In alignment with the national aspirations and priorities for research, development, and innovation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the next two decades, as announced by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Committee for Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI), this program aims to support distinguished scientific Research in the four key national priority areas: Health and Wellness; Sustainable Environment and Supply of Essential Needs; Energy and Industrial Leadership; and Economies of the Future.
National Priorities in the Research, Development and Innovation
With the Kingdom announcing its four national priorities for the research, development, and innovation sector— Health and Wellness; Sustainable Environment and Supply of Essential Needs; Energy and Industrial Leadership; and Economies of the Future —these priorities serve as a guiding compass for all future projects and efforts in the sector. They are based on the Kingdom's competitive advantages and its commitment to addressing critical global challenges and ensuring a secure future for coming generations.
Health and Wellness
As a top national priority, human health is a vital area of focus for the Kingdom. With its advanced infrastructure for health research, cutting-edge healthcare system, and distinctive databases, the Kingdom is well-positioned to drive innovation in this sector. The primary objective is to achieve better and longer healthy lives for its citizens by addressing key health challenges, finding radical solutions to chronic and non-communicable diseases, and providing world-class healthcare services through distinguished digital healthcare and biotechnology-based pharmaceutical technologies.
Sustainable Environment and Supply of Essential Needs
To address global water scarcity and food security challenges, the Environmental Sustainability and Basic Needs priority leverages the Kingdom's leadership in desalinated water production and environmental initiatives. The aim is to become a global model in environmental preservation and sustainable provision of water, food, and energy by developing eco-friendly technologies for water desalination, sustainable food production, carbon capture, and low-cost electricity generation.
Energy and Industrial Leadership
With vast natural resources and a leading position in the global energy sector, the Leadership in Energy and Industry priority focuses on maintaining energy market leadership and becoming a global industrial power. This involves innovating alternative energy technologies like green hydrogen, solar, and wind energy, ensuring oil demand sustainability, advancing high-value industries, and sustainably developing the mining sector.
Economies of the Future
Future Economies is prioritized to secure the future for upcoming generations, capitalizing on the Kingdom's investments in future cities and projects such as NEOM and the Red Sea Project. With its strategic location, young talent, and robust digital infrastructure, this priority aims to enhance digital innovation, develop smart, carbon-neutral cities, explore maritime depths, and establish a global presence in space exploration.
Terms & Conditions:
- The principal investigator must be a faculty member at Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University.
- The research field must align with national research priorities.
- The research proposal, or any part of it, must not have been previously published or supported by any entity inside or outside the university.
- The principal investigator must be the lead researcher or correspondent for all project outputs.
- Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University shall be the sole reference affiliation for all researchers from within Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University .
- All research resulting from the project must acknowledge Prince Sattam bin Abdulaziz University as the sole funder.
- Publications must be in scientific journals ranked in the first or second quartiles in the Scopus Database or Web of Science (Citation Indexes of: Science Citation Indexed Expanded , Arts & Humanities, and Social Sciences). Higher priority is given to research published in first-quartile journals and to projects where university researchers constitute 50% or more of the authorship.
Grants amount:
- The amount of funding awarded is determined by the quality of the research proposal, its objectives, and the anticipated outcomes of the project.
- The grants award fund of up to 25,000 riyals for a single scientific paper published under the program's terms and conditions.
- Total funding may vary based on available budgets and the volume of applications that meet the criteria and approved disbursement plans.
Project duration:
One year
Submission Deadline:
Until 10 April 2025 via https://services.psau.edu.sa/research/Researcher/Research
