Muscat: The Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MoHERI) has recently announced that applications are now open for research proposals for the Block Funding Programme 2024. Interested individuals can submit their proposals through the Research Information Management System (RIMS) on the Oman Research Portal.
The Block Funding Programme comprises three sub-programmes, namely Research Grants (RG), Graduate Research Grants (GRG), and Undergraduate Research Grants (URG).
For the Research Grants Programme, applicants must hold a PhD or its equivalent (senior specialist or higher for medical doctors). The maximum duration for the project is two years, with a budget of OMR20,000 per project.
For the Graduate Research Grants Programme, applicants should possess a master's or bachelor's degree and have at least one year of work experience. Alternatively, they can be postgraduate students or residents of the Oman Medical Specialty Board. The maximum duration for the project is two years, with a budget of OMR3,000 per project.
Undergraduate students who have completed their foundation year and have a minimum GPA of 2.30 or its equivalent are eligible to apply for the Undergraduate Research Grants Programme. The duration for this programme is one year, with a budget of OMR1,500 per project.
To be eligible for the Block Funding Programme 2024, there are several conditions that must be met. Firstly, the applicant (PI, Co-PI) should be affiliated with the institution at the time of submission and approval, which is between October and December 2023. Additionally, the applicant must not have any ongoing or uncompleted funded projects from MoHERI, and for applicants in URG, they must not have graduated or be about to graduate.
Furthermore, the research proposal should not be an ongoing or completed project. It should be a new research project that has not been started or completed. It's important to note that institutional focal points and evaluation committee members are not eligible to apply. Additionally, there must not be any conflicts of interest, and the research proposal should be related to the Sultanate of Oman.
The deadline for the Block Funding Program 2024 is May 30th, 2024. Interested applicants can submit their applications through the Oman Research Portal at (https://rims.trc.gov.om). For any inquiries, interested applicants can reach out to BFP@moheri.gov.om.
