Page 59 - Faculty Handbook 2021-22

14. Research and Consultancy

14.1. Introduction
Research is an integral part of any academician’s career growth and one has to make continuous
endeavour to ‘create knowledge’ i.e. to do research. The faculty is expected to make such

endeavours to keep a balance between teaching and the research.

Dhofar University was established in 2004 and since then it is serving the community through
exemplary education, research and community outreach. DU recognizes research as one of the
main pillars of academic excellence as explicitly mentioned in its mission statement. All efforts
are being made to encourage research among its faculty members and to create a conducive
environment for credible research. The results are commendable as DU is the first University in
Oman to be accredited nationally by OAAA, internationally by ASIC, rated five-star by QS and
ranked 121 by QS Arab World Ranking. Our researchers have been ranked among world top 2%
nd
scientists by Stanford and by AD Scientific Index. DU is currently ranked 2 in Research among all
private Universities in Oman based on its ResearchGate(RG) score. Moreover, DU is recently
st
ranked 1 Private University and second overall in Oman by Webometrics World Ranking of
Universities.

DU have on its account more than 1700 publications in recognized journals indexed in prestigious
databases. Additionally, DU has successfully secured funds for 55 Research grants from Ministry
of Higher Education, Research & Innovation(MoHERI). In past five years our faculty have won 58
research awards at different levels including the National Research Award by MoHERI won thrice.
Our students are not less by winning 22 different research awards including the best FURAP award
by MoHERI twice. Moreover, the University’s well established Research centre has been actively
involved in innovative research. Hence, since its inception, the unit has conducted research on
more than 10 major research projects that resulted in over 40 publications, one international
patent granted from South African Patent Registration Agency and filing of one national and two
more international patent applications.

In its strategic plan DU has envisaged to create a hub of research activity beneficial to the region.
To achieve this, DU has a Department of Research (DR) headed by the Director that works under

direct supervision of the Deputy Vice Chancellor (DVC). It strives to create a favourable research
environment within DU by encouraging, facilitating and promoting all research activities across the
University. The DR ensures that good and meaningful researches are undertaken by the faculty
members. The University also has a University Research Board (URB) which is tasked to help the DR
foster and improve the conducive research within DU by managing DU Research grants.

As a part of its mission to promote quality Research and to become the hub of all research
activities in the region, DU has also setup a Research Centre. The center focuses on niche areas
of research of regional importance, dealt with in different Research Units. The clusters support
and develop strategically important local and national topics. For more details, please refer to
www. du.edu.om/research.

Dhofar University Faculty Handbook (2021-22) Page 55