Research Grants Opportunities-2023

  • Rashid Bin Humaid Cultural and Science Award

    This is a great opportunity for scientific research category for academic and administrative staff who are interested in writing and publishing their work in Arabic. The usage of classical/formal Arabic is mandatory in all submissions for the award, except for contributions to the areas of pure science and applied scientific research (e.g., engineering, medicine and health, environmental science, nutrition, and information technology), in which case works should be submitted in both Arabic and English. Note that papers in the humanities subjects (Sharia and legal studies, educational and psychological studies, social studies, administration studies, economics, and literary criticism) must be written in the Arabic language. The deadline for the submissions is April 30th, 2023.

  • Researcher platform - The Official Portal of the UAE Government

    The Researcher platform is the first national scientific research-funding platform. Researches are funded under three main programmes: Sandooq Al Watan Fellowship programme, SWARD programme and grants programme.

  1. Sandooq Al Watan’s Fellowship Programme: seeks to support students and innovators in implementing small-scale applied scientific research. It aims to create a cadre of young researchers and enhance the innovation culture. The programme has three categories: independent projects, undergraduate projects and graduate projects.
    • 1.1 Independent project: to be qualified to get an independent project grant, the researcher must:
      • be a UAE national
      • submit a research proposal as per the guidelines
      • disclose his current employment status.
    • 1.2 Undergraduate project: will support talented university undergraduates through funding their research projects. The programme is designed to foster UAE talents and encourage university-level students to partake in scientific research projects. To qualify for the undergraduate project grant, the researcher must be:
      • UAE national
      • Submit a research proposal as per the guidelines
      • Have a minimum Major GPA of 2.7.

    • 1.3 Graduate project: to qualify for the graduate project grant, the researcher must be:
      • UAE national.
      • Submit a research proposal as per the guidelines.
      • Have a minimum Major GPA of 2.7.
      Note: The average funding for each research/category should be between 5,000 and 10,000 (five thousand and ten thousand) AED. In certain cases and given reasonable justification, researchers can apply for additional funding of no more than 25,000 (twenty five thousand) AED.
  2. The SWARD programseeks to bridge the gap between academia and industry in the UAE to deliver tangible social and economic outcomes to the country. The programme supports medium to large-scale projects across four areas which are: aerospace and defense, water management, healthcare and genomics, and fourth industrial revolution.
    • 2.1 Aerospace and defense: The UAE is one of the major aerospace hubs with its national airline Etihad, being at the forefront of the aviation industry. Many of today’s commonly used products were originally military and defense-based research projects. Microwaves, medical scanners, cameras, and navigation devices are some of the examples. Therefore, the UAE seeks to pioneer the aerospace and defense technologies. Funding aerospace and defense researches focus on remote and thermal sensing, composite materials and astronautics.

    • 2.2 Water management: Water scarcity is one of the biggest global concerns around the world, particularly in the Middle East region. The crucial need for innovative solutions drove the UAE’s National Innovation Strategy to prioritize the water sector. Funding water researches focus on two sectors: water desalination and wastewater treatment, water reuse and recycling.

    • 2.3 Healthcare and genomics: Developing a world-class health system is of a crucial importance to sustain both the social and economic development of a nation. In line with this vision, the National Innovation Strategy prioritized the healthcare sector and promoted innovation in the delivery of healthcare services. Funding health researches focus on genomics and bioinformatics and biomedical robotics and devices.
  3. The grants programmeis a one-stop shop where researchers will find announcements of various funding opportunities offered by other entities in the UAE.