This program is intended to support the overarching goal of the QNRF, which is to foster a research culture in Qatar. Specifically, the grants offered through the National Priorities Research Program (NPRP) will 1) build human capital in Qatar, 2) fund research to benefit the nation, the region, and the world, and 3) raise Qatar’s profile in the international research community.
Description
The NPRP will be the largest funding activity of the QNRF. The QNRF will conduct one NPRP RFP cycle per year. The program will fund up to US$45 million in research during the second cycle, and will make grants ranging from US$20,000 up to US$350,000 per year.
Responsiveness to Challenges
While Qatar is blessed with an abundance of wealth from its natural resources, and has managed to accumulate a large amount of physical capital in a relatively short time, it faces challenges with respect to human capital. The NPRP will help to build human capital in Qatar by helping the colleges and universities of Qatar to attract, develop, and retain good faculty. The NPRP will also provide incentives for institutions to build the organizational infrastructure needed to support researchers. In addition the NPRP will help to build human capital through promoting knowledge and technology transfer through encouraging collaboration with institutions outside of Qatar.
By funding research that will raise Qatar’s profile in the international academic community, the NPRP will help to diminish the geographical isolation felt by some researchers in Qatar. This will also help researchers in Qatar to integrate with the global research community, to the benefit of the researchers in Qatar and Qatar as a whole.
Potential Benefits
The benefits from this undertaking will be both direct and indirect. In addition to helping to foster research that will directly benefit Qatar, this program also will provide indirect benefits through improving the stock of human capital in Qatar, and through bringing prestige to Qatar.
