UAE's HBMSU launches research seminars to foster culture of research and knowledge

DUBAI, 28th May, 2017 (WAM) -- As part of efforts to re-engineer the future of learning through technology, innovation, and scientific research, the Hamdan bin Mohammed Smart University, HBMSU, has said that it is to organise weekly research seminars to be moderated by academic and industry experts. This move aims to create a high-level research environment with global participation, which can greatly improve the quality of education outcomes and enhance the outputs of faculty, learners and graduates.

The new initiative will focus on developing sustainable, flexible, and innovative research capabilities in line with the wise leadership's directions to transform universities into research centres that entrench the passion for leadership and knowledge in future generations.

The weekly research seminars expect wide participation from HBMSU faculty and administrative members of Masters and PhD Degree holders as well as international participation, and engage learners in a move that looks to boost the UAEs global competitiveness based on four key pillars that help build a culture of research at HBMSU: promoting collaborative research with governmental entities and leading research, academic and educational institutions locally, regionally and internationally, aligning research activities and outputs of faculty and learners with HBMSUs research priorities, establishing a highly qualified and experienced research team to lead the excellence process of HBMSU in spreading the culture of smart learning and innovation, and to encourage serious scientific research in the Arab world.

Dr. Mansoor Al Awar, Chancellor of HBMSU, said, "To achieve HBMSUs goal of revolutionising the Arab Worlds learning landscape, we should start from within, specifically the development of our research capabilities. Doing so will create, build, and enrich knowledge according to the vision of our wise leadership, which believes in the role of young scientists in building a scientific and knowledge base and national research capacities.

"It is our responsibility to support and implement high-level research studies in various key fields such as smart learning, Total Quality Management, and healthcare and environmental management. This is in line with the directives of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and President of the University, to create a climate conducive to stimulating scientific research and direct innovation and creativity as the country transitions into a knowledge economy capable of keeping up with the rapid changes in the 21st century," he added.

"Our weekly sessions are an important addition to our continuous efforts to employ the best internal and external expertise in establishing a strong scientific research culture among our staff, learners, and graduates. Through this initiative, we aim to cement HBMSUs status as a hub for research excellence across the Arab World, while helping advance the countrys goals under the National Innovation Strategy and the overarching UAE Vision 2021 development agenda. We believe that research is a prerequisite to excellence not only for the academe but for the industries and the government as well. This is the reason we are implementing our initiative in three phases to accommodate all the submitted research from the participants," Dr. Al Awar concluded.

HBMSUs weekly research seminars will be implemented in three stages involving the participation of full-time and associate faculty members, academic administrators, Masters and PhD Degrees holders, international partners, lead researchers, postgraduate learners from the UAE and the world and HBMSU learners. Among the initiatives critical success factors are the quantity and quality of research outputs, value of research grants, number of collaborative research teams, portfolio of speakers and researchers, number of research proposals, innovativeness and relevance of presented open research areas, level of planning and organization, level of discussions and engagement; and number of participants. The sessions will be conducted every Thursday on the university campus, with the participation of speakers from various academic disciplines.