The Saudi Basic Industries Company (SABIC) provides annual research grants to KFUPM to support research related mostly to the petrochemical and chemical industry. KFUPM matches this fund with a similar fund under the name fast track (FT) to support research in other fields. The University Research Office under the DSR, manages all SABIC and FT grants and makes the announcement of the annual grants available. The SABIC/FT grants have a maximum duration of 18 months and a maximum budget of SR75,000.
Although the SABIC grants are generally reserved for research in all areas of industrial research related to petrochemical and chemical products, the FT grants allow consideration of all technically meritorious proposals in other relevant areas.
Junior Faculty Grants
Junior Faculty Research Grants are intended as a start-up activity to promote high-quality research, scholarship and creative activity by junior faculty members (assistant professors with Ph.D. degree). The junior faculty is a faculty member who obtained his PhD within TWO years of joining KFUPM and holds the rank of assistant professor.
Junior Faculty Research Grant is a one time, 11 month, limited budget (SR 50,000) grant research opportunity. It is mainly intended for fresh PhD's starting their careers as junior faculty and its purpose is to maintain their research momentum developed during their PhD work. It also helps in introducing KFUPM’s research rules, regulations, and procedures to junior faculty members.
This grant will put the junior faculty members on the track that will lead to major long term research projects funded by the Research Committee, KACST, SABIC, Fast Track, Applied Research Institute (ARI), and Industry.
Societal Grants
Societal grants are similar to internally funded grants but are designed to support research in fields other than science, technology and business. The grant funds research related to topics of relevance to the Saudi society and is designed to enhance interaction of KFUPM with the society and to enhance KFUPM direct contribution to meeting societal needs.
Book-Writing Grants
As part of its policy on providing support and encouragement to the faculty for promoting scholarly work, the University financially and morally supports the authoring, translation and editing of books. Book-writing activities involve one of the following:
authoring a scholarly monograph or a textbook which is directed towards an audience of peers or students (graduate or undergraduate) or towards the more general public in both English and Arabic languages;
preparing a book with collected materials from various authors or cases;
translating relevant books or textbooks into Arabic.
The University gives priority to books authored by the faculty, which can be used as textbooks at the University. To promote the availability of good technical and scientific books in Arabic, the University encourages the translation of selected titles into Arabic.
The University's financial support for book-writing includes, among other things, summer compensation for the proponent(s) and/or a reduced teaching load during regular semesters, costs of typing and editing and other expenses related to book-writing. Additionally, faculty members authoring, editing, or translating books, which are published by a reputable publisher or by the University, receive a financial award.
For a book-writing activity, the faculty should submit a proposal with all necessary documents to the department chairman, who forwards them to the University Research Committee for evaluation.
Conference Attendance
The University encourages its faculty members to participate in “high-quality” conferences and professional meetings sponsored by leading professional societies and held both within the Kingdom and abroad. Attending such conferences or meetings permits a free exchange of new ideas, concepts and developments, and enables the faculty member to develop and execute his own research, and the University to be recognized as a center of academic excellence.
A faculty member may apply for a travel grant to attend a conference provided he meets any of these criteria: (i) attending a conference to present a paper, (ii) attending a conference on the basis of a published paper, (iii) attending a conference based on invitation, and (iv) attending a conference based on an approved research or book writing project.
The application along with all supporting documents should be submitted to the chairman of the academic department, who will forward it to the University Research Committee (URC) to seek approval to attend the conference. The application should be made well in advance, at least two months prior to the date of the conference and at least two weeks prior to the start of final exams in the Second Semester. In addition, to be entitled to receive financial support, the applicant should acknowledge KFUPM for assistance with facilities and finance provided for conducting his research.
The support for attending conferences ordinarily covers per diem (including the time required for travel) and conference registration fee. Faculty can be supported to attend as many as three conferences a year. In some instances, a faculty member might receive round trip tickets to attend the conference. Tickets are usually issued through Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA).
Sabbatical Leave
The main objective of sabbatical leave is to provide KFUPM faculty with a change of atmosphere in order to pursue scholarly activities and to furnish a better environment for academic recuperation and rejuvenation. Sabbatical leave also provides the means to interact directly with scholars in reputable academic and research institutions. Scholarly activities that are considered for sabbatical leave may include pursuing and extending some ongoing research, initiating research in new and diverse areas, working in industry in the area of research and development, gaining research-oriented experience or creating an engineering design or product, and, finally, writing a research-oriented book or monograph.
Saudi faculty and Saudi RI research engineers/scientists are eligible to apply for a one-year sabbatical leave after serving the University for a minimum period of 5 years. A one semester sabbatical leave may also be granted for those who have served the University for a minimum period of 3 years.
To be considered for sabbatical leave, the applicant should prepare a complete proposal that states clearly the objectives, research plan and budget of his research. The proposal should be submitted to the concerned Department Chairman or RI Center Director no later than six weeks after faculty reporting date and at least 9 months prior to the intended leave date. The proposal is then forwarded to the Deanship of Scientific Research for review prior to approval. A sabbatical leave report must be submitted to the appropriate chairman/RI center director no later than two months after the end of the leave. The report should include details about the leave and associated scientific activities conducted at the host institution.
The leave benefits might include full monthly basic salary, regular transportation allowance, return air tickets for the faculty member and his eligible dependents, book allowance, research support, and a limited medical allowance.
Expatriate faculty might be granted release time for one semester. However, the extent of support might differ from what is granted for Saudis. Such privilege is considered in lieu of sabbatical leave.
International Scholar Programs
Two major scholar programs are open to Saudi faculty from all the universities within the Kingdom. A brief description of both programs is presented in the following paragraphs.
The British Council Summer Research Program, which is sponsored by British Aerospace Industries, U.K, is a Post-Doctoral research program designed to encourage Saudi faculty members to execute their research projects in British universities. The program carries a fixed financial grant in addition to 8 days per diem support from KFUPM. Participating faculty may be allowed to report to the University one week after the official faculty reporting date.
The Fulbright Scholarship Program, which is jointly funded by the University and the United States Information Service, is also a Post-Doctoral research grant designed to encourage Saudi faculty members to execute their research projects in reputable US universities. The grant includes financial support for a limited number of Saudi faculty members to spend between six months and one year in different host institutions in the U.S.A. The scope of research includes a wide range of subjects in the fields of science and technology.
Distinguished Researcher Award
An important function of the University is the generation and development of research projects in order to solve existing scientific and industrial problems. High quality research is crucial to the performance of this function and one of the main determinants of the effectiveness of a faculty member.
In order to encourage a faculty member to be involved in research activities, the University gives six awards to faculty members that distinguish themselves in their fields of specialty. All faculty members who, at the time of the award, have offered five or more calendar years of continuous service to the University (including sabbatical leave and official assignments) or a total of six years of service with no more than a total of 12 months interruption in service are eligible to receive the Award.
The criteria for the Award include publishing book(s), contribution to a chapter of a book or monograph, issued patents, publications in professional international/regional/multi-discipline refereed journals, presentations of papers in refereed proceedings of international/regional professional conferences and meetings, publications in trade journals of professional societies, design of nationally/internationally recognized physical structures and urban planning projects, participation in Ph.D. and M.S. thesis advisory committees, completion of approved research projects, invitation to lecture inside or outside the University, and citations of article(s) or book(s).
IDB Merit Scholarship Programs
The IDB Merit Scholarship Programme aims at developing technically qualified human resources in the IDB member countries by providing scholarships to promising and/or outstanding scholars and researchers to undertake advanced studies and/or research in the fields of applied science and technology needed for the development of the member countries. Under the Scholarship, selected scholars may pursue 3-year Ph.D study or 6-12 month Post-Doctoral research in any of the approved field in science and technology at renowned institutions of higher learning in the world. The scholarship covers:
* Tuition/bench fee
* Monthly living allowance
* Monthly family allowance (for Ph.D study only)
* Clothing and books allowance (for Ph.D study only)
* Thesis/scientific papers preparation
* Medical Coverage
* Return air tickets
Best Research Project Award
The Best Research Project Award shall be a monetary sum awarded every year to the best three completed research projects which apply for the award in this year, as judged by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR)/University Research Committee (URC). The award is intended to serve as an incentive for researchers to focus on production of quality research outcomes, innovative ideas, and establishing future research directions, as well as collaboration and timely completion in execution of research projects
Research Team Incentive Award
The team incentive award shall be a monetary sum, which shall be provided for in the budget of the project and shall not exceed one month manpower compensation per year and it will be prorated as per the duration of the project and shall not exceed 10 percent of total team manpower monetary compensation. The Team Incentive Award is intended to provide an encouragement to the researchers to execute the research project undertaken by them efficiently and effectively. This means timely completion of the research project, efficient manpower management and production of quality deliverables.
Internal Research Grants
The main research grant given by KFUPM with flexible budget and duration. Its purpose is to encourage faculty for research and facility development in existing and emerging areas of excellence. Proposals for this grant are invited at the beginining of Fall and Spring semesters each academic year.
Arabic Book-Writing, Translation, and Research Grants
N/A
British Council Post-Doctoral Summer Research Programs
The British Council invites applications, from eligible Saudi faculty members from the University, for its Post-Doctoral Summer Research (PDSR). The participating faculty members are requires to spend a minimum period of eight weeks during Summer of 2006 in the U.K. Further KFUPM support to the Grant includes a round trip economy class air ticket for the selected Saudi candidate, 16 days per diem, and one week delay in the reporting period for Fall Semester in addition to the grant of £ 4,750 awarded by the British Council provided he spends the entire duration of the program in the host institution in the UK and submits a report detailing his research outcomes within one month from the end of the program to the deanship of Scientific Research.
Distinguished University Professorships at KFUPM
The University Distinguished Professor is the highest honor that KFUPM can bestow on an outstanding faculty member who demonstrated highly productive and outstanding achievements in research, teaching and service at the university. Such a designation recognizes extraordinary, internationally-recognized, scholarly attainment in his field as well as excellence in teaching and service.
Awarding the University Distinguished Professorship is based on competition. The application for the position is made to the Deanship of Scientific Research and the final selection and recommendation to H.E. the Rector is made by the University Scientific Council. The term of the University Distinguished Professorship is three calendar years. A maximum of two awards are granted university-wide every year. The winners of the award should be from different departments. At any time, at most two faculty members from the same department can hold these positions. The University Distinguished Professor receives SR 20,000 annually and SR 150,000 research award, over three years, to be expended by the recipient for research, scholarly activities, graduate students, supplies for other related activities that enhance the success of his scholarly activities.
بادرت شركة المراعي المحدودة عام 1420هـ باقتراح لإنشاء جائزة وطنية سنوية للإبداع العلمي تهدف إلى دعم وتشجيع العلماء والباحثين والمخترعين في المملكة تحت إشراف مدينة الملك عبد العزيز للعلوم والتقنية ، وقد توجت هذه المبادرة بموافقة سامية كريمة
تتكون الجائزة من ثلاثة فروع هي :
1- جائزة العالم المتميز
تمنح الجائزة للعلماء المقيمين في المملكة العربية السعودية ممن لهم إسهامات علمية متميزة في مجالات العلوم الأساس والعلوم التطبيقية والتطويرية والابتكار .
2- جائزة العمل الإبداعي
تمنح الجائزة للأعمال الإبداعية في مجالات العلوم والتقنية (بحوث منشورة ، وبراءات اختراع ، وتصاميم صناعية وغيرها من الأعمال العلمية والإبداعية) للمبدعين في المملكة العربية السعودية .
3- جائزة الأبحاث العلمية ( للنساء )
تمنح الجائزة للبحوث في المجالات العلمية الأساس والتطبيقية والمعدة من قبل الباحثات في المملكة العربية السعودية .
