Gyeongbuk, SOUTH KOREA // About 50 researchers and organisations have expressed interest in applying for funding through the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science.
Launched earlier this year, the initiative is managed by the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology and offers a grant of US$5 million to be shared by up to five winning research proposals.
The programme aims to stimulate research into cloud formation and precipitation as well as rain enhancement and is open to scientists from not only the UAE but around the world.
“As this is the first cycle, we did not expect that the level of interest will be very high, but what we found is that we got a lot of interest,” said Alya Al Mazroui, the programme’s director.
The organisers have extended by a month the second phase of the application process, in which researchers are asked to submit short technical proposals. The deadline for this is tomorrow and already 50 organisations have either submitted proposals or indicated their willingness to do so through a formal letter of intent, said Ms Al Mazroui.
“In this field, this number is quite good because, first of all, this field needs a very high budget,” she said.
The programme expects to receive proposals from the UAE, as well as the US, Russia, China, Finland, the UK, France, Iran, Spain and South Africa.
The proposals will undergo an initial technical review and on June 1 some will be shortlisted and invited to submit additional details. A second review stage will continue until September 17. The winners, who will be announced in January 2016, will be supported over a period of three years.
The grant programme was among a number of UAE initiatives showcased at the World Water Forum in Daegu and Gyeongbuk, South Korea. Yesterday, Ms Al Mazroui addressed delegates in a special session at the forum. The event could act as a platform to attract additional interest from potential applicants in the further cycles of the initiative, said Ms Al Mazroui.
vtodorova@thenational.ae
