More funding and reduced teaching loads have helped researchers increase their output by 500 per cent
Research excellence is integral to Prince Sultan University¡¯s (PSU) culture, says Saad Saleh Al Rwaita, vice-president for administrative and financial affairs.
¡°Research is part of the university¡¯s strategic plan, supported by higher management through publication incentives and publication fees, as well as a reduced teaching load,¡± Al Rwaita says. ¡°That means researchers are getting the time and significant support to do research.¡±?
The university¡¯s strategy is bearing fruit. In the past five years, the institution has increased its quality research output by almost 500 per cent ¨C from 152 journal publications in 2017 to 910 in 2021.
Thabet Abdeljawad is a professor of mathematics at PSU and is in the top 1 per cent of mathematics scientists in the world, according to by Stanford University and Elsevier. For Abdeljawad, the university¡¯s establishment of research-intensive groups and laboratories has been fundamental to increasing its high-quality research output. Abdeljawad was part of the university¡¯s first research group, which focused on applied mathematics.
¡°The creation of this group really affected our productivity,¡± he says. Abdeljawad, one of the university¡¯s most cited researchers, notes that mathematical analysis and modelling techniques have become ¡°very, very important¡±, especially given the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The university recently extended the scope of Abdeljawad¡¯s group, turning it into a research laboratory and incorporating researchers from disciplines such as physics, chemistry and statistics.
¡°We now have 17 research laboratories and groups,¡± Al Rwaita says. ¡°This is another way for us to create a culture of research.¡± The research hubs are geared to respond to the needs of society, he says.
Mohammad Nurunnabi, for example, heads the university¡¯s Business, Society and Environment Lab. The lab, established in 2019, aims to promote research related to the social and environmental dimensions of businesses.
¡°There is a focus on interdisciplinary research and sustainability research,¡± Nurunnabi says, adding that this emphasis allows researchers to respond to local and international needs.
To promote faculty¡¯s research, the university has committed to paying the publication fees for its academics and has prioritised publication in high-impact journals. ¡°The university is creating a conducive research culture¡±, Nurunnabi says.
Abdeljawad agrees. The university¡¯s publication support allows researchers to publish in high-ranking open access journals. ¡°From a citation point of view, this is very useful,¡± he says. ¡°Once the research becomes open access, it allows other researchers to follow your work.¡±
Such exposure increases researchers¡¯ scope for collaboration, something that is integral to the institution¡¯s strategy. More than 70 per cent of the research at the university involves international collaborators. ¡°We have a very diverse faculty from more than 40 nationalities,¡± Al Rwaita says. ¡°I think this is one of the key strengths for us and allows us to attract very high-quality researchers from around the globe from renowned universities.¡±
Although a relatively small university, PSU punches well above its weight. Sixteen of its researchers feature in the top 2 per cent of scientists in the world in various disciplines, according to by Stanford University and Elsevier. These researchers are , , , , , Muhammad Asif, , , , , , , , , and .
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