UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science Extends Deadlines by One Month in Response to High Level of Interest

Dr Abdullah Mandoos: “New schedule will permit more time for applicants to prepare pre-proposals – large number of submissions expected”

Abu Dhabi-UAE: 15 March 2015 - The UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science has extended application deadlines by one full month in order to accommodate the high level of interest from researchers worldwide. The program, an initiative of the UAE Ministry for Presidential Affairs and overseen by the National Centre for Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS), offers a grant of US$5 million dollars over a three-year period to be shared by up to five winning research proposals, selected by a two-stage merit review decision process.

The new deadlines are as follows:

•    Pre-proposals should be submitted no later than midnight (GMT) on 16 April 2015 (before: 16 March).
•    Successful applicants will be invited to join the second phase of the competition on 1 June 2015 (before: 1 May).
•    Those invited to proceed to the second stage of the competition should submit their final proposals by midnight (GMT) on 17 September 2015 (before: 17 August).

The original schedule for the announcement of the award winners in January 2016 remains unchanged.

Dr Abdullah Mandoos, Director of NCMS, said: "We are very happy to have received expressions of interest from many leading institutions around the world, including applicants from the United States, Russia, Britain, France, India, Japan, Australia, Finland, Brazil, Iran and Saudi Arabia. The new schedule will permit more time for applicants to prepare their pre-proposal. We expect to receive a large number of applications in time for our revised pre-proposal deadline of 16 April 2015.”

The application process requires the completion of all online forms, an outline of the basic project management procedures and a list of project staff. The application material can be downloaded in PDF format from the website and completed online. Applicants will receive an email confirming the successful receipt of their submissions.

The UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science was launched in early 2015 with the aim of addressing the critical issue of water security and placing the UAE at the international forefront of scientific research in rain enhancement. In the context of the UAE’s Innovation Strategy, the program is structured to develop human capital and stimulate investment in research for the benefit of arid and semi-regions around the world.