News

The Dean of the Scientific Research Deanship at King Khalid University, Dr.
Muhammad bin Yahya Abu Dahma, confirmed the deanship's endeavor, in
cooperation with the relevant authorities at the university, to transform research ideas
into products of economic and scientific value.

 

Abu Dahma explained, in an interview conducted by the General Administration of
Institutional Communication, that the number of published research papers increased
by 639% during the past five years, embodies the quality of the research outcomes
expected in the university. Abu Dahma, also reviewed the deanship’s research
priorities and discussed other subject matters related to scientific research.

 

Planning and Support

 

- First of all, Dr. Muhammad, we would like you to shed light on the roles and
efforts undertaken by the Deanship of Scientific Research at the university.

The Deanship of Scientific Research performs through its systems and procedural
guides to support researchers at the university, as well as to develop strategic and
action plans for the scientific research process at the university.

The deanship provides financial and logistical support for researchers in a way that
enables them to transform their research ideas into creative scientific papers, patents
and research products, which are economically valuable. The Deanship also aims, in
it’s future, to build sustainable strategic partnerships with private sectors, in addition
to providing solutions, according to systematic research foundations, which enable
researchers at the university to actively participate with the beneficiaries, and enrich
the market scientifically, in a manner that is in line with its demands and
requirements.

 

Outstanding Numbers

- The noticeable increase in the number of classified research and citations at the
university.. how did it come to be? Explain in detail 

King Khalid University's research performance for the year 2022 is the highest since
its establishment. In terms of the abundance and quality of published scientific
papers, the increase rate in the number of research papers during the past five years
was estimated at 639%, which reflects the level of research activity in King Khalid
University. Further, the university has achieved distinguished numbers that reflect the
remarkable increase in citation rates in international publishing platforms, where the
number of citations over the past five years (2017-2021) reached about 119,000.

The university ranks fourth among universities in terms of its published research in
quantity and quality, and this remarkable increase came as a result of the strategic
planning through which the university aimed to enrich its research content, as well as
the generous support provided by the university to its researchers, which enabled
them to apply research ideas, raise their quality and publish them in international
publishing platforms. The University is also keen on developing a research
environment for researchers by providing modern technologies, enhancing its
sustainability and raising its efficiency.

 

Publication Quality 

- What are the future plans of the university in the field of scientific research?

King Khalid University is taking confident steps in the field of scientific research. Its
work confirms the encouraging results of its research performance and its ambitious
plans to develop its outcomes. The Deanship of Scientific Research, through its
strategic plan for research and innovation, has a set of qualitative initiatives that are
concerned with promoting publication in prestigious scientific journals. The Deanship
has begun to implement some regulatory procedures through which financial research
support is linked to the quality of the publication.

 

The Deanship is working to create programs, which deal with active and promising
researchers. It is also working to diversify support methods for the research
community, as the focus will be on supporting research products and patents through
governance and support programs, which enable the ambitious researcher at King
Khalid University to achieve his research and innovation goals.

 

Research Tools 

 

- What are the most important goals and tasks of the Intellectual Property Office
at the university? And what about patents? Are they carried out by individual
efforts of faculty members or executed with a plan, support and encouragement
from the deanship?

King Khalid University has paid great attention to helping and motivating researchers
to register patents. That is by the establishment of the Intellectual Property Office
under the umbrella of the Deanship of Scientific Research, which will be concerned
with regulating the general frameworks related to patent application forms and
support mechanisms, as well as scholarship registration fees.
 
 Within the year 2021, 17 patents were granted to researchers at King Khalid
University, and there were many patents registered in the process in many
international patent granting offices, as well as in the Saudi Authority for Intellectual
Property during the past five years, and in 2022, 26 patents were registered.

Everyone's Interest 
 

- Does scientific research in theoretical faculties receive the same attention as the
research papers in scientific and medical faculties? Is this type of research
included within the university's classified scientific production?

His Excellency the University President devotes his attention and provides all the
support to all researchers. Further, the Scientific Research Deanship directs its support
inclusively to all researchers at the university, according to their specializations and
research & knowledge requirements, in a way that serves their orientations and raises
the level of their technological & material research capabilities. Moreover, the
Deanship of Scientific Research aims to publish [Scientific Papers] in internationally
recognized publishing platforms and peer-reviewed journals, in an effort that can be
seen as the knowledge and cultural heritage of the university.
 
We in the deanship are entrusted to direct our efforts to serve the interests of the
university and raise its academic & research reputation, which would reflect
positively on its classifications by international ranking institutions. Theoretical
colleges, like other colleges of the university, represent an integral aspect of the
university's research outcomes. For example, the College of Education has a group of
active researchers who publish their research in classified scientific journals, and they
enjoy the support and attention of the Deanship of Scientific Research. Accordingly,
the deanship focuses on the performance of researchers, not their faculties, and
provides support to researchers of all fields of knowledge equally.

 

Three Fields

- If we talk about research priorities, do you have priorities in scientific
research? What about the different problems, challenges and aspects in the
region, do they have a share in scientific research at the university?

 

The Deanship of Scientific Research, through its plans and research projects, serves
the national directions targeted for sustainable development, as well as the research
priorities of the Ministry of Education, which are in line with the university's human
and technological capabilities, thereby enhancing its standing among international
universities, and supporting the development plans of the Asir region and its human,
enviroment, and economy-centered strategy of "Qimam wa Shiyam". We aim at the
Deanship of Scientific Research, through our research projects, patents and supported
research products, at 3 essential priorities, namely:

 

First: Environmental and Agricultural Sustainability and its Promotion:

Asir is one of the most important tourist regions in the Kingdom, which is abundant in
environmental diversity, making it a tourist destination throughout the year. King
Khalid University possesses the human and scientific elements to contribute to the
sustainability of the region's environment and enhance its diversity. Accordingly, the
environmental sustainability of the region was chosen among the research priorities
based on the following:

- Asir region is the first among the administrative regions of the Kingdom in terms of
the number of water dams, which represent 22% of the total number of dams in the
Kingdom, with a storage capacity of 511,894,575 m3.

- Asir region is the first among the administrative regions of the Kingdom in terms of
the number of agricultural holdings, which represents 24.5% (81 thousand square
kilometers) of the total number of holdings in the Kingdom.

- Asir region is replete with a large number of dense forests (2.7 million hectares) of
the Kingdom's forests, which create an attractive environment for the growth and
sustainability of wildlife.

- The distinguished geographical location of Asir region gave it the advantage of its
diverse coastal, mountainous and desert environments. Asir region possesses unique
wildlife species, which made it officially classified as one of the most important
regions in the world in terms of biodiversity.

- King Khalid University has the fundamentals to provide the region's research needs
and promote environmental innovations, where the field of environmental research
represents the highest growth among the university's research fields, with an increase
of more than 137% over the past five years. The university also hosts the Prince
Sultan Center for Research, Environmental Studies and Tourism.

The objectives of King Khalid University, through its priority, include providing the
latest research methods and solutions, as well as technological innovations, which
enhance the environmental and agricultural sustainability of Asir region in terms of:

- Enhancing & managing water resources, developing innovative scientific methods
for water treatment, and improving rationalization and consumption techniques.

- Preserving natural landscapes and biodiversity, as well as sustaining wildlife and
their various environments in Asir region.

- Developing innovative geoinformatics & forest environment management systems,
intelligent automatic monitoring, early warning mechanisms for forest fires, and
artificial intelligence techniques in the sustainability of natural resources.

- Creating low-cost solutions for agricultural sustainability, land reclamation, soil
remediation, and expansion of vegetation, in addition to developing practices to
enhance its environment.

- Promoting bee and honey research projects, alongside developing & marketing
medicinal and nutritional research products.

 

Second: Smart and innovative materials and their technologies:

Materials technology, its engineering and sciences, represent one of the most
important sources of development and growth for various fields of industrial,
environmental, and medical research. Further, King Khalid University places research work in the field of developing and manufacturing smart materials and studying their implementations among its research priorities according to the following:

- More than 84% of the patents registered at King Khalid University are related to
advanced materials technologies and applications, through which the qualitative
research production of the university can be supported.

- The close link between projects and materials science research & national research
directions related to renewable energy and human-friendly smart city projects, as well
as [the connection between] medical technology research and its applications &
pharmaceutical research.

- The existence of advanced research technologies that support the development of
marketable research products in this field, with the possibility of establishing
technological startups, which depend on integrating advanced materials research with
technology applications, such as the production of high-purity semiconductors and the
production of smart chemical compounds.

- Asir region is unique in the geological and rocky differences among its
governorates, which gives it a remarkable diversity in its mineral resources and
increases the need for extensive scientific studies regarding mining and processing
mechanisms, as well as raising the efficiency of its manufacturing industries.
In regard of this priority, King Khalid University aims to support existing research
work in the field of materials technology and engineering to enrich the various fields
of research, which include medical, engineering and environmental ones, as follows:

- Promoting clean energy sources by studying and innovating materials related to
enhancing energy production technologies, as well as materials related to refining,
processing and reducing carbon emissions.

- Developing control systems and night monitoring technologies, as well as
manufacturable personal protection materials that can be used for technological and
military purposes.

- Creating economically feasible and environmentally friendly materials, which can
be used for construction and building activities, in addition to developing modern
mechanisms for recycling and reusing traditional building materials.

- Promoting medical technologies through the innovation of materials used in
radiological detection devices for cancer, as well as the development of nanomaterials
used in drug vectors for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.

 

Third: Health and community welfare:

The health of society and its promotion is one of the most important goals of the
Kingdom's Vision 2030. Furthermore, Saudi educational and research institutions
attach great importance to the development of services and medical technologies. This
is to provide an advanced medical environment, highly trained manpower, and a high level of diagnostic and therapeutic care. Health and community well-being are also
one of the research priorities of King Khalid University, according to the following:

- King Khalid University includes 8 specialized medical colleges. Their departments
include various medical disciplines and specialized postgraduate programs. These
colleges have dozens of expert researchers and medical practitioners with high
professional competence and experience.

- King Khalid University has the perfect environment for medical development
through research and innovation. That is because of its medical city, which is
equipped with modern technologies and comes with a high clinical capacity for its
facilities.

- The strategy of Asir region is linked to stimulating the tourism sector by providing
high-end medical services, in addition to promoting medical tourism, developing the
most effective ways to manage it, as well as creating the latest methods for providing
it.

- The climatic diversity of the governorates of Asir region creates a diversity in the
mechanism of spread and settlement of diseases, as well as the community's behavior
towards dealing with them, including tropics and highlands diseases. 

- King Khalid University holds many different research centers and units, which are
concerned with research work through a wide range of projects specialized in
pathology, epidemiology, as well as diagnostic & therapeutic medical techniques, as
evidenced by the volume and development of research production of King Khalid
University in this field.

King Khalid University plans to actively participate in achieving the objectives of the
Kingdom's Vision 2030 related to the well-being of society and to align its research
orientation in the field of human care with the country's research strategy and the
strategy of Asir, which consider the human as one of its pillars, as follows:

- Promoting research projects related to the study of medical tourism, analyzing its
geographical and environmental advantages, and studying its human and
technological capabilities, alongside its expected economic impact on the labor
market.

- Raising the efficiency of research production in the field of pharmaceutical industry
based on plant products, enhancing its production capacities & clinical tests, as well
as registering its products for marketing purposes.

- Developing research projects related to diagnostic and therapeutic medical
technologies, providing technological and industrial development requirements,
stimulating the innovation environment and the industrial research production in this
field.

- Promoting research and projects for mathematical modeling of the nature of local
diseases and studying their causes, in addition to developing classification algorithms,
forecasting epidemics, automating diagnostic methods, detecting diseases, and handling medical management using artificial intelligence and health digitization technology.

- Supporting research projects related to the study of chronic diseases and diseases
associated with the geography of the place, and finding effective solutions to manage,
monitor and deal with their causes.

 

Knowledge Gain

- Lastly, what about scientific research for university students? Are there
programs to support them?

The Deanship of Scientific Research urges the involvement of students in their
various academic levels in the scientific research ecosystem. The deanship
participated in several workshops, which resulted in the introduction of the scientific
research methods' curricula, as well as research projects within the study plans of
students. The deanship also aims to support supervisors of students' research projects
as much as possible to develop students' skills and flourish their knowledge
acquisition.