The Qatar University Young Scientists Center (QUYSC), in cooperation with the Qatar National Committee for Education, Culture and Science (UNESCO), concluded the activities of the Fourth Research Forum for Youth on March 9 and 10, 2022.
This year, it came under the slogan “The World Cup and Qatar 2022: Challenges and Aspirations,” which was held virtually via the Webex application.
The Youth Research Forum is held annually to discuss the most important contemporary research topics and is considered one of the most important events, Organized by QUYSC. It aims to promote the scientific research culture, improve the cultural tourism and build a society of knowledge, by exploring the research capabilities of the youth in scientific and cultural fields that is related to 2022 World Cup issues.
Mr. Ali Abdulrazzaq Al-Marafi, the Acting Secretary-General of Qatar National Commission for Education, Culture and Science delivered a speech stating: “The Youth Research Forum has become a platform for dialogue and a common space gathering the world’s youth of every gender, color, and faith. They exchange visions, express their opinions on the issues and challenges facing the world today, and collectively review means to overcome such challenges in ways that contribute to consolidating the principles of international peace and security, respecting human rights, rejecting violence, promoting partnership and cooperation instead of waging conflicts and wars. The Forum is also encouraging our youth to participate in the development and building efforts in their respective countries.”
Mr. Al-Marafi added: “Our promising Qatari youth have successfully turned this platform into an opportunity for human dialogue and an assembly point with other civilizations and cultures. Our youth are revealing the civilized and human image of their country Qatar and the progress and development it has achieved in various fields, and are expressing their pride of their national identity as they are also proud of being global citizens who respect the values and principles of global citizenship, including tolerance, empathy, integrity, responsibility, mutual understanding and respecting others.”
"Qatar's victory in hosting the 2022 FIFA World Cup is a crystal clear evidence of the country's approach to promote sports tourism. The State of Qatar is an exemplary model to follow in the field of sports tourism as it hosts many regional, continental and global sports events attracting millions of tourists. The tourism sector is expected to recover during the World Cup as thousands of visitors will come to the country to attend the world’s most prestigious football event. Sports tourism unlocks a manifold of benefits to the country in general, and to the sectors of sports, economy and sustainable development in particular," added Mr. Al-Marafi.
About 150 participating researchers, from 15 Arab and foreign countries, exchanged their experiences and research capabilities. All researchers presented their researches through the forum in a virtual event, while participants in the Research Poster Competition presented their research posters. A group of expert judges specialized in various scientific aspects evaluated the participants. The participating researches and research posters were evaluated according to the novelty of the presented topics, their relevance to the forum themes, and the clarity of the objectives and outputs. The forum focused on three main themes, which were the national identity, social and cultural heritage theme, the legal theme, and the science, engineering and medicine theme. The first theme included many different researches that discussed the concepts of social security, the cultural identity and heritage of Qatar, as well as the architectural history of Qatar and its impact on the design of stadiums. While the legal axis included many distinguished researches, that discussed social legal aspects and the legal challenges that guarantee health, safety and sports during the World Cup and aspirations for gaining intellectual properties related to this event. While for the science axis, it included many active participations that discussed scientific aspects to facilitate the access of fans to Qatar, maintain their safety during the matches, and ways to secure the environment of Qatar.
At the end of the ceremony, the three best research papers and the best three research posters were announced. A research entitled HIGHWAY ENERGY HARVESTING WITH VERTICAL AXIS WIND TURBINE, by a group of students from University of Technology and applied science – Ibri- Sultanate of Oman won the first place in the research paper competition. While a research entitled Cost Benefit Analysis of Clinical Pharmacist Interventions in MICU: Prospective Interventional Study, presented by a group of students from Al-Quds University – Palestine won the second place. As for the third place, it was achieved by a research entitled Data security management in the light of the sustainable international regulations and comparative prospective, presented by a group of researchers from University of Roma – Italy while for the research poster competition.
In the research poster competition, a research poster entitled Invert sugar syrup for athletes, presented by a researcher from Cairo University – Egypt, won the first place, while the second place went to a research poster entitled Evaluation of Radiation Doses for Patients Undergoing Lumbar Spine Computed Tomography Examination in Palestine, presented by a group of researchers from Al-Quds University – Palestine. However, a research poster entitled Exploring the feature of most attractive Images about Qatar: An Eye-Tracking Analysis, presented by a group of researchers from University of Technology and applied science –Oman won the third place.
The evaluators and attendees expressed their appreciation for all the participating researches, and highlighted the importance and the role of the forum in discovering the youth research capabilities to contribute to achieve Qatar's vision
Prof. Noora Jabor Al-Thani, Director of QUYSC, congratulated the winning researchers and said in her speech, "The forum for this year focused on important themes and main pillars related to the World Cup. The Youth Research Forum seeks to achieve sustainable knowledge for the youth and is considered a start point for communication for research and knowledge among researchers from all over the world.” The professor also thanked the forum’s sponsor, the Qatar National Committee for Education, Culture and Science.