Executive Director’s Message

Developing Qatar through Research and Innovation

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the sixth edition of QNRF’s newsletter, ‘Research Matters’. For over the past three months, we have been working from home as per the instructions of the Government of Qatar to control the spread of COVID-19. However, it is still business as usual at QNRF, and though separated by distance, our staff has been working together diligently under our guiding mission of enabling research excellence in Qatar and improving the standard of life, education, and health for its citizens and residents.

QNRF is standing with the national efforts to help citizens and residents during these tough times by helping our local talented researchers develop unique and impactful solutions to control the spread of COVID-19 and mitigate its impact as exemplified in fast-tracking the processing of the Rapid Response Call. The twenty one awardees have already started working on their projects, and we will soon see and experience the valuable and impactful outcomes of their research.

During this month, we also announced the awards for the twelfth cycle of the Cluster track of our flagship National Priorities Research Program (NPRP-C), which were selected after a thorough and competitive evaluation process. I take this opportunity to congratulate the awarded project directors and look forward to their research outcomes and their contributions to the development of Qatar and its people. Moreover, I am glad to announce the launch of the thirteenth cycle of NPRP-C and invite our researchers to browse through QNRF’s website to learn more about the program and apply to turn their research ideas into impactful solutions.

In this month’s newsletter, we have some great success stories to share with you which demonstrate how QNRF-funded research is having a positive societal impact in the fields of health, education, and innovation in technology. This month’s articles require special attention, as they feature success stories on how our researchers are helping to prevent and reverse type 2 diabetes, developing student literacy; and contributing to the development of a sophisticated cloud-computing infrastructure in Qatar. Due to their research merit, these research projects have received recognition on the international stage and won prestigious awards.

We strive to update our readers with the latest developments in the research ecosystem in Qatar and inspire our next generation to utilize the valuable opportunities available to them to become science and research leaders not only of Qatar, but the world.

I wish you all health and safety, and hope you enjoy reading our newsletter!