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Scientificresearch

Strengthening research output to contribute to the development of communities — through a research centre, specialised offices and international partnerships.

OverviewStrategyResearch outputScientific publicationsStructure & supportResearch partnershipsResearch governance
The research pillar

Scientific research in the service of community development

Strengthening research output is one of the University's strategic objectives, supported by a complete research structure comprising a research centre, a scientific research office and a graduate studies office.

Two students reviewing research posters at the University's Student Research Day

Vision

Enabling an impactful research and innovation ecosystem that contributes to the University's meaningful contributions and strengthens its competitiveness locally and internationally.

Mission

Leading, organising and supporting scientific research and innovation across the University through clear policies, enabling services, research capacity building and partnerships, in fulfilment of the University's research and innovation targets.

Where we are heading

Strategic objectives for research

  1. 1Raising the University's research ranking locally and globally by increasing the volume and quality of scientific output.
  2. 2Embedding a culture of research and innovation among faculty members and students as part of the institutional identity.
  3. 3Developing an advanced, sustainable research infrastructure that supports high-quality research.
  4. 4Continuously developing researchers' capabilities to keep pace with the latest methodologies and research tools.
  5. 5Diversifying research funding sources and strengthening the financial sustainability of research activities.
2026–2030

Research and innovation strategy

Six integrated initiatives covering priorities, funding, scientific presence, excellence, logistic support and students.

Defining research priorities

An institutional framework that identifies and classifies research priorities in line with the University's strategic direction.

Financial support for research

An integrated package of support that meets researchers' needs at every stage and encourages high-quality publication.

Strengthening scientific presence

Participation in scientific conferences and events locally and internationally, and the exchange of expertise.

Stimulating research excellence

Incentive tools built on clear performance criteria, recognising distinguished research achievement.

Research logistic support centre

A supporting infrastructure that multiplies the impact of faculty and student researchers.

Today's student, tomorrow's researcher

Embedding research and publication skills in the academic path, turning outstanding graduation projects into peer-reviewed papers.

Academic year 2025/2026

Research output and its impact

Research published by University staff spanned 18 research fields and 12 types of study design, concentrated in journals ranked in the first and second quartiles (Q1 and Q2) — reflecting the University's orientation towards publishing in high-quality scholarly outlets.

76Papers indexed in Web of Science
110Papers indexed in Scopus
3,400Citations in Web of Science — 2025
18Research fields
200,180US dollars in external funding
779 papers published by university researchers between 2014 and 2026 Browse the full list

Rising citation impact

Annual citations in Web of Science rose from about 950 in 2024 to more than 3,400 in 2025, in step with growth in annual publication volume.

External research funding

Completion of the fourth year of the "Digital Wellbeing in Saudi Arabia" project, funded by Ithra through Johns Hopkins University, running from July 2025 to June 2026.

Global indexing databases

Research output is tracked in Web of Science and Scopus, alongside the University's own publication database built on data submitted by its researchers and staff.

Research support

Research structure and support

A structure that carries the researcher: a research centre inside the university city, an office that organises support and its outputs, and a standing committee that governs priorities.

The research centre

A research centre within the university city, with its laboratories, equipment and support services, backing the research projects of faculty members and students.

Scientific Research Office

A dedicated office reporting to the Assistant Vice President for Graduate Studies and Scientific Research, organising research support and its outputs.

Standing Committee for Research and Innovation

A permanent committee governing scientific research and steering its priorities across the University.

From the Office's work

Two scholarly events during the year

Mawhiba students programme

A programme for Mawhiba students in general education, building research skills at an early stage.

Student Research Day

An event showcasing students' research projects and widening their participation in scholarly activity.

Research governance: the ethics committee, the application path and its forms

Collaboration

Research and academic partnerships

Maastricht University, the Netherlands

An academic partnership on the medicine programme.

Strategic partnerships

44 strategic partnerships supporting the academic, research and community tracks.

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center

Turns research outputs into projects and products.

Business accelerator

Join a research track

Browse the scientific publications and admission requirements.

Scientific publicationsAdmissions