The significance of continuing collaboration between Qatar University (QU) and Japan in the fields of education, culture and research was highlighted at the internal grant award announcement ceremony.
The event was organised by the Office of Research Support in the Research and Graduate Studies Sector of QU in the presence of vice-president Professor Mariam al-Maadeed.
Faculty members, associate deans for research, directors of various centres, researchers, industry stakeholders and a delegation from the Japanese embassy were present.
At the event Toshiaki Hato, director of Marubeni Doha, announced the introduction of two new programmes sponsored by Marubeni: Concept To Prototype (CTP) and Qatar-Japan Research Collaboration (QJRC).
CTP aims to achieve the best fundamental research outcomes and leverage them to the next level of prototyping and exploitation whereas QJRC is a collaborative programme between QU and 11 Japanese universities.
With the addition of these programmes and the continuity of previous ones the number of new grants at Qatar University have increased to 116.
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% of the total grants.
The College of Business & Economics (CBE) increased its awarded grants mainly on the newly introduced CTP programme. The College of Shariah & Islamic Studies (CSIS) received its first grants through the Collaborative Grants programme.
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 programmes 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, QU initiated joint projects with Sultan Qaboos University as part of the Qatar-Oman Research Collaboration (QORC). Together the two universities successfully co-funded six projects. The collaborations will further strengthen ties with Sultan Qaboos University, a strategic regional partner.