UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science to Kick-off Roadshow across UAE Universities

Alya Al Mazroui: “We Hope to Witness High Quality Local Participation this Year Similar to Inaugural Cycle”

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 21 February, 2016 - The UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science (UAEREP) is set to launch a university roadshow starting on Monday, February 22 to tour select local universities across the UAE and drive awareness for the program that seeks to promote the most advanced scientific ideas in the field of rain enhancement.

Kicking off on February 22 with a tour to the University of Sharjah, the roadshow will visit the United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain on February 23.
As part of the roadshow, UAEREP delegates will interact with faculty members to introduce the program and invite the universities’ participation in the second cycle that commenced on January 19, 2016 following the announcement of the winners of the program’s first cycle.

The roadshow is in line with the program’s efforts to attract local participation in its second cycle before closing the pre-proposal submission phase on March 17, 2016.

As part of the roadshow, Sufian Farrah, Meteorologist, Senior Forecaster and Cloud Seeding Expert at the National Center of Meteorology & Seismology will conduct a presentation that highlights cloud-seeding operations in the UAE and the diverse sciences and technologies used in the rain enhancement field. He will also examine the potential of these technologies for the future.

For her part, Alya Al Mazroui, Director of the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science, will provide faculty members and students with an overview of the program, its goals, different phases and outcomes, as well as offer glimpses of the winning researchers and their projects from the inaugural cycle. In addition, a panel discussion will be held to answer any scientific or technical questions about the program.

Speaking on the roadshow initiative, Alya Al Mazroui, Director of the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science, said: “Our program is keen to encourage local researchers and students to participate and contribute with their innovative ideas that can help develop rain enhancement operations.”

She added: “We look forward to a productive interaction with researchers and academicians working across scientific disciplines - chemistry, physics, geology, and engineering. We also hope to witness high quality local participation this year similar to the inaugural cycle. Quality submissions will certainly help enhance innovation and enrich the rain enhancement science in a way that can improve water security in arid and semi-arid regions globally.”

The UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science was launched in early 2015 by the UAE Ministry of Presidential Affairs. Managed by the National Center of Meteorology & Seismology (NCMS), the program presents an annual grant of US$5 million to winners over a three-year period. Up to five research projects are selected to share the award’s amount through a rigorous, two-phase evaluation process.

In its first cycle, the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science received 16 pre-proposals from UAE research teams, ranking the UAE second among the countries with the maximum number of submissions. In addition, a research team from the UAE was among the three winners, with teams from Japan and Germany also qualifying for top honors. 

The UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science aims through continuing research efforts to advance the science, technology and implementation of rain enhancement and encourage more investments in this field. This in turn will help develop strong international synergies that can further contribute to the advancement of the sciences and operations of rain enhancement and help identify viable and innovative solutions.

The program seeks to achieve these goals through a four-pronged approach – enhancing the level of research and innovation in the field, advancing scientific understanding of rainfall enhancement, advancing the technological and methodological state-of-the art in rainfall enhancement practice and operation, and enhancing and further developing capacity in the field both locally and globally.