UK Science & Innovation Network Summary: Qatar
Published 23 July 2024
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1. Science and Innovation Landscape
Qatar is a small country with population of 3.1Million[i] (Feb 2024) and a GDP of USD 244.6 Billion[ii] (Apr 2024), one of the highest GDP per capita in the world. Qatar has a relatively young research ecosystem, however, over the last 15 years it has seen significant growth with the introduction of new universities, the establishment of freezones, and the introduction of a national research and innovation council. Qatar’s Third National Development Strategy (NDS) 2024-2030 has set out ambitious targets to grow the economy by 4%[iii] each year up to 2030. Qatar has also committed to investing 1.5% of GDP each year into Research, Development and Innovation - this includes ‘Growth Clusters’ to enable a knowledge-based, technologically advanced society and economy.
The Qatar Research, Development and Innovation Council was established in 2018 to holistically transform the RD&I ecosystem, bringing together prominent figures across government, academia, and industry. National research areas of interest include: energy, health, resource sustainability, society and digital technology. In addition to funding research, QRDI also funds innovation challenges with National Industry to test bed solutions and scale-up.
Leading research universities include: Qatar University (QU) founded in 1977 with more than 23,000 students, and Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) founded in 2010 with more than 700 students. There is also the Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), and Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI). In addition, Qatar Foundation has established international branch campuses in Education City including those from Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar focusing on medicine, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar for computer science, Georgetown University in Qatar for international affairs. In 2022 the University of Doha for Science and Technology (UDST) was established and specializes in academic applied, technical and professional education in the State of Qatar[iv].
For sustainability & environment research, aside from QU and QEERI there is also Earthna, a research and policy institute for a sustainable future, which launched the Earthna prize[v]. In addition, the Gulf Organisation for Research & Development (GORD ) & the Ministry of Environment & Climate Change also operate in this area.
Leading health research is also being performed within the national hospital Hamad Medical Corporation, primary health care centres (PHCC) and the Qatar Foundation (QF) women and children’s hospital, Sidra Medicine. Qatar Biobank having screened more than 30,742 participants, now aims to sequence 100,000 Qatari Genomes by 2025. Qatar Genome Programme was established under the biobank to support genomics and precision medicine research in the country.
Qatar has shown leadership in developing platforms for global innovation. Examples include the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) and World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE). Innovation and accelerator programs are also delivered by Qatar Science & Technology Park (QSTP).
2. UK partnership with the country on ST&I
There are strong ties between Qatar and the UK. Currently around 20,000[vi] British nationals live in Qatar and over 600 British companies operating locally. Also, around 3,200 Qatari students are studying in British universities. Given these numbers, a naturally strong link exists in education, while it is extremely common to find British nationals working in schools, universities, and hospitals across the country. There is also a growing number of Qatari - UK alumni, thus new collaborations in science and innovation form organically given the existing foundation.
In recent years, the UK SIN network has delivered and supported a variety of engagements. Notable collaborations span sectors that include (but are not limited to) Health, Climate Change and A.I for good. The UK SIN draws on the FCDO Gulf Strategy Fund to provide seed funding for bi-lateral research in areas of mutual interest. A UK-Qatar Genomics research partnership was established in 2022 covering: Integrated Health Records, Rare Disease Diagnoses, Precision Cancer Care and Genetic Risk Scores. This research has evolved into a broader UK-Qatar Genomics Alliance.
Building on bi-lateral health relations, the inaugural Government to Government (G2G) Strategic Dialogue for Health (SD4H) was held in November 2023 with thematic tracks in: A.I for Healthcare, Genomics, Climate, and Global Health Relations.
The UK Science and Innovation Network also supports a research partnership for Climate Change, Health, and Environmental Protection (CHERP) in Qatar led by the UK Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) and includes community outreach and youth education, antimicrobial resistance monitoring and mapping, management of marine protected areas, and alignment to the 30x30 Global Ocean Treaty[vii].
A.I for good and accelerating progress on the Sustainable Development Goals is another key area which UK SIN is supporting in Qatar. A research partnership between the University of Doha for Science and Technology and the University of Reading has developed, successfully deploying a programme utilising A.I for waste management reduction, with Doha aiming to become a zero-waste city.
3. SIN contacts
Science and Innovation Country Lead (Qatar)
Louise Dalton: Louise.Dalton@fcdo.gov.uk
Head of the UK Science and Innovation Network (Gulf)
Nick Boucher: Nicholas.Boucher@fcdo.gov.uk
[i] Qatar Planning & Statistics Authority-Monthly Figures on Total Population https://www.psa.gov.qa/en/statistics1/StatisticsSite/pages/population.aspx [accessed 28/04/24]
[ii] The World Bank-Qatar GDP https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.MKTP.CD?locations=QA [accessed 28/04/24]
[iii] The Third Qatar National Development Strategy https://www.psa.gov.qa/en/nds1/nds3/Documents/QNDS3_EN.pdf [accessed 28/04/24]
[iv] University of Doha for Science & Technology-About Us https://www.udst.edu.qa/sites/default/files/2022-04/udst_post_march_2022.pdf [accessed 28/04/24]
[v] Earthna Prize https://www.earthna.qa/earthna-prize-2025 [accessed 28/04/24]
[vi] British Council-Qatar https://www.britishcouncil.qa/en/study-uk/want#:~:text=There%20are%20currently%20over%203200,majority%20studying%20at%20undergraduate%20level. [accessed 28/04/24]
[vii] Royal Museums Greenwich-What exactly is the 30X30 ocean campaign https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/our-ocean-our-planet/what-is-30x30-marine-protected-areas-ocean-2030 [accessed 28/04/24]