(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Muscat- The Research Council (TRC) has recently approved funding 58 undergraduate research projects, benefiting a total of 173 undergraduates under the Faculty-mentored Undergraduate Research Award Program (FURAP).
This year, FURAP received 234 research proposals from 19 academic institutions, stated a press release.
The approved-for-fund research projects covered different sectors adopted by TRC: 18 in the energy and industry sector; 11 in the environment and biological resources sector; five in the culture, basic and social sciences sector; 16 in the information and communication technologies sector; five in the health and social service sector and three in the education and human resources sector. The total budget per project is maximum RO2,400.
More than 1,000 undergraduates have benefited from FURAP which has funded around 309 projects so far since the launch of the programme in 2013.
Abdullah Salim al Mahruqi, director of communications department at TRC, said, 'Participation in the programme brings in many benefits to both undergraduates and faculty academics. TRC is prepared to fund the purchase of necessary equipment, such as books, computer programmes, tools, research instruments, electronics and mechanical equipment, that are required to conduct research projects, keeping in mind that the ownership of those equipment will return to the educational institution after the completion of the research project.'
Mahruqi said the programme has experienced an increasing turnout from undergraduates since its launch five years ago. 'Outputs of the programme have achieved excellent results, some of them were at the international level, which clearly revealed the young research capabilities that the programme has been designed for.'
FURAP scholarships are granted by TRC through higher education institutes, colleges and universities in Oman.
The FURAP scholarships are designed for undergraduate students studying at local colleges and universities who wish to conduct research either on campus or at other research sites within Oman during their undergraduate education. FURAP funded projects may or may not be part of academic credits.
The project ideas can essentially be independent student-team works developed by them under guidance from the faculty mentor. However, it is also possible that these projects form critical parts of other major projects.
In order to be considered for a FURAP scholarship, an undergraduate research team (comprising two to seven students) must first approach a faculty and get her/his approval to be their faculty mentor.
The team may then apply to receive a FURAP grant using FURAP Electronic System through TRC website (www.trc.gov.om). Proposal evaluation of FURAP applications will be done at the institution level by an evaluation committee called Institutional Proposal Evaluation (IPE) committee.
The main objectives of FURAP are to promote research culture in Oman, to increase creativity in research activities in Oman, to enrich undergraduates research learning experience, to encourage undergraduates to seek careers in research, to enable students to carry out research that they would not be able to do without the necessary funding, to elucidate the role of TRC in promoting research in the society.
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