Research Pillars and Priorities

As part of its latest transformation strategy (2018-2023), Qatar University (QU) strives to become a globally recognized higher education institution that drives impact-focused interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary research. QU is currently ranked as a leading institution internationally in terms of global research partnerships and is recognized for accommodating a broad diversity of talented faculty members and innovative researchers who have the potential to pursue the University’s vision of excellence and fulfill its goal of becoming the higher education institution of choice for distinguished researchers and students. Being the first national and largest university in Qatar, QU has built a reputation of excellence and is the leading university in terms of research output in most disciplines. QU also has the largest pool of undergraduate and graduate students, making it the source of human capital for most sectors of the economy. Through impactful and high-quality research, the university aims to address Qatar’s research needs in the areas of national priority with the ambition to explore new opportunities for knowledge transfer and research commercialization.

National Needs and QU’s Research Pillars

In the identification of the core research areas, it was essential to utilize various sources of data collection, including QU strategy, national and sectoral strategies, external stakeholder research needs, internal analysis of QU’s research landscape, and international research trends. All of which fed into the identification of the broad thematic research pillars as well as the research priorities and focus areas under each of the FOUR research pillars:

For each pillar, we identified a number of core research areas and 2-4 transformative priorities that would constitute the base of QU’s impactful research.

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Core Research Areas and Transformative Priorities

The core research areas are selected to address the national needs of the State of Qatar, in alignment with Qatar National Development Strategy 2 (QNDS-2; 2018-2023) and Qatar National Vision 2030 (QNV 2030). The transformative Research Priorities have been decided to consider the current strengths of research at QU that can be constructed to constitute a powerful base for the transformation of the national economy into a knowledge-based economy. Both priority categories aim to promote interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary research as well as establish new milestones for global impact, innovation, and potential commercialization opportunities.