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 It all began with a pearl. More than ten years ago British archaeologist Dr Robert Carter was investigating a Neolithic site in Kuwait when he came across a single, tiny pierced pearl.

At 7,000 years old, it was among the oldest ever discovered. That set him thinking about the origins of pearling fishing in the Arabian Gulf. He found himself intrigued, not just by the epic story of pearl fishing but by the pearling ports themselves.

Initiative in healthcare research is one of the key areas in which University of Calgary in Qatar (UCQ) demonstrates its commitment to enriching health and wellness in Qatar.

A key project currently running is the Interprofessional Education (IPE) project.

The IPE project focuses on enhancing healthcare delivery by training and educating healthcare professionals and students (the professionals of the future) in the benefits and strategies of interprofessional collaboration.

A microdrone — or Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) — using aerial photography has provided high-resolution maps of the Al Ruwayda archaeological site in Northern Qatar; it was certainly the hero of the Lines in the Sand exhibition.

QNRF recently hosted the Global Research Council (GRC) Regional Meeting (RM) for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region The GRC is an informal organization among public funding agencies worldwide. In a global research environment, researchers already cooperate and it is imperative that funding agencies work together to enable these collaborations, something that is encouraged by the GRC. QNRF spoke to Dr Graham Harrison, representing the National Science Foundation for the GRC during his recent visit to Doha.

Another project from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar also made it to the finals. The team studied the role of two different cellular components in order to see how they affect the overall growth of cells. 

In the field of natural sciences, a Qatar University team studied the effects of garden thyme as a therapeutic agent for breast cancer. Another team from Qatar University, in the discipline of social sciences and humanities, studied the relationship between cultural misunderstandings in business and the quality of customer service in order to help companies improve their dealings with clients in cosmopolitan societies.  

Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), a centre of Qatar Foundation Research and Development (QF R&D), has awarded grants totalling US$1,629,600 to four Ph.D. candidates in Qatar as part of the first cycle of its Graduate Student Research Awards (GSRA) program.

GSRA is QNRF’s latest program, created to further develop graduate studies by supporting outstanding Qatari and international students interested in pursuing doctoral degrees in universities in Qatar.

Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), a center of Qatar Foundation Research and Development, awarded grants totaling US$1,388,000 to undergraduate students in Doha.  The research grants are part of Qatar's goal of continuing prosperity through development of a knowledge-based economy.