Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) has received five Postdoctoral Research Awards (PDRA) recognitions, totaling more than $1.47mn, from the Qatar National Research Fund.

The awards will further assist TAMUQ’s efforts to seek solutions to Qatar’s most pressing challenges of development and growth through a research programme that responds to needs and develops “pragmatic, sustainable and implementable” solutions to real-world issues.

PDRA aims to attract and promote the direct involvement of recent PhD holders to engage in further research work in Qatar and promote human research capabilities inside the country. The programme supports postdoctoral scholars to work in research groups in Qatar in areas that are of national priority as outlined in the Qatar National Research Strategy.

Focus areas include basic and applied research in all fields of natural sciences, engineering and technology, medical and health sciences, agricultural sciences, social sciences and humanities. PDRA consideration is highly competitive, both financially and in the standards of excellence required.

Dr Mark H Weichold, dean and CEO of Texas A&M at Qatar, said: “Encouraging new and unique research talent is the key to innovation and Qatar is supporting this development of new knowledge with PDRA. Texas A&M at Qatar is proud to receive these recognitions for its postdoctoral researchers and to be able to create solutions to challenges of development and growth that further positively impact Qatar’s people, its communities and its future.”

Dr Eyad Masad, assistant dean of research and graduate studies, said: “PDRA is a unique and novel programme that aims to attract talented young researchers to pursue advantageous research opportunities in Qatar. Texas A&M at Qatar is pleased with these five awards and we are grateful to QNRF’s significant support.”

The PDRA Cycle 1 projects awarded to TAMUQ are Modeling CO2 Storage in Aquifers and Deep Oceans with the Q-Electro lattice Equation of State - Dr Andre Zuber; Microstructural Characterisation of Warm Mix Asphalts with Emphasis on Ageing and Moisture Damage for Application in the State of Qatar - Dr Ilaria Menapace; Computational Design of an Efficient Cascade Catalytic Scheme for the Conversion of CO2 to Methanol - Dr Rajesh Kumar Raju; Efficient Spectrum Utilisation Using Mixed RF/FSO Technology - Imran Shafique Ansari; and Design of Passive and Semi-active Impact Dampers for Vibration Suppression in Oil/Gas Offshore Platforms - Dr Mohamed Gharib.