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Under the patronage of His Excellency Ibrahim Al Hammadi, UAE Minister of Education, Abu Dhabi University (ADU), an internationally recognized academic institution for quality education and applied research, today organized the grand finale of the sixth edition of the United Arab Emirates Undergraduate Student Research Competition (URC).
With the aim of encouraging universities in the UAE to promote scientific research among undergraduate students and make it an integral component of university education, the annual competition is the largest gathering of undergraduate student researchers in the country. 30 winning research projects at this year’s event received an award valued AED100,000.
Under the theme ‘Create. Innovate. Inspire’, around 260 research papers were received by the evaluation committee of this year’s competition, comprising 66 professors and field experts from various academic institutions of higher education. The papers spanned a variety of subjects within the Engineering, Business Administration, Arts and Social Sciences, Education and Law, and Natural and Health Sciences domains.
Speaking on the unprecedented success of the event, Dr Waqar Ahmad, Provost and Interim Chancellor of ADU said: “With every passing year, the quality of research papers the undergraduate students submit to the competition has continued to exceed our expectations. The breadth of knowledge demonstrated by today’s undergraduate students in so many niche fields is particularly encouraging as the UAE accelerates its efforts to transition into an innovation and knowledge-based economy.
“At ADU, we hope to play a contributory role in this journey of innovation. In addition to enhancing career opportunities for young people and encouraging them to become lifelong learners, events such as this one shape an entrepreneurial and scientific mindset that is critical to the leaders of the future.”
For his part, Dr Ashraf Khalil, Director of Research at ADU and organizer of URC, said: “ADU is delighted to be hosting this competition in its sixth cycle that coincides with the Year of Zayed. URC is a fitting tribute to the teachings and legacy of the founding father of the UAE, Shaikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who believed that human capital is the foundation for national development. A participatory and interactive education that leverages tools such as research and scientific inquiry is the most sustainable path to developing valuable human capital and shaping a knowledge-based economy.”
Since its inception, the number of participating student teams has grown from about 50 teams representing only 8 universities to 260 teams today from 33 universities across the UAE.
