Oman education: Five researchers from SQU receive grant from His Majesty Trust Fund

Muscat: Five researchers at the Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) have received a grant from the prestigious His Majesty Trust Fund, in recognition of their excellence in research.
The grants, announced at the opening of the 16th SQU Day yesterday morning, amount to OMR450,000 each.
An annual event, Sultan Qaboos University Day commemorates the visit of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said to the university on May 2, 2000 and focuses on the achievements of the university, particularly in research. It was opened under the patronage of Dr. Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidi, Minister of Commerce and Industry.
Dr. Rahma bint Ibrahim Al Mahrooqi, deputy vice chancellor, Postgraduate Studies and Research at SQU, said the His Majesty Trust Fund had supported 77 research projects, valued at OMR7 million since its inception in 2001 until 2015.
The colleges of Agricultural and Marine Sciences, Sciences and Medicine have also given the highest number of grants to their researchers during this period, with 45 scholarships.
During the event, Al Mahrooqi also outlined the successes of SQU in recent years.
According to her, growing research at SQU has helped it figure among the top universities in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). SQU researchers published 58 academic papers in academic journals in 2015.
“We are seeing that the scientific production of SQU has witnessed a strong growth in the last three years, which has resulted in a third place after Qatar University and the King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia,” she said.
Al Mahrooqi further said that during the 2015 to 2016 academic year, six inventions had been registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office, primarily in engineering and Information Technology.
She added that SQU is seeking to further develop postgraduate studies, in order to meet the demands of the job market and the needs of development of the society, and to further improve the position of SQU in academic rankings.
According to Al Mahrooqi, 433 students are enrolled in Masters programmes and 40 students in doctoral programmes.
She also pointed out that in 2015, the number of students in Masters programmes, had increased in the colleges of Education, Arts and Social Sciences, Economics, Political Sciences, Law, Political Science and Agricultural and Marine Sciences and Science.
In addition to announcing the winners of the research grants, SQU also honoured excellent researchers, as well as students with high grades.
Meanwhile, Al Sunaidi opened an exhibition where researchers of SQU presented their research projects.