP cycles in which a total of 1,259 research proposals have been submitted for peer reviewing and 559 proposals have been awarded.” 

UREP aims at spreading research culture amongst undergraduate students by engaging them in “hands on” research projects under the guidance of their academic supervisors. UREP also encourages partnerships between academic and non-academic institutions to promote collaboration between academia and other institutions in Qatar.