• Financial support is offered to SQU staff to participate in conferences and present a scientific contribution. If more than one staff member is involved in the scientific work only one author or co-author, receives the financial support.
• An Application for Conference Attendance, with the recommendation of the HOD, AD-PSR, Dean or Hospital/Center Director, must be submitted to DVC-PSR together with an abstract of scientific contribution, a preliminary acceptance letter from conference organizers. A final approval for the latter should be submitted prior to issuance of the Financial Support Qarar.
• The Dean, Hospital/Center Director should forward all applications to Deanship of Research, at least, two months prior to travel.
• A report should be submitted to DVC-PSR, on the prescribed form describing how much of benefit was the conference through the conference attendance system, including a copy of the attendance certificate, a week after the return from conference.
• The conference attendance leaves must not exceed 10 days throughout the academic year.

College Budget (Omanis):

• The participant will be granted official leave and will receive a return economy class ticket, registration fees and all allowances according to the participant status. If the conference organizers offer financial support, SQU will only grant official leave.
• The financial support will be offered once per academic year.
• The financial support is subject to availability of college budget.

Conference Central Budget:

• The applicant must have spent a minimum of one year as an SQU employee and will continue serving SQU for at least one more year after attending the conference.
• A committee chaired by the DVC-PSR, with the Deanship of Research, is to study and decide on the applications for conference attendance financed from the central budget.
• The financial support will be offered once during the financial year including an economy return ticket from Muscat or wherever is the participant, whichever is closer to the conference site. The support would include the ticket fare that should not exceed 600 O.R., 400 O.R of conference attendance allowance and the official leave.

Research Projects  (Strategic Research, Collaborative Research Projects):

•  The principal or co-investigator would be provided with an economy class ticket, registration fees, allowances according to the academic status and an official leave if budget allows.
• One participation can be provided in a project to each of the PI and Co-Investigators.

Research Projects  (Contract Projects & Consultancy):

• The principal and co-investigators would be provided up to a business class ticket, registration fees, allowances according to the academic status and an official leave if budget allows.

Personal Expenses: 

• If an academic requests a conference attendance on his/her own expenses, an official leave shall be granted.  No scientific paper need be submitted.

Invitation from conference organizers

• An official leave shall be granted if the applicant is invited by the conference organizing committee, who would cover all financial expenses. No scientific paper need be submitted.

1. When I can apply for a conference?

You should apply for a conference at least 2 months prior the conference date to ensure the timely completion of the administrative and financial procedures.

2. How should I apply for a conference?

You should apply through the online conference attendance system (https://ecas.squ.edu.om/ecas/default.aspx). Your application will be processed through the same system by the HoD, Assistant Dean for PSR, and the Dean or Director.

3. What files I need to upload with my application?

You should upload the acceptance letter of your paper (ensuring that it includes the title of your paper and your name) and the research paper.

4. Is it possible for multiple authors of the same paper to apply for conference funding?

It is NOT possible to fund multiple authors of the same paper. We can only process one author per paper and it should be the first author or another author as the presenter who is nominated by the first author.

5. What should I do if I did not receive the acceptance letter on time?

It is possible to upload the abstract/paper acceptance email from the conference organizers provided that it includes your paper title. However, it is still necessary to send the paper’s acceptance letter to the Conference Affairs section once you have received it in order to to be granted the final approval.

6. How many days can I take for conference leave?

You can take 10 days per academic year for conference attendance based on article 165 of the Regulations of SQU Law.

7. The HoD, Assistant Dean, Dean or Director is late in approving my application. What should I do?

You can contact them or their coordinators directly to remind them about your application. If you still experience difficulties, you can then contact us to help determine the reasons for the delay.

8. How I can follow up my application after submitting it?

You can follow up the status of your application through the Conference Attendance System itself and/or through the emails which are sent automatically through the system at each approval level.

9. What is the difference between the academic year and financial/calendar year?

Academic year: 1st September – 31st August. Financial year: 1st January – 31st December.

10. How many conferences can I attend per year?

You can attend only one conference per financial year using the conference central budget for academics and researchers and, for Omanis only, one conference using the college/unit budget.

11. Can I use the Conference Central Budget?

Yes, you can use the conference central budget one time during the financial year if you are an academic or researcher and if you have been at SQU for at least one year and will continue serving the university for one more year from the conference date.

12. I am an Omani employee in SQU, what are my conference funding options?

There are two options for Omanis if they are presenting paper: a. Conference central budget - if you are an academic or researcher and if you meet the general rules for accessing this budget. b. College/unit budget based on article 166 in the Regulations of SQU Law.

13. I have a funded research project and I would like to use funds from the project to attend a conference. Is this possible?

Yes, you can apply to use these funds based on article 167 in the Regulations of SQU Law by using the online Conference Attendance System. However, the final approval for funding is subject to the decision of the specialized section in Research Department.

14. My contract in SQU will end 10 months of the conference date. Is it possible to receive conference leave?

Is it possible if you are requesting leave only; however, it is not possible to receive funding through SQU’s central budget.

15. Does the university support conference attendance as an observer only (i.e. not presenting any paper)?

No financial support is offered for observer participation. However, the applicant can request leave only by accessing their personal expenses or through invitation from the conference organizers. For Omanis, this is regulated by article 165 in the Regulations of SQU Law.

16. Can I buy my own flight ticket instead of waiting for qarar until it is issued?

No, you can NOT book your own ticket and you should wait for the qarar to be issued before contacting the Ticketing Section in Procurement Department to arrange the booking for you. This is based on the circulation of Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Administrative and Financial Affairs that itself was based on the Ministry of Finance order (6/2016) about the prevention of reimbursement of ticket costs.

17. What should I do after coming back from the conference?

You must complete the conference report online using the Conference Attendance System so the report can be viewed and approved by the relevant Assistant Deans/Directors. Your timely and complete submission of the conference report will affect your ability to apply for conference support in the future.

To apply for attending a conference, please use the link below: 

https://ecas.squ.edu.om/ecas/default.aspx