HBKU Students Lead QNRF’s Research Award for Graduate Students

A total of 22 graduate students from Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) have qualified for a scholarship under the ninth cycle of Qatar National Research Fund’s (QNRF) Graduate Sponsorship Research Award (GSRA), making it one of the most successful cycles for HBKU students.

The program - designed to encourage students to pursue research-based studies - equips them with the knowledge, skills, and experience necessary to become future research and development leaders in Qatar and globally. This year, a total of 36 students from different institutions qualified for the award, making HBKU the most successful institution with its students receiving more than half of the total awards.

The scholarship will help the awardees conduct research across a diverse range of disciplines, with projects ranging from climate change mitigation to cybersecurity and deep learning, and from developing innovative learning solutions for autistic children to using genomic medicine for the treatment of chronic diseases.

Commenting on the success of HBKU students in this year’s GSRA cycle, Dr. Rachid Zaffou, a Senior Planning and Research Director, “Our students have once again made us all proud by performing exceptionally well in one of the most competitive sponsored research programs in the country. This success is a testament to HBKU’s commitment to helping foster a world-class research and development ecosystem in Qatar.”

He further added, “I congratulate all the awardees, who will gain exposure to critical research skills and methods while receiving valuable mentorship from their professors, as they prepare to tackle some of the foremost challenges faced in Qatar and beyond.”

The College of Science and Engineering (CSE) received the most awards with 17 of its students qualifying, whereas four students from the College of Health and Life Sciences (CHLS) and one from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) got the sponsorship.

The full list of awardees is: Aliya Banu (CSE), Noura Aldous (CHLS), Sara Nassar (CSE), Mohammed Alsooj (CSE), Abdulrahman Al-Raimi (CSE), Hend El Dous (CHLS), Aisha Siam (CSE), Amr Aboeleneen (CSE), Aisha Al-Marri (CSE), Hassan Saadat (CSE), Augusto Manuel Lucas (CSE), Sarah Hailan (CSE), Khaled Abouemara (CSE), Osama Mousa (CSE), Asma Elfadl (CSE), Maryam Al-Mansoob (CHLS), Dindha Andriani (CSE), Razan Sawaly (CSE), Dr. Fatima Al-Khawaja (CHLS), Ridab Hamid (CSE), Fatma Al-Sayed (CHSS), Hanan Nisar (CSE).