Executive Director’s Message

We turn challenges into opportunities

Dear Readers,
As you all know, our world is nowadays passing through a challenging time as the pandemic COVID-19, aka Corona Virus, has spread in populations across the world.
This pandemic has forced cities buzzing with life and activity into complete lockdown, as authorities ramp up their efforts to quarantine those affected while enforcing and encouraging social distancing.
The spread of COVID-19 has impacted our daily lives and livelihoods in ways that are unprecedented. While uncertainty is looming over how this crisis will unfold in the times to come, the eyes and hearts of the whole mankind are pinned on the scientists and researchers around the world who are trying to develop vaccines and remedies to abate this virus. This crucial situation comes as a testimony of the importance of research and reminds people about the importance of enabling researchers and providing them with funds and facilities to carry out their work that can save lives worldwide.
As a leading research funding agency  in the region, QNRF is proud to have been funding an appreciable number of research projects across the full spectrum of sciences which have contributed to bettering lives worldwide, as you will read in this edition of the newsletter. Furthermore, QNRF is also planning to hold a virtual workshop as part of its Research Outcome Seminar (ROS) series with the participation of a number of Lead Principal Investigators (LPIs) who will share with research community, and the public at large, the output, outcome and impact of their QNRF-funded projects. These projects focus on the hot topic of infectious diseases and explores how we can deal with them in the current situation.
We at QNRF are aware of the limiting effect that the current pandemic imposes on the lives and work of everyone, including researchers. Like most of the academia and research community, the QNRF staff is also working from home. In this regard, we assure our researchers that we are taking all necessary measures to accommodate this modality of work with respect to their ongoing projects.
I would like to close this message with a happy note that we are carrying our business as usual, thanks to our online QGrants platform, by launching new programs and calls and we are accepting proposals for them.

Please keep safe and may God bless you and your families in these challenging times