In the last few years, Al Yamamah University took a number of significant initiatives to promote research and strengthen its research profile, such as establishing the internal research grant, updating its research-related policies, supporting quality academic conference attendance, and publication incentives.
With the guidance, support, and commitment of top management to quality research, Al Yamamah University will continue to promote internationally recognized quality research through creating a research culture that promotes, values, and rewards high quality research and sets high research expectations for its faculty. Such a vibrant research culture cannot be achieved overnight. Rather, it will be built in an incremental, well-guided approach over the next five years 2020 – 2025 through the following initiatives:
- Continue to provide financial support and incentives for quality research, such as internally research project funding, amounting to SAR 50,000 per a research project, publication incentives and rewards, and financial support for attending quality academic conferences.
- Encourage our faculty to participate in the premier academic associations and present their research at leading academic conferences in their fields.
- Celebrate our outstanding and active researchers through establishing an annual research award at both Colleges and University levels and use this event to build the University’s research profile.
- Establish an annual research poster competition in which YU students from all colleges under the supervision and guidance of their faculty present their research projects and business ideas.
- Encourage colleges to establish and fund research seminars at the college level to increase the interaction among researchers and promote a vibrant research culture.
- Encourage forming research groups (e.g., faculty members with similar research interests) to share research ideas, encourage mentoring, collaboration and co-authoring, to advance YU research agendas and increase its visibility in the research community.
- Encourage colleges to develop a reasonable teaching load for active researchers and provide them with necessary guidelines and support to target quality conferences and journals.
- Encourage YU faculty to compete successfully for external research funding and establish strategic research partnerships with external organizations that advance YU strategic objectives, enhance its brand, and increase its visibility in the research community.
- Build a network of research partnerships, in which YU active researchers are connected with leading scholars in their fields to serve as research mentors and help YU faculty to sharpen their research skills and learn what it takes to do quality research that is publishable in leading journals.
- Encourage colleges to seek and recruit talented, young Saudis and dispatch them to join master and Ph.D. programs in their fields at top universities under the Ministry of Education Program known as (بعثتي ووظيفتي).