26
SPOTLIGHT
OMAN DAILY Observer
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2010
SQU signs agreement with City University
P
hotonics, which involves optical
and electrical sensing, has become
very important in our daily lives.
According to recent scientific reports, optical
technology will have an impact on many
spheres. Optical communication, for example,
has already witnessed great progress in CDs
and DVDs and in the use of lasers medical
treatment materials and appliances, and this
is in addition to communications which
are effective in transferring vast chunks of
information in a safe and speedy manner. One
thin fibre can carry data at a rate of 1 terabyte/
second to simultaneously sustain millions of
phone calls. Optical sensing plays a significant
role in bridge and dam building and petroleum
fields because it is safe and neither influences
nor is influenced by electronic machinery.
Yet in spite of these developments, photonics
technology can expand even further.
The Communication Centre at SQU is
concerned with improving mechanisms to
manage this technology and spread it widely
throughout the Sultanate. For this purpose
SQU has signed a research agreement,
financed by the British Council, with City
University, London, for the sake of developing
high speed optical modules for use in modern
telecommunications which coincides with the
Centre’s work in optical communication and
sensing. This, the first agreement of its kind
with City University, was signed by City’s
optical sensing specialist, Professor Kenneth
Grattan, Dean of the College of Engineering
and Math Appliances, and Vice-Dean
Professor Aziz Rahman, a specialist in optical
communication. We had conversations with
the two professors on the mutual importance
of this research for both sides.
¬ Study concentrates on the development of a high speed optical modulator
¬ Rahman and Grattan cite the atmosphere for mutual work at SQU as wonderful and conducive
Council’s funding.
It is important to mention, the researches
added, that the collaboration between the
two universities on this project was a key
factor in obtaining the funding. They hoped
it would become the cornerstone for many
larger projects in the future. They explained
that the competition for the award was a stiff,
and that evidently their mutual proposal was
approved by the selection committee because
of its ingenuity. They expected that the project
would produce significant results.
A true desire
Concerning SQU’s work environment and
its capacity for conducting mutual research
projects, the researchers said that they believe
that the University is qualified to carry out
such projects because of the great support
The agreement
given by the administration for research
At the beginning the visitors spoke about
and because of the presence of the highly
the mechanism through which the agreement
qualified and motivated academics with
was reached by the two universities and
long experience and impressive publication
mentioned that The British Council had set
records in this field. Such elements, the
aside some funding for financing research
researchers’ emphasised will be key factors in
on sensing. Naturally many institutions,
obtaining any future financial support from the
including City University and SQU applied
Sultanate, the UK or the European Union.
for it. The visitors found a striking similarity
The researchers said that the international
between City’s proposal and SQU’s, and
use of photonics technology is a comparatively
because they thought it would benefit for
recent when compared to similar technologies.
both institutions, they took the initiative of
contacting their colleagues at SQU for the sake For example, it is used in very limited markets
and in particular applications in only a few
of collaboration. Luckily, they received the
companies. Accordingly, the Sultanate’s drive
SQU supports
100 research
projects in 2010
S
eventy-four research projects submitted by
SQU’s colleges have been recently approved for internal support at a cost of RO 500,000. The projects,
dealing with diverse topics are as follows: approved this
year deal with several topics:
Eighteen in applied sciences focusing on environmental
issues.
Eight dealing with information and communication
technology.
One dealing with energy and non-renewable resources.
Three focusing on industry.
Nineteen addressing life and health sciences.
Twelve focusing on basic research.
Four investigating materials.
The applied sciences projects will investigate scientific
phenomena, and enhance technologies of significance locally and internationally. The humanities projects will deal
with issues related to culture, society and heritage as well
as archaeology and languages.
In order to help the state, the private sector, and local
and international organisations to find solutions to the
challenges they face, SQU has signed 26 research contracts
with a number of bodies inside and outside the Sultanate at
a total cost of RO 1,000,000.
During recent years, SQU has carried out and executed
a number of significant studies whose results improved
living standards in the Sultanate. They also played a visible role in energising the national research drive in all its
aspects. This in turn has encouraged leading global institutions all over the world to enter into research partnerships
with the University.
It is worth mentioning that from 1995 to 2009 SQU
approved 1137 projects at a total cost of more than RO
2,250,000 millions, divided as follows: RO 5,500,000 for
internal grants supporting 783 projects; RO 4,500,000
for 43 strategic projects supported by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Royal Grant; and RO 10,000,000 supporting
311 contract and consultancy projects. The total cost of all
supported projects RO 20,000,000.
to apply is going well as evidenced by SQU’s
interest in it. We hope, they added, that in the
near future, it will be widely used inter alia
in health, roads, bridges and oil fields. This
will take time and effort and involve more
development and modernisation of photonics
itself.
They added that the high cost of this
technology could be an obstacle for its further
use, but that less costly technologies would not
be suitable in certain areas like oil recovery,
and that it would take more time to become
less expensive. For example using optical
fibres to discover the temperature of your
office would cost much more than using a
simple thermometer. But, despite its relatively
high cost, they added, photonics technology
has already solved many problems in such
sectors as petroleum and electricity because
traditional technologies were unable to provide
the necessary accuracy and safety needed.
Less cost
The researchers explained that the
project with City University will investigate
the development a mechanism through
which photonics technology and optical
sensing would become less costly. They
are encouraged by the fact that optical
communication is already widespread which
will help in this regard. Music, for example,
the researchers added, used to depend on
the cassette, but nowadays it depends on
CDs operated by laser, which is an optical
technology, and this is the same with printers.
The present project will focus on developing
more accurate and less expensive photonic
apparatus which, when put to work, will
contribute to price reduction.
The researchers went on to explain that
they will be working on all kinds of wireless
communication modes especially those used
to access the Internet as they fit within the
domain of an optical network which is the
largest in the world and which does not face
competition because information is globally
communicated through optical fibres. Their
current research, therefore, will concentrate
on devising optical modules which are a basic
component of any optical network.
The researchers added that the project will
be carried out by the two teams financed by
the fund set aside to cover the experts travel
between Oman and Britain, as well as through
symposiums and, of course, via optical fibres.
Work environment
The researchers explained that the
project will be carried out in two phases, the
first dealing with communication and the
second with sensing. The laboratories for
manufacturing communication devices are
limited worldwide, so it will be difficult for
either university to carry out this work in their
own laboratories. However, while improving
devices already manufactured, the researchers
will be able to use the laboratories of their
respective universities in executing the part of
the project concerned with optical sensing.
Professors Grattan and Rahman
concluded by mentioning that after their
visit to the Sultanate and their work at the
Communication Centre at SQU, and with
the faculty of Computer and Electrical
Engineering in the College of Engineering that
they feel sure that there will be great potential
for future collaboration between the two
universities, especially in optical sensing. They
also expressed their admiration for SQU’s
laboratories and research centres, and said that
City University would welcome postgraduate
students from SQU to strengthen the ties of cooperation between the two universities.
Centre for Omani Studies
set to launch new activities
W
ith the aim of furthering the
cultural drive at SQU, the
Centre for Omani Studies is
in the process of preparing a new set of
activities by extending invitations to a
number of scholars who will address
Omani-related issues. This continues
last year’s activities by the Centre which
were crowned by Dr Hussain Ghabashi’s
lecture on ‘The Characteristics of Omani
Culture.’
One of the most significant events due
to take place in April 2010, is the lecture
to be delivered by the French scholar
John Lamper. Moreover, a forum on
Omani-Yemeni relations will take place
this month which will survey Omani accomplishments, and see how best to enhance cultural and research collaboration
between the Centre for Omani Studies
and its counterparts in Yemeni universities and institutions.
The Centre is also preparing a conference on the Omani presence in East
Africa, which will host scholars from
within and outside the Sultanate who
will address the diverse factors which
characterised that presence whether the
geographical, literary or social. This
will be done through presenting various
views on the history of that presence, its
political and economic input, as well as
its linguistic and literary achievements.
Dr Hussain Ghabashi gives a lecture on ‘the characteristics of Omani culture’
It will also highlight the literary and linguistic contributions, the customs, traditions, systems and geographical elements
which prevailed at that time. In addition,
the conference will focus on the role of
the Omani press in enriching the cultural
life of East Africa.
The Centre also expects to hold three
symposiums: the first will be on OmaniTurkish relations during the Ottoman
period in collaboration with several institutions within and outside the Sultanate;
the second will discuss on Culture in the
Arab Gulf with Oman and Bahrain as examples and will invite collaboration with
the Centre for Historical Studies at the
University of Bahrain ; and the third will
examine the relations between Oman and
the Republic of India. In addition to these
conferences, the Centre will organise a
Workshop on Dialects which will study
Oman’s unwritten dialects and includes
contributions by scholars who have conducted field studies in this area, and wish
to present their findings and share their
expertise.
An overview of research
at the University
By Reginald Victor, Dean of Research
R
esearch has
been considered
as one of the
important functions of
the University since
its inception. Although
many faculty members
were conducting independent research from
the very beginning, the
process of establishing the administrative
infrastructure for research commenced in
1999 with the formation of the Deanship of
Postgraduate Studies
and Research (DOPSAR). Since then the administrative structure has progressively evolved and today there is a dedicated Deanship of
Research under the office of the Deputy Vice ChancellorResearch and Postgraduate Studies to handle all matters
concerning research projects, funding, innovation and
intellectual property and research publications.
The University has a comprehensive Research Strategic
Plan. Its research vision is to be a regional research leader,
recognised internationally and its mission is to develop a
research culture and capacity, generate knowledge and find
solutions for strategic issues in Oman.
The University is blessed with competent manpower to
conduct internationally recognised high quality research.
In 1996 there were 526 academic and 525 technical staff
involved in research and these numbers respectively today
are 903 and 874, an irrefutable evidence for capacity building. There are two Research Chairs at SQU: the Unesco
Chair in Marine Biotechnology housed in the College of
Agriculture and Marine Sciences, was established in 2003,
and the Shell Chair in Carbonate Geosciences, located in
the Oil and Gas Research Centre, was established in 2007.
Other Research Council Chairs are expected to be established soon.
SQU at present is well supplied with the state-of-the-art
equipment for scientific research. All colleges have dedicated research laboratories. Analytical equipment available
at present are equivalent to those in international research
institutions. SQU owns two research vessels for marine
research. There is a dedicated Animal House for the rearing and maintenance of laboratory animals. SQU has the
second largest herbarium in the Sultanate and a botanical
garden with plans for expansion in an adjacent location
outside the campus. There is also an Experimental Station with modern amenities for agricultural research. The
computing facilities available are constantly upgraded and
access to online research resources via the Internet is available to all researchers at SQU.
There are nine specialist Research Centres at SQU.
These are for Oil and Gas research, GIS and Remote Sensing, Earthquake Monitoring, Environmental Studies, Communications and Information, Marine Biotechnology, Water research, Omani Studies and Humanities Research. All
these Centres are involved in strategic, collaborative and
contract research projects. The University has established
research journals in six specialties as outlets for the publication of research results.
SQU has three large libraries, Main, Commerce and
Medical. Small specialist libraries and reading rooms are
also located in all colleges. In all, these libraries subscribe
to 795 printed journals; house 27 electronic databases including 16 full text packages and 18,600 journal volumes.
Research activities mainly centre around nine major research themes. These are, (i) Environment and Biology
(ii) Energy and Non-Renewable Resources, (iii) Life and
Health Sciences, (iv) Humanities and Social Sciences, (v)
Information and Communication, (vi) Fundamental Research (vii) Materials Science, (vii) Education and (viii)
Industry-related issues
Research funding is available from five sources. These
are (i) Internal Grants, (ii) HM’s fund for Strategic Research Projects, (iii) The Research Council Grants (iv)
External Grants and Grants for Collaborative Research
and (v) Contracts and Consultancies. Internal grants are
usually made available through the colleges. These are
relatively small grants not exceeding RO 25,000. Strategic
research projects that are of importance to the Sultanate
are supported through the generous funds provided by His
Majesty Sultan Qaboos. The total amount allocated per annum is RO 500,000. So far 38 strategic research projects
have been supported. The University has been involved in
contract research funded by the private sector since 1995
and 164 contracts have been fulfilled so far. The University
offers research consultancies and the number of services
offered as of today is 121. Since 2003, SQU researchers
have also been procuring external grants for collaborative
research with other universities and external agencies. The
grants range from RO 13,000 to 88,000. We are now in
the process of securing The Research Council Grants for
proposals submitted by SQU researchers.
Research output from the University could easily be
evaluated in terms of research publications. The total
number of research publications produced in the entire
country and in SQU as presented by SCOPUS, an international database for the period 1986-2008 clearly shows that
in Oman, SQU is the leader in research output. In the last
17 years (1992-2008), 70-90 per cent of the total research
output in Oman was generated at SQU. The number of research publications at SQU in 1996 was 300, but today it
stands at 1,400 and this is a significant achievement for
a young university. SQU has several internationally recognised senior researchers in all of its colleges and many
serve in the editorial and advisory boards of international
journals. More than 500 researchers present papers in international conferences every year. At least five to six international research conferences/workshops are organised
at SQU each year. Research activities are also expected
to intensify with the recent establishment of doctoral programs. Sultan Qaboos University as the premier institution
of higher education in the Sultanate is increasingly recognised internationally as a leader in research in the region
and is well on its way to establish itself on the world stage
as envisaged by its research strategy.