By Wajeeha Malik and Neha Rashid
As part of Qatar Foundation’s aim to help the country develop into a “knowledge-based economy”, the Undergraduate Research Experience Program (UREP) has been gaining momentum since its establishment in 2006. Launched by the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF), UREP aims to provide undergraduate students with the opportunity to conduct research under the mentorship of faculty from QNRF-approved public, private, academic, and research institutions in Qatar.
“The main purpose is to promote “learning-by-doing” and “hands-on” research activities as effective methods for undergraduate education,” says Ahmed Baghdady, program officer for the QNRF.
Since its inception, QNRF has received a more than 1700 research proposals and has approved 761 projects. According to Baghdady, more than 2,300 students have been involved in these projects. The UREP funding ‘cycle’ occurs twice yearly, and opens for submission in the Spring and Fall of each year. The program is now in its 17th cycle.
The proposals deal with various disciplines, from engineering and technology to the social sciences and humanities. There are currently 73 active UREP projects that are ongoing within Qatar Foundation.
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in Qatar, for example, has seven ongoing research projects. One of these ongoing projects is titled ‘The Doha Paradox: Reasons for Disparity between Educated and Working Qatari Women’. Proposed by Dr. Amira Sonbol, a professor at SFS-Q, this project involves several SFS-Q students, including Culture and Politics junior Tayreem Asghar.
“The purpose of the project is to decipher why there is a large gap between the number of Qatari women who are gaining a tertiary education in Qatar and the number who are working after graduation,” says Asghar, 21.
Asghar believes that being involved in a UREP research can help undergraduate students. “I feel that undergraduate research not only helps students expand their knowledge about a certain topic, but it gives them an opportunity to understand themselves better in terms of their interests and area of study for the future, perhaps graduate studies,” she says.
UREP is open to researchers and faculty from all QNRF approved research offices. All undergraduate students from these institutions are eligible to participate in the program through their ‘research mentors’. All universities within Education City are approved by QNRF.
Students can apply for the UREP grant through a primary faculty member, who acts as mentor. The faculty mentor is responsible for the writing of the proposal and works closely with the university’s research office. The application process is entirely online and is completed by the mentor.
Northwestern University in Qatar (NU-Q) currently has two active grants with seven faculty members and over 21 students involved. One of the projects focuses on the engagement and empowerment of Qatari women, especially within the female “majlis”, or gatherings. The other project focuses on the driving behaviors of Qatari men and will result in a documentary that will be played across Qatar. The impact of the documentary on men’s driving will also be studied.
Although not a requirement, the UREP proposals that do get funded are generally linked to Qatar and “tend to be more successful,” according to Elizabeth Lance, Research Administrator at NU-Q. “[QNRF] are interested in funding things that will benefit this country,” says Lance. The program, Lance says, helps to build research capacity among students residing in Qatar.
While research proposals from universities around Education City have been pouring in, QNRF is working towards encouraging researchers in Qatar’s industrial sector to partner with universities and research institutions to increase the number of mentoring opportunities for students.
