Dr Hinai was speaking at the two-day Regional Meeting of the Global Research Council (GRC) in MENA which began on Sunday. 'They are wives mothers they are also daughters and they have a significant social role that quite often puts a significant burden on them to achieve in research' he said. 'And I think our challenge is how can we facilitate this role so that we do not disturb the progress of women.'

Dr Hinai called for means for women on maternity leave to be able to continue their work. Women currently have 50 days of paid maternity leave in Oman according to Curtis law firm.

'She will come out of that research system for a year sometimes two years sometimes three years and become disconnected from it' he said. 'How can we overcome this disconnectedness or do we need to look at the mechanisms such as a part-time job where she would have an opportunity to be in touch with the system' he said.

Dr Hinai said that women comprise '70-80 per cent' of college students in Oman. 'The consequence of this over the next few years is that...there will be a domination of women in the research economy in this region' he said.

GRC is a virtual platform that connects public research organisations such as TRC around the world. It has 100 members.

GRC held its first annual global meeting in 2012. Five regional meetings such as the one in Oman are held to help build consensus for the global meetings according to Graham Harrison a GRC representative.

'Our aim is that GRC plays a key role for multilateral research cooperation in a growing research enterprise worldwide' said Harrison. 'Ultimately what we're looking for is how can funding agencies work together to support the global research enterprise.'

The MENA regional meeting is focusing on two themes: The status of women in research and making research interdisciplinary. Participants include Professor Abdulaziz al Sawailem from King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology Saudi Arabia; Professor Abdullah al Zoubi from the Scientific Research Support Fund Jordan; Dr Essam Asem from the Research Directorate at the Kuwait Foundation; Riham Daher from Qatar Foundation; Dr Ghada Bassioni from Ain Shams University Egypt and Professor Jelel Ezzine from the Tunisian Association for the Advancement of Science Technology and Innovation.