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Qatar National Research Fund cordially invites you to its Research Outcome Seminar (ROS) on “Catalysts and Catalytic Processes”. A substance that can speed up the reaction process without being consumed by it, catalysts are often perfect candidates to lower the activation energy or modify the mechanism of a process. Today, catalysis is significant in industry and industrial research and various catalysts are constantly being developed to meet economic and environmental objectives. A homogeneous or heterogeneous catalyst that delivers a different reaction with lower activation energy and better selectivity control can have a significant impact on process feasibility, on the environment, and

The mastermind behind the cooling technologies for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 stadiums, has revealed the details of the whole process. Nicknamed ‘Dr Cool’, Dr Saud Ghani, professor of mechanical engineering at Qatar University led the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) research project resulting in the development of the cooling technologies in the stadiums for the upcoming World Cup.

Research funded by Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), a member of Qatar Foundation (QF), has resulted in stronger and more sustainable roads in the country with advanced national standards for pavement construction. “Road quality is driven by specifications - if you specify old technology, you get lower quality. Similarly, if you update your specifications and technologies, the road construction industry steps up its game to deliver to high specifications,” said Dr Eyad Masad, professor at Texas A&M University at Qatar, who led the research.

A local excavation mission led by Qatar Museums’ (QM) Excavation and Site Management head Dr Ferhan Sakal has discovered the oldest known natural pearl bead in Qatar, corresponding to the earliest human settlements on the peninsula. Dated to 4600 BCE, the historic find was enclosed within a grave at Wadi Al Debaian, one of the country’s oldest Neolithic sites, QM said in a statement Wednesday.

Last year, Qatar National Research Fund completed fifteen years of its operation. During this time, we have stayed true to our mission of enabling research excellence in Qatar across all disciplines and at all levels, and have successfully contributed towards building a world-class research ecosystem that is helping produce innovative solutions for the challenges faced by Qatar, the region, and globally. We are proud of our achievements which would not have been realized without the sheer dedication and hard work of our team and its leadership. Here, I would like to specially acknowledge the role played by Dr. Abdul Sattar Al-Taie, who retired last week, after serving QNRF as the founding executive director since its inception. For the past fifteen years, Dr. Al-Taie has exemplified decisive and consistent leadership to

Launched in 2018, QNRF’s High School Research Experience Program (HSREP) is driven by the mission to enable research at all levels, and encourages students in local high schools to get hands-on research experience under the mentorship of experts. In addition to introducing students to a career in research, HSREP also helps identify top talent to represent Qatar at various international competitions. The International Invention, Innovation & Technology Exhibition (ITEX) held annually in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is one such leading international competition, and this year, young researchers from Qatar have won the gold medal there and made us all proud.

This month, we feature Dr. Nura Adam Mohamed, who recently made the scientific and research community in Qatar proud by receiving the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award. Dr. Mohamed is a graduate of the Biomedical Science Department, College of Health Sciences (CHS)-Qatar University, a former member of QNRF’s Qatar Research Leadership Program (QRLP) through which she received a scholarship to study her MRes and PhD degrees from Imperial College of London.  She is currently working as a Research Associate at the Biomedical Research Center (BRC) at Qatar University. We ask her about her academic and research journey and her insights into the important role that women can play in the RDI ecosystem of Qatar.

As far as cancer genetic studies are concerned, the Arab/Qatari ethnic populations have not been extensively studied which has led to disparate gaps in our knowledge of cancer predisposition genes in these populations. Among the different types of primary breast cancers, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) remains the most important challenge and there is a significant gap in our understanding of the genetic, and environmental factors underlying its etiology and progression.

A research team of Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMU-Q), a Qatar Foundation partner university, is working on exploring and analysing dialects in Qatar. "Our main goal is to expand Qatar's knowledge base when it comes to the Qatari dialect, heritage, culture, and identity," says Zeinab Ibrahim, teaching professor of Arabic studies and the lead principal investigator on the project to create an interactive map of the Qatari dialect.