The gross domestic expenditure on research & development (R&D) in Qatar has gone up from 0.47% in 2012 to 0.51% in 2015, while the  number of Qataris among the R&D personnel increased to 19.6% in 2015, against 13% in 2012, a recent survey has found.
The R&D Survey of Qatar 2015 was conducted by the Ministry of Development, Planning and Statistics (MDPS) and Qatar Foundation Research & Development (QF R&D).
The  R&D personnel in the country has  gone up by 55.4% from 3,038 in 2012 to 4,720 in 2015. The percentage of researchers among total R&D personnel rose to 60%, from 57% in 2012.
Qataris represented the highest increase of researchers by nationality with the increase being 23.8% in the government sector, and the highest increase of supporting staff – 53.5% in the higher education sector.
The findings of the survey were released at an event organised by MDPS and QF R&D at Qatar National Convention Centre. The R&D Survey of Qatar 2015 is the second of its kind – the previous edition was in 2012.
“The findings of the survey are immensely valuable in assessing Qatar’s research and development efforts,” said Dr Frans Van Den Boom, executive director, policy, planning and evaluation, QF R&D.
Prof Michael Khan, survey adviser, said: “Innovation is a key factor in the modern age and Qatar has it ‘embedded within everything we do’,”
The survey findings were presented by Mohamed al-Muhannadi, director, Department of Population and Social Statistics, MDPS and Nada al-Olaqi, business planning and performance manager, QFR&D.
The survey finds that the national resources cover R&D funding in Qatar by 98.14%.