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06-05-2019

Muscat Daily

MUSCAT - Seven projects have been selected for funding by His Majesty’s Trust Fund for the year 2019. This was announced by Dr Rahma Ibrahim al Mahrooqi, deputy vice chancellor for postgraduate studies and research, on the occasion of 19th Sultan Qaboos University Day (SQU).

The selected projects are: The effectiveness of a proposed programme in sustainable ecotourism in developing basic education students’ knowledge, behavior and attitudes toward the developmental dimensions of sustainable tourism in the Sultanate of Oman (Prof Abdullah Ambusaidi, Humanities Research Centre)

Developing climate smart strategies for improving wheat productivity in the Sultanate of Oman (Dr Muhammad Farooq, College of Agricultural & Marine Sciences)

Automatic detection and sample collection of oil spills and red tides in Omani shores using heterogeneous-cooperative unmanned vehicle systems (Dr Ahmed al Maashri, College of Engineering) Development of eco-friendly fungicides for the management of soil-borne fungal diseases of vegetables in Oman (Dr Raid Abdel Jalil, College of Science)

Nano-fibres from date-flesh and date-pits of low grade or un-utilised date fruits: Its preparation, characterisation and functionality (Prof Mohammed Shafiur Rahman (College of Agricultural & Marine Sciences) Organic farming for improving soil quality and agricultural sustainability in Oman (Dr Rhonda R Janke, College of Agricultural & Marine Sciences)

Nocturnal sleep durations, afternoon siesta and sleep disturbances in young pregnant Omani women and related outcomes (Dr Mohammed al Abri, College of Medicine & Health Sciences)

Dr Rahma said that since 2001, 95 large-scale research projects addressing real-world issues in sustainable social and economic development have been carried out by SQU with the support of His Majesty’s Trust Fund.

“In 2018, six projects worth RO450,000 were approved. As many as 119 research projects were also supported by SQU’s internal grants in 2018 with RO455,437. The Deanship of Research Grant supported 23 projects worth RO66,150. Joint grant included four research projects supported by SQU-UAE University Grants for RO53,500, and eight projects funded by SQU-South African Universities Grants for RO57,100.”

She added, “BP Oman Research Fund Program approved RO70,000 for two research projects. Three research projects were approved by the Omantel Research Fund Program with a total value of RO60,000. Five projects received external grant funding worth RO1,143,673. A total of 41 consultancy projects occurred during this period with a total value of RO1,326,368. As many as 11 projects supported by The Research Council’s Faculty-mentored Undergraduate Research Award Program with RO23,400.”