Researchers at SQU can apply for a Funded Research Project in the following Research Themes:
Environmental and Biological Research:
It includes agriculture, fisheries, water and biodiversity. Important sub-themes are optimizing productivity of agriculture and fisheries, conservation of biological resources and fresh water, and environmental management, with emphasis on sustainable development. Climate change, desertification, disposal of oil-production water, brine from desalination industries, pollution, earthquake monitoring, water resources management, protection of endangered species and environmental restoration are also key issues. This theme requires cross-disciplinary approaches to environmental problem solving and involves agricultural and fisheries scientists, biologists, climatologists, hydrologists, ecologists, environmental engineers and economists, physical geographers, system analysts and remote sensing and GIS specialists.
Energy and non-renewable resources research:
It focuses on the oil and gas industry in Oman. Emphasis is on improving our understanding of the location and nature of reserves, enhanced oil recovery and the development of alternate energy sources including solar and other renewable energy forms. Geo sciences and mineral resources are also an important area of study.
Humanities and social sciences:
research It covers culture, economy, business and management models, society, geography and law as well as history, archaeology, language and literature. Three major sub-themes are economy, cultures and society. Research in these areas is critical to an understanding of the economic, political, historical, educational, legal, social and global context within which Omani society operates.
Information and communication systems research:
It includes telecommunications, digital technology, computer science, e-commerce, electrical and computer engineering, physics, informatics and mathematics. Major sub-themes include computer engineering, computer science, information technology, management information systems, software engineering, communication and networking technology, embedded systems, electronics, instrumentation and control.
Fundamental research:
It addresses the advance of knowledge in fundamental areas of science and humanities, including philosophy, linguistics, mathematics, statistics, econometrics, theoretical physics and geophysics, physical chemistry and mathematical biology/ecology. It is basically grounded on theoretical paradigms and fosters insight-inspired topics that do not have obvious or immediate application. Some of the sub-themes include fluid physics, high energy physics, mathematical analysis, discrete mathematical systems, differential equations and dynamical system, modeling, fractals, chaos and theory of computing.
Materials research:
It includes studies on the development, characteristics, structure and properties (physical and chemical) of natural and synthetic materials. Sub-themes include condensed matter physics, studies on nanomaterial, superconductors, metals, construction materials and electronic components.
Educational research:
It considers educational psychology, early childhood education, language planning and policies, language acquisition, testing, accreditation and quality assurance, assessment and evaluation, educational technology, vocational guidance and counseling, special needs, human resources development and leadership. It also experiments with new pedagogies.
Industry-related research:
It includes industrial and engineering technology, food safety, security and processing and commercial aspects. Major sub-themes include soft aspects such as governance, financial markets, human resource management and e-commerce; and hard aspects such as construction, biotechnology and manufacturing.
Life & health sciences:
It includes all medical topics including nursing and pharmacology.