The College of Science and Engineering (CSE), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University, recently announced its most successful cycle of the Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) Graduate Student Research Award (GSRA) program yet, with 17 students receiving a scholarship.

The program, now in its seventh cycle, was launched to promote the most deserving students QNRF believe will go on to promote a world-class research culture in Qatar, and who will contribute to the nation’s research and development (R&D) mission.

We spoke to some of the award recipients about what the scholarship means to them, their experience of studying at HBKU and their aspirations to be part of that mission.

Can you tell us about your research projects that led to you receiving the scholarship?

This was the second time I applied for a GSRA; the first application was before I started my MS in Data Science at HBKU. I appreciate receiving the award because it recognizes the work I have done, especially in the past two years as a graduate student and it drives me to keep studying hard. Looking back on my experience in applying for a GSRA grant, I am of the belief that QNRF encourages and expects student-driven research from its applicants. HBKU courses have a major research component and most of my research projects started as a coursework or assignment. I was exposed to a range of research topics including sports video analytics, natural language processing, medical image classification and statistical modeling of pandemics. 

Can you tell us about your background, and why research is important to you?

My background is in Computer Science and I am currently focusing on machine learning and computer vision for crowd analysis. Research is a constant learning process and it takes on new and challenging problems, incrementally adding to our collective knowledge which I think is exciting and fulfilling to be part of.  

What are your long-term aspirations in terms of contributing to Qatar’s R&D mission?  

Qatar’s research and development initiatives emphasize the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and there are many opportunities in it to make contributions with far reaching impact for the nation and people’s well-being. Having benefited from Qatar and its excellent education infrastructure since childhood, it would also be a privilege to give back to the country.     

Can you tell us about your experience of studying at HBKU?

HBKU offers flexibility and freedom in its courses and the university’s faculty are always ready to support at the student’s pace, whether it’s guidance or resources, both in and out of class. Although not all my research work led to tangible outcomes, I found that the learned experience accumulates and contributes towards the next successful project in one way or another, and HBKU is very conducive to this process.      

I also appreciate the work done by the Student Affairs team in promoting sports, leisure activities and recognizing student achievements and I would like to see more students making the best of it.