Manama: Undergraduate students have been urged to apply for grants to conduct original research on topics relevant to Qatar, as part of the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) Undergraduate Research Experience Programme (UREP).
Applications for the 15th cycle of the programme can be submitted starting September 25, QNRF has said.
First launched in 2006, UREP is QNRF’s longest-running programme, with two cycles per year. It is aimed at developing student capabilities in science and research, and serves an important role within QNRF’s overall mission to foster a vibrant research culture in Qatar. Under faculty mentorship, students gain hands-on experience — an essential component of QNRF’s ‘learn by doing’ approach towards undergraduate research education.
Participation in UREP continues to grow among both Qatari and international students, demonstrating a growing interest in undergraduate research and an increasingly competitive research environment among Qatar’s educational institutions, QNRF said in a statement e-mailed to Gulf News.
To date, almost 1,700 proposals have been submitted by undergraduate students and of these approximately 700 projects have been awarded grants by QNRF. UREP has also witnessed high levels of participation by Qatari women , with over 500 applying for grants.
QNRF is a centre within the Research and Development establishment at the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development. In line with the Qatar National Research Strategy, UREP supports basic and applied undergraduate research and projects in the fields of natural sciences, engineering and technology, medical and health sciences, agricultural sciences, social sciences and the humanities. Faculty members also stand to benefit from the programme, with the opportunity to gain student support in their research endeavours through awarded projects.
Previous UREP projects have focused on a wide range of topics such as the treatment of wastewater produced by Qatar’s oil and gas industry, electricity consumption in residential and industrial sectors in Qatar, methods for screening gastrointestinal pathogens among expatriates working in Qatar and the nature and extent of emotional and behavioural disorders present amongst students in Qatar’s independent schools.
