Coronavirus (COVID-19) Updates
For the latest COVID-19 information and updates from Qatar Foundation, please visit our Statements page
Triggering transformative change through research and innovation.
In our quest to make Qatar a leading hub for research and innovation, we’ve built several pioneering initiatives that are triggering transformative change across the nation, the region, and the world at large.
Introduction
01By curating big ideas and creating platforms to spark the next great breakthroughs, we’re helping our homegrown researchers and innovators—together with experts from around the world—address our biggest challenges.
As a scientist, you have to ask yourself: can I do my science, is the environment supportive in its infrastructure and funding, will I be challenged, can I be a part of something bigger than myself but that allows me to make a difference?
In Qatar, I’ve been able to answer “yes” to all of these questions. I’m where I want to be.
In Numbers
Through our vast ecosystem of research and innovation, we’ve been able to achieve a lot since we first started.
Featured Projects
02At Qatar Foundation, we try to make sure our research projects span a wide range of industries and themes to ensure we can create meaningful, multisectoral difference on the challenges we all face.
Here are just some of our projects doing exactly that.
Teaching computers how to detect fake news
Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI) researchers are working on a project with their peers from MIT and Sofia University in Bulgaria to see how machine learning could best be used to combat the prevalence of fake news across the web.
Helping governments improve the air we breathe
Researchers from Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI) have developed an Air Quality Index and Inhalable Particulates Index to give the public information on gas and particulate pollution in Qatar, empowering national decision makers and the general population to make better informed decisions on their personal exposure and the quality of the air we breathe.
Using stem cell biology to discover new treatments for diabetes
In a new collaboration with Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI) scientists will work to accelerate the translation of discoveries into clinical applications. In addition to building scientific capacity in the region, the partnership will support ground-breaking research in stem cell biology. Clinical trials that arise from these endeavors will be conducted in collaboration with QBRI’s major stakeholders, including Hamad Medical Corporation and Sidra Medicine.
Making solar energy more economical
In partnership with AMBER, an Irish research center, QEERI discovered insights on a new material, perovskite. The material could make the generation of solar energy far more economical and finally unleash the potential of this abundant renewable resource.
We need to educate our young people and create real opportunities, real jobs for them. We need to find a way for our kids and grandkids to create a better world for them.
The moment we ignore our young people, they go in their own direction; it’s our responsibility to be there for them, open doors, and support them.
Collaborations
03We collaborate with organizations and institutions from around the world to facilitate the transfer of ideas, jointly address areas of interest, and multiply the reach and benefits of our research and innovation.
With organizations as diverse as TÜBITAK in Turkey, to Boeing, Harvard University, and MIT in the United States, our global partnerships span the spectrum of industry, academia, tech development and entrepreneurship, and public policy.
Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF)- An entity that advances knowledge and education by providing funding opportunities for original, competitively selected research and development at all levels and across all disciplines with emphasis on the four pillars of the Qatar National Research Strategy.
Special Initiatives
04Our initiatives aren’t just limited to Qatar. We engage thought-leaders from around the world to gather ideas and spark conversations on some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
Where Big Ideas Flow
From multidisciplinary research conferences to global summits and programs on healthcare and education, we’re building diverse networks of citizens, activists, policymakers, and academics united by their goal of making change happen.
World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE)- Our flagship education forum, WISE is an international, multi-sectoral platform for creative thinking, debate, and purposeful action on building the future of education through collaboration.
World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) - Our flagship healthcare forum, WISH hosts some of the most important researchers and innovators in healthcare, with delegates from more than 100 countries, including almost 40 minister-level representatives attending.
Stars of Science - Launched in 2009, Stars of Science is the Arab world’s leading scientific ’edutainment’ reality TV program.
Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) - A platform for knowledge, insight, and research into the trends and developments of Arab families on an international level.
Sidra Medicine - A center that provides children, women, and young people with outstanding tertiary healthcare services in an innovative and ultramodern facility specially designed to promote healing.
Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF)- An entity that advances knowledge and education by providing funding opportunities for original, competitively selected research and development at all levels and across all disciplines with emphasis on the four pillars of the Qatar National Research Strategy.
Events
There’s always something to do when you’re in Education City.
Design Post-Covid Humanity: Taaruf, Taawun, Tarahum (DPCH-3T)
WCM-Q's Healing Hands Essay Competition
How Smartphones Changed Journalism
Language Courses for Adults, Teenagers and Kids
Language Courses for Adults, Teenagers, and Kids
Eighth Arab-American Frontiers of Science, Engineering, and Medicine Symposium - Call for Applications
