Muscat: The eleventh cycle of the Annual Research Forum under the theme ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship’ organized by the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MoHERI) was held on Monday at the Oman Across Ages Museum in Wilayat of Manah, in which the winners of the National Research Award were announced.
The forum was under the auspcies of Dr Khamis bin Saif al Jabri, Chairman of Oman Vision 2040 Implementation Follow-Up Unit, and in the attendance of several officials, academics and research winners.
The event kicked off with a speech by HE Prof Dr Rahma bint Ibrahim al Mahrooqi, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, stating that “this edition of the Annual Research Forum comes to confirm that research and innovation are at the heart of society, and at the centre of development efforts seeking to support economic diversity, as the National Research Award aims to link research and innovation outputs with institutional efforts, so that various sectors can benefit from this knowledge production and raise the status of the Sultanate of Oman in the Global Innovation Index.”
Following Her Excellency’s speech, the forum announced the 13 winning research projects of the 11th National Research Award (NRA) divided into the best published research led by a PhD holder or equivalent (senior specialist or higher in the medical field) category and the best published research led by a young researcher (non-PhD holder) category.
Under the PhD category, ‘Influence of Tissue Thermophysical Characteristics and Situ-Cooling on the Detection of Breast Cancer’ by Dr Mohammed Abdullah al Husaini (Arab Open University) and ‘Feed-forward networks using logistic regression and support vector machine for whole-slide breast cancer histopathology image classification’ by Dr Arunadevi Karuppasamy (Gulf College) both won in the Information and Communication Technologies field.
In the Environmental and Biological Resources field, the award went to ‘A robust decision-making framework to improve reservoir water quality using optimized selective withdrawal strategies’ by Dr Mohammad Reza Nikoo from Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), while ‘Exploring Learning-Oriented Assessment in Enhancing Students’ Lexical Fluency Through MALL’ by Dr Abdullah Humaid al Abri from the University of Technology and Applied Sciences Nizwa won in the Education and Human Resources field.
As for the Health and Social Services field, ‘Genomic and geospatial epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Oman: first national insight using whole genome sequencing’ by Dr Amina Khalfan al Jardani (Ministry of Health) won, while ‘Use closed reservoirs for CO2 storage and heat recovery: a two-stage brine-extraction and CO2-circulation strategy’ by Dr Mingjie Chen (SQU) won in the Energy and Industry field. Lastly, in the Cultural, Social and Basic Sciences field, ‘2-Picolinic acid as a naturally occurring hydrogen bond donor for the preparation of cyclic carbonates from terminal/internal epoxides and CO2’ by Dr Ali Rostami from the University of Nizwa.
Under the Young Researcher’s category, ‘Banana fruit bruise detection using fractal dimension based image processing’ by Dr Mai Khalfan al Dairi (SQU) won in the Information and Communication Technologies field, while ‘Desalination and acid-base recovery in a novel design of microbial desalination and chemical recovery cell’ by Azhar Juma al Hinai (Environment Authority) won in the Environmental and Biological Resources field.
In the Education and Human Resources field, the award went to ‘Challenges facing Innovation Management in Omani Higher Education Institutions from the Point of View of Innovative Students’ by Marhouna Hamed al Maqbali (Ministry of Education), while ‘Delirium and Its Association with Short- and Long-Term Health Outcomes in Medically Admitted Patients: A Prospective Study’ by Dr Aisha Ramadhan al Huraizi from Sultan Qaboos University Hospital was awarded in the Health and Social Services field.
For the Energy and Industry field, ‘Binary mixture droplet wetting on micro-structure decorated surfaces’ by Dr Khaloud Moosa al Balushi (University of Technology and Applied Sciences Suhar) took the award, while in the Cultural, Social and Basic Sciences field, it was awarded to ‘Ternary Phenolate-Based Thiosemicarbazone Complexes of Copper(II): Magnetostructural Properties, Spectroscopic Features and Marked Selective Antiproliferative Activity against Cancer Cells’ by Dr Iman Khalid al Salmi from the University of Technology and Applied Sciences Mussanah.
The forum also witnessed signing research contracts for the Strategic Research Program and the Block Funding Program. The Strategic Research Program signed with 5 government institutions, while the Block Funding Program signed with 29 academic institutions.
Moreover, during the forum, Dr Eng Nabil Shalaby, Founder and Chairman of the Arab Entrepreneur House (ARENHO) consulting firm in Egypt, provided a presentation on strengthening the entrepreneurship ecosystem in higher education institutions.
Dr Hamdan Sulaiman al Fazari, Vice Chancellor of Sohar University, which is the main sponsor of the forum, also took the stage to discuss the importance of university research in advancing national priorities and enhancing their global reach, stating that “by aligning research initiatives with national priorities, universities can contribute to developing solutions that have a direct impact on society, the economy and the environment.”
The forum also held discussion sessions on the innovator’s journey from idea to implementation as well as the role of institutions in supporting innovation and entrepreneurship.
There was also an accompanying exhibition consisting of 13 posters of the winning NRA research projects and 13 posters of research and innovation success stories and projects of the Ministry.
The Annual Research Forum aims to enhance the research and innovation culture in the Sultanate, promoting creativity and entrepreneurial potential among Omani citizens, and developing new ways to turn the Sultanate of Oman into a knowledge-based economy and society in line with Oman Vision 2040.
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