How this Middle Eastern university is becoming a global leader in scientific research

Despite being a relatively new university – founded in 2007 – PSAU has quickly established a strong reputation as a leading research facility and as a centre of excellence across many areas and disciplines.   

It has done this in several ways:  

Continually striving to improve

To maintain its excellent reputation and continue to build on and improve its research, PSAU recently launched a five-year research strategy. 

According to PASU’s 2026 research strategy statement: “PSAU aspires to become a global centre of excellence in research by providing impactful and innovative solutions to local, national, and global problems.”   

This strategy is built on four key pillars.  

• Sustaining the research strengths of the university: Improving PSAU’s research influence and continue to establish it as a centre of research excellence.  
• Harnessing new and emerging opportunities: Taking advantage of new opportunities both within and outside the university and make a difference in the community. 
• Expand existing funding opportunities and support for all members of the university community: Helping to expand the volume and the quality of the research that is being undertaken. 
• Aligning these goals with the university’s aspiration to become a leading centre of research excellence and with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 programme: Enabling the university’s research to have a greater societal impact.  

Reviewing research at each stage 

PSAU ensures all its research is of the highest quality. It does this by continually reviewing progress of the research at each stage, ensuring each part of the research process fits the proposal. 

Every research proposal is vetted internally and then reviewed externally by a team of consultants made up of subject and discipline specialists. Successful proposals are then tracked to provide regular progress reports that are frequently reviewed.  

A point system is used to better understand the completion rate of each project. These points are awarded based on authorship, journal of publication, role of project team members, etc. Reviewing each stage of the research helps to keep it on track, ensuring higher quality results. 

Providing support to PSAU community members  

Senior PSAU faculty and other international consultants provide mentoring and support for anyone working on a research project at PSAU.  

This includes helping with research, manuscript writing, journal selection, and responding to and undertaking revisions to manuscripts, and correspondence with journals and reviewers. 

Additionally, the RSU prepares and delivers wide-ranging training programmes and workshops covering the pre-and post-publication support to enhance the quantity and quality of the research. Through these activities, PSAU faculty and staff are exposed to the best standards related to avoiding plagiarism, use of advanced software and research ethics. 

Finally, RSU provides translation, editing and publishing support to all members of the university community, as well as help with the choice and use of statistical tools and software for advanced data analysis and simulation. 

Collaborating with other institutions 

To continue advancing its knowledge and strengthening its research capacity, PSAU has formed international partnerships with top universities and research institutes worldwide.  

These include University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre (UPMC), the Leicester Diabetes Centre, the University of Kansas Medical Centre and the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois. 

PSAU is continuing to collaborate with these prestigious universities to further advance its research capabilities and provide valuable contacts for its students and faculty. 

For students looking to get involved with research, PSAU’s Deanship for Scientific Research (DSR) offers a range of programmes. 

PSAU offers support for postgraduate students who are looking to improve the quality of their research and for faculty members who are hoping to expand the scope of their research. It does this by offering mentorship opportunities for postgraduate students looking to take advantage of senior faculty members’ expertise and knowledge.  

There are also opportunities to take part in joint scientific research projects between PSAU’s research teams and researchers from other distinguished universities or international research institutions.  

Funding is available for faculty and staff to undertake specialised research in their respective areas and keep up to date with developments in their fields. The university offers additional funding for arts and humanities disciplines that are frequently neglected in favour of scientific research.