Sources of Research Funding

Funding is provided for research projects that are expected to lead to original findings and innovative discoveries which in turn lead to generating new knowledge and developing new concepts in line with the research and teaching objectives of the University. Funding comes from the following sources:

1.    Internal Grants: the grants that are derived from the University’s annual budget and other internal resources.

2.    Joint Grants: the grants for which the University may allocate a budget to match funds from other institutions from inside or outside the Sultanate to form a Joint Grants Fund to jointly support a research program

3.     His Majesty’s Trust Fund (HMTF) Grants

4.     The Research Council (TRC) Grants

5.    External Grants (EG): the grants that are received from sponsors, such as national, regional and international agencies, industry, individuals and philanthropic organisations, to support academic research in certain specific fields.

6.     Consultancy Services (CS): contracts and consultancy services funded by government and private sector organizations from inside and outside the Sultanate. 

Internal Funding

Internal funding shall follow the criteria below in addition to other criteria determined by the Board of Research.

General Criteria

a.     Scientific Merit
Contribution of the project to extending existing knowledge and anticipated benefits of such new knowledge. 

b.     Methodology
Adequacy and efficiency of proposed research methodology for achieving the given objectives, and feasibility of implementation using existing facilities.

c.     Investigators’ Track Record
Educational background, research experience, past achievements and productivity of principal investigator and co-investigators.

d.     Roles of Investigators
Details of the individual contributions of investigators.

e.     External Collaboration/Co-investigators
Commitment from external organizations to collaborate and contribute  resources to the project.

f.      Relevance to the Sultanate of Oman
Anticipated impact of the proposed work on issues of strategic importance to Oman or Omani society.

g.     Teamwork
Inter and intra-departmental collaboration, with the detailed role of each investigator. 

h.     Mentoring Young Researchers (Research Assistants)
Involvement of junior faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students and the job description of each research assistant.

i.      Implementation Plan
The deliverables and timeframe.

j.      Budget Justification
Efficient use of existing University equipment and facilities.

k.     New Equipment
Importance or long term value of new resources to be acquired.

l.       Non-Disclosure Agreement
Signing of a non-disclosure agreement prior to commencement of the project in accordance with the provisions of the research contract or agreement.

Additional Criteria
In addition to the aforementioned criteria, the following additional criteria are considered:

a.     Joint Grants

1.       There should be a Co-PI from the collaborating institution, which has an agreement with SQU.

2.       The roles of investigators at each institution should be detailed.

b.     HM Trust Fund Grants

1.       The project should be multidisciplinary and preferably involve inter-college collaboration.

2.       The project should make an important contribution to the socio-economic development of the Sultanate.

c.     The Research Council Grants
The criteria will be set by the Research Council and formalized in a contract which may be formalised in a Research Agreement between the investigator(s) and The Research Council. 

d.     External Grants
The criteria will be set by the funding agency and formalized in a contract which may be formalised in a Research Agreement. 

e.     Consultancy Services
The criteria for performing a consultancy will depend on the nature of the service, the deliverables, timeframe, expertise and facilities required. These will all be agreed on with the sponsor.

Approval Procedures

The procedures below, in addition to any other procedures the Board of Research may decide, shall be followed for the approval of research proposals:   

1)         The Deanship of Research will announce the schedule of events leading to approval of Internal and Joint Grants proposals.

2)        By signing the application form (F1), the investigators accept their respective responsibilities towards the proposed activity, respect the intellectual property rights of the University, and declare full compliance with the policies and procedures.

3)         The principal and co-investigators shall each complete a Personal Data form F2, attached to these regulations.

4)         The proposal shall be submitted to the HoD for endorsement and forwarding to the CRC. By signing, the HoD confirms that investigator's time, departmental space, and other necessary departmental facilities are available to support  the proposed activity.

5)      The ADPSR shall submit the recommendations of the CRC to the Dean of the College for endorsement and then to the Dean. The Director of the Centre shall endorse the Center's Advisory or Administrative Board recommendation, whichever is applicable, and forward it to the Dean.  

6)         The Dean shall coordinate the review process with external reviewers.

7)         For HM Trust Fund Grants, the University shall solicit reviews for the proposals from specialized reviewers. The principal investigator may be asked to make an oral presentation on the project.

8)        For Joint Grant proposals (JG), the Dean shall follow the procedure agreed on with the other institution. The principal investigator may be asked to make an oral presentation.

9)         The Dean shall forward the complete applications to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor for approval.

10)        Activity codes shall be assigned by the Deanship of Research to the approved projects. Rejected proposals will also be coded archived in the Research Mangement System (RMS).

11)        The Dean informs the principal investigator of the decision on their research project with a copy to the ADPSR in the relevant College or Centre.

12)       For the Research Council Grants, the aforementioned procedures shall apply in addition to the decisions of the Research Council on approving research proposals to be funded by the Research Council.

13)        After the Research Council's approval of the research projects submitted to it, an agreement shall be signed between TRC and SQU to administer the project's budget.

14)        For consultancy services, the following shall be considered:

a.     The PI may discuss the consultancy activity informally with the sponsor.

b.     A contract with the agency requesting the service shall be signed prior to doing the service.

c.     Costs of SQU personnel offering the service shall be stated and these include the cost of consultancy services in lieu of the time spent by SQU personnel working on that activity, in addition to the University charges overhead for using its name, personnel and facilities in accordance with the provisions of these regulations. These costs do not include the use of specialized equipment that the service may require.