Qatar University (QU) participated in the Second World Conference on Undergraduate Research in Germany (World CUR 2019) with eight students from different colleges. QU’s involvement in this conference comes in alignment with the dedication to implement the latest university strategy, focusing on supporting research conducted by students.
This conference included discussions and oral presentations in addition to poster sessions. In 2016, the first round of this conference was held at QU. During the conference, QU Biomedical Science student Kamilia Omar from the College of Health Sciences won a prize for the best environmental project. Her research study revolves around the discovery of two new species of sponge on the coast of Qatar entitled “Antibacterial Activity of New Sponge Species Isolated from the Qatari Marine Zone,” which proved to contain antibiotics.
Kamilia said: “It is a great honour to be selected by the jury for outstanding research presentation, the best contribution in the field of environmental research. It was a beneficial and interesting experience that impacted us in personal and academic levels.”
QU associate professor of Sociology in the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr Maher Khelifa handled and supervised the graduate fair table for QU programmes. During the three days, College of Medicine student Sara Alareed presented research on the molecular analysis of Calmodulin mutations and sudden cardiac death. “This conference helped me to connect to fellow student researchers around the world who share my passion for research,” she noted.
College of Medicine student Samer Ali presented research findings on the relationship between Vitamin D and Iron indices characterising anemia of chronic inflammation among healthy Qatari young cohort. “The conference was a perfect opportunity for researchers from Qatar to present, discuss and exchange their findings with the global community of research advocates to achieve solutions in the fields of health, environment and economics,” he recalled.
In addition, a selection of distinguished students from QU displayed oral and poster presentations, including Alhusain Abdalla (College of Engineering), Ibrahim Abdelhafez (College of Medicine), Munia Hamdan (College of Health Sciences) and Iqrah Qurishi and Bassant Elkattan (College of Pharmacy). Dr Aiman Erbad, director of Research Planning and Development, commented saying QU undergraduate research is of high calibre and standard due to the high quality of academic programmes, the supportive research culture and environment and the support provided by faculty mentors in addition to the continuous financial support and effective planning provided by the Office of Vice-President (Research and Graduate Studies).
