Oman approves funding for eight collaborative research projects

Oman's Research and Innovation Authority has approved funding for eight collaborative research projects as part of a national effort to boost scholarly impact and international partnerships. The initiative, aligned with "Oman Vision 2040," aims to foster cross-border collaboration, enhance Omani researchers' skills, and produce high-impact studies to address national challenges.

The program attracted 46 proposals from nine Omani institutions, coordinated with twelve Sultan Qaboos Chairs at international universities. A rigorous evaluation led to the selection of eight projects spanning five priority research domains.

Selected projects include "Transformations in the Contemporary Middle East: Artificial Intelligence, Gender and Culture," led by Dr. Rukhshana Bano of Muscat College in collaboration with the Sultan Qaboos Chair for Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Tokyo. Another project, "The Belt and Road Initiative as a Framework for Strategic Hedging in Sino–GCC Relations (2013–2025)," is headed by Dr. Imran Al Abri of Sultan Qaboos University, working with the Sultan Qaboos bin Said Chair for Arabic Studies at Peking University.

Two projects in water and desert agriculture received support: "Seawater Desalination Using High-Performance Capacitive Deionization Technology for Desert Farming Applications," led by Dr. Mohammad Asim Siddiqui of the University of Technology and Applied Sciences – Shinas Branch, in cooperation with the Sultan Qaboos bin Said Chair for Desert Agriculture at the Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain. The second project focuses on "Environmental Studies on Water Flow in Porous Media Using Remote Sensing, Geographic Information Systems, and Geospatial Artificial Intelligence for Sustainable Agriculture and Environmental Management."