The Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation has developed the Oman Research Portal, which is one of the national initiatives that aims to establish an integrated system to provide many electronic platforms and complementary tools to facilitate and enrich the research environment in the Sultanate.
The portal provides research services to scholars wishing to submit their research proposals within the programmes of the ministry. Through the portal, the researcher can submit their research proposal from anywhere with Internet access. The results of the evaluation of the submitted proposal and evaluation reports can also be followed up through the portal. The researcher can access the portal if their institution is affiliated with the ministry or if they are registered as independent researchers.
The portal also provides statistics on the number of researchers registered in the Research Information Management System (RIMS) and the number of submitted and approved research proposals. The portal displays statistical information on the number of scientific publications, practical journals, industrial challenges and current research projects available as well.
Regarding the facilities provided by the Oman Research Portal, Eng Nasser bin Ali al Mandhari, Director of the Oman Research Portal Project at the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, maintained that the portal facilitates the process of communication between users and research centres and institutions in the Sultanate. It also provides quick access to national and international research systems and easy access to research topics, publications and project outputs, in addition to presenting research-related news, research statistics, research projects and submissions, and more.
RESEARCH PLATFORMS
In regard to the platforms and programmes available in the Oman Research Portal, Eng Nasser al Mandhari said that the portal contains many digital platforms and electronic systems that support scientific research, such as the Oman Research Repository (Shuaa), Oman Research and Education Network (OMREN), EJAAD, the National Equipment and Facilities Database (iLab), and Masader (Oman Virtual Science Library).
Eng Nasser al Mandhari added that the portal includes many research services such as the Taawun platform, which is an interactive platform that facilitates communication between researchers and those interested in research and innovation. The Research Information Management System (RIMS) is another service provided by the Oman Research Portal, and it is an electronic system for the integrated management of research support projects and programmes and institutional and individual funding opportunities in association with the ministry. Through RIMS, new and existing research projects are managed as well as funding requests, scientific publications, research reports and other related services are available for use by researchers from institutions affiliated with the ministry electronically.
The Oman Research Portal also includes the National Equipment and Facilities Database (iLab), which is a web-based system that helps researchers locate and learn about the available research equipment in the Sultanate to assist them in undertaking research and scientific measures. iLab displays the status of available equipment, how to request it, and the cost of its usage, and it aims to centralise and list all local research equipment and facilities to efficiently utilise available resources and optimise research activities.
NEW FEATURES
The Oman Research Portal has added features to support the RIMS service, which is under trial, such as allowing research institutions from outside Oman to link electronically with the ministry, linguistic proofreading, and discovering the percentage of plagiarism in the submitted research proposals in order to maintain the quality and originality of the proposals, in addition to having the automated assistant service, which allows users to obtain automated assistance in the event of having any difficulties in using the service.
A database is also being developed for research equipment purchased within the financial allocations for projects funded by the Research and Innovation Sector (formerly known as The Research Council), which will contribute significantly to avoiding wasting public money on buying the same equipment each time and avoiding overstocking of the same equipment. It will also help in sharing resources between research institutions, allowing institutions to benefit with one another and achieving financial profits.
UTILISATION OF RIMS
The Oman Research Portal allows researchers to submit research funding applications online effectively at any time and place through RIMS. With regard to the service, Idris bin Said al Hasani from the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation stated that the service provides researchers with information that tracks the status of the research support request and its various stages of evaluation, and it is equipped with a programmed alert or notification feature through e-mail messages.
The Oman Research Portal provides research services to scholars wishing to submit their research proposals within the programmes of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation
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