Visits Aimed at Creating a Receptive Environment of Interaction, Communication and Confidence-Building as a Strategy to Advance Institutional Research

Continuing its policy of direct communication with the faculties to improve institutional research, the Research Administration initiated a visit to the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies. The RS team, headed by Prof. Othman Al-Khadher, Acting Vice President for Research and his assistants Prof. Noriah Al-Kandari, Assistant Vice President for Research Analysis and Development, and Dr. Abdullah Jawad Sultan, Acting Assistant Vice President for Research Finance and Implementation, was received by Prof. Abdullah Awadh Al-Ajmi, Acting Dean of the College of Sharia and Islamic Studies, along with a group of academic faculty members, graduate students and interested researchers.

The meeting kicked off with a speech by Prof. Othman Al- Khadher in which he welcomed the audience and signaled that the Research Sector has launched the faculty visits activity, starting with Sharia, which falls within RS priorities to enhance sustainable development and achieve Kuwait Vision 2035 through increased faculty involvement in research and therefore generate distinguished outputs of international compatibility and enhance KU's global image and ranking.

Prof. Noriah Al-Kandari participated with a visual presentation illustrating the various aspects of research grants system offered by the RS, including the Research Initiation Grant for which all newly appointed Kuwaiti faculty members may apply from October 1st to December 31st, 2023. Continuing further, Prof. Al-Kandari discussed other aspects related to progress and final reports as well as procedures of scientific publication of funded and unfunded research. She also mentioned that the RS has announced its research awards for the academic year 2023/2024 and that applications for the Distinguished Researcher Award and Best Young Researcher Award are accepted from 1/10/2023 to 31/10/2023, while applications for the Research Excellence Award for Graduate Students are accepted from 15/10/2023 to 13/11/2023.

On his part, Dr. Abdullah Jawad Sultan talked about other related features such as the temporary manpower assigned to research projects, in addition to equipment and running costs. He also asked all researchers not to hesitate to contact the RS for further assistance.

The meeting aimed at creating a receptive environment of interaction, communication and confidence-building across KU's research community as a strategy to advance institutional research. Covering the wide-ranging research facilities offered by the RS, the visit ended with an interesting round of discussions as the RS team provided the needed clarifications and addressed researchers queries.