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The Research Council was established on 22nd of June 2005, pursuant to the Royal Decree number 54/2005. It carries tasks related to research and endeavors to promote and support research using all the material and moral means possible.
The Research Council in this capacity shall be the main national authority in this area, acts as a focal point for research and innovation and liaise with various institutions concerned with research.
The Research Council is both a policy-making institution and a funding agency. The role of the Research council includes:
- Promoting scientific enquiry and disseminating scientific knowledge, and nurturing people with research talents and abilities and creating new techniques and methods that assist in propelling the wheel of social and economic development and improving living standards of the citizens.
- Fostering researchers and encouraging them by offering them all material and moral support; Introducing the private sector to various investment activities that can be done in the field of science and technology and providing these investors with the necessary scientific research services
- Building research capacities through supporting research chairs and establishing scientific research centers; and Spreading awareness among the people through the media on the important role of science, technology, innovation and creativity on achieving sustainable development.
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The fundamental vision for the future of research in the Sultanate is based on the following aspirations:
- Oman will become a regional hub for innovation, a leader in producing new ideas, products and services.
- Oman will have a deep research capacity.
- Omani research will excel in selected fields of national importance.
- Oman will have a research culture that responds swiftly to local social and economic needs.
- Oman will have a world-class infrastructure for evidence-based policy making.
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To create a culture of innovation that is responsive to local needs and international trends, fosters social harmony, and leads to creativity and excellence.
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Research and innovation are to be fostered through a balanced mix of programs. Each has a unique set of specificities so that, overall, the Research Council manages a portfolio of research investments characterized by short, medium and long term projects, a variety of proactive and reactive approaches, and both competitive and cooperative initiatives. This effort to diversify the promotion of research and innovation minimizes the risk of failure and maximize potential sources of benefit.
Research capacity
First, national research capacity must increase. Relative to statistics from more advanced systems, the current research quantum is rather low. This is basically because researcher numbers themselves are low, which in turn stems from limited student numbers in university research programs. To address this capacity deficit, the suggested approach is to provide competitive research grants to faculty, post-doctoral fellows and graduate students at all universities; also to offer globally competitive salaries for faculty, stipends for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows, capital expenditure for laboratories, funding for conferences, and disbursements for all other related activities. It is expected that, under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education, mentor-driven postgraduate programs will proliferate as a result of grants provided, thus expanding the research capacity of the nation.
Research excellence
Further, excellence in strategic areas will become a focus. This translates into refereed and competitive strategic grants to academe and the private sector, appoint research chairs by inviting universities to submit proposals, and recruit leading international talent and establish research centers in areas of national importance.
Research linkages and knowledge transfer
It is also important to build a connecting bridge of research for the diffusion of knowledge between academe, local industries, government and the community as a whole and to align all research activity with local social, economic and developmental needs.
Responsiveness to local economic and social needs
Knowledge diffusion among stakeholders is promoted through conference support, which implies the financial and technical assistance necessary for organizing scientific events in Oman. Such a program enables local researchers to network with peers locally and internationally, exchange ideas, and widely broadcast their research findings. This would also entail the establishment of a publishing house, an independent entity for publicizing quality research in the Sultanate and facilitating communication and interaction between researchers and knowledge end-users.
Integration into the global environment
In terms of international knowledge transfer, the goal is to embed Oman in the global web of research for collaboration on leading-edge ideas. Research grants, therefore, are proposed for international collaboration, faculty and student exchange, international post-doctoral fellowships, conference and workshop participation, and other mechanisms of exchange. In particular, such grants are recommended in key areas, where awards will be based on scientific merit and the recipients’ (individual or institutional) ability to contribute to Oman’s culture of research and innovation.
Knowledge utilization and wealth creation
Linking academe and industry (particularly small and medium-sized firms) involves creating regional innovation support centers and hiring knowledge brokers to facilitate the assessment of research needs, fund collaborative research, and simply get problems solved. In the areas of education and social services similar programs will be designed based on the same concept of knowledge intermediation. A complementary program includes funding academe-to-industry and industry-to-academe secondment and mobility so that ideas and people flow between these two worlds.
is the only way to capture commercial value from research. This can be achieved by identifying entrepreneurs and small-to-medium size enterprises with innovative ideas; also by co-investment with the private sector in providing grants for the creation of business plans, incubation and prototyping environments.
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Last Updated 04/04/2010
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Establishment Address
| P.O.Box |
1422
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| P.C |
130
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| City |
AL-Athaiba
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| Phone |
+968 24 50 98 44
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| Fax |
+968 24 50 98 20
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| Email |
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| Web Site |
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