UAEU Researcher Receives Qatar Foundation Grant
Prof. Waleed Hamza, Biology Department, Faculty of Science, United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) was awarded a grant worth USD 700,000 from the Qatar Foundation.
Dr. Sehamuddin Galadari, Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies, said: "Principal Investigators such as Prof. Hamza make us proud to be part of the UAEU family of scholars. Efforts such as this attest to the quality and caliber of faculty members at UAEU.”
He continued: “Our faculty members strive to get competitive funding, and our duty in research administration is to facilitate this. I wish to thank H.H. Sheikh Nahyan Mabarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Chancellor of UAEU, as well as H.E. the Vice Chancellor, Dr Abdulla Al Khanbashi, for their continued support in providing the research environment that enables such successes."
This project is a continuity of what has been established at UAEU during the last two years with a research fund awarded by Emirates Foundation to Prof. Waleed Hamza, in collaboration with the Max-Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Bremen-Germany (MPI).
The success of the UAEU team with the German team to reach concrete results has convinced the Qatar Foundation reviewers to grant this project as a collaborative project mainly between the Qatar Ministry of Environment and United Arab Emirates University in collaboration with MPI and the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ).
The Project budget is USD 699,590 and will cover two years (2012-2014). The project will cover areas between UAE and Qatar territories in both inland and coastal areas.
The project title is “Nutritive Contribution of Sahara dust to the Microbial Productivity of the Arabian Gulf Marine Ecosystem: Sources, fluxes and possible pathways.”
The objective of the study is to understand the dust nutritive contribution to the Arabian Gulf Ecosystem productivity. It extends to identify source areas and trajectory from source to sink, comparing the nutritive contribution with published information on other major Sahara dust, studying the marine microbial activities role in transforming the leachable nutrients from dust to the Gulf ecosystem nutrient budget and linking with the knowledge of Sahara dust international research.
Of particular interest are the inputs of elements such as nitrogen, phosphorus and iron, which are essential for the biological growth of marine organisms.
The study area will be at Qatar and UAE while the study plan set up and sampling will be carried out in collaboration with the team members from the different research institutes. Obtained results from analyses and experiments will be treated both mathematically and statistically and merge into modelling to get an almost real evaluation of the contribution of dust blown from Arabia on the Arabian Gulf Marine Ecosystem.
Dr. Khaled Amiri, Chair of the Biology Department, UAEU Faculty of Science, said: "The award of this research grant is one of the several accomplishments of Prof. Waleed; in the department, we congratulate him and look forward to continuous progress in the numerous research strands we are pursuing, especially as they attract recognition and funding, and can be useful to practical and industrial applications.”
He added: “The Biology Department aims to provide solutions to the society through research, education, and partnership with community."
Media Enquiries: media_enquiries@uaeu.ac.ae
Notes to Editors:
United Arab Emirates University (UAEU)
- 21st Century research-based university, providing research solutions to support the UAE and, through its global partners, the wider world
- Founded in 1976 by HH Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan; the UAE’s first national university
- Chancellor: His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research
- Ranked # 338 in the 2011/2012 Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings
- Nine faculties:12,279 students enrolled in 2010/1112,279 students enrolled in 2010/11
- Business & Economics
- Education
- Engineering
- Food & Agriculture
- Humanities & Social Sciences
- Information Technology
- Law
- Medicine & Health Science
- Science
- 12,279 students enrolled in 2010/11
- First PhD program in UAE national institution commenced in 2009
- Strong focus on providing specific research solutions and benefits to society − the new model of a 21st Century university, furthering research as part of the global network of discovery and innovation
- http://www.uaeu.ac.ae
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