AU Funded Research Grants

The Deanship of Graduate Studies and Research provides financial support to faculty members in terms of university funded research grants to conduct their research under following categories.

  • Internal Research Grants (IRG)
  • Interdisciplinary Research Grants (IDP)
  • College Research Group Grant (CRG)
  • SGS Projects Grant (GSG)
  • Research Travel Grants (RTG)
Policies related with AU Funded Research Grants
  1. AU will provide grants to support research projects in all colleges on a competitive basis under the following categories:
    1. Internal Research Grants (IRG)
    2. Interdisciplinary Research Grants (IDG)
    3. Research Travel Grants (RTG)
    4. College Research Group Grant (CRG)
    5. Graduate Student Grant (GSG) 

  2. All faculty members are eligible to apply for AU funded research grants either on individual basis or by forming research teams, including interdisciplinary teams.
  3. All faculty members are encouraged to apply AU funded research grants. Such grants will be recognized in the annual assessment of the faculty members (Assistant Professors and above).
  4. Priority for allocation of funds will be given to proposals with potential publications in journals of high impact factors or high-quality category (such as A*, A, B, and C) or proceedings of prestigious research conferences as recommended by CRCs and approved by the Deanship of Graduate Studies and Research. Preference will also be given to projects that are likely to receive external funds in the near future.
  5. Projects focusing on important research areas for the Emirate of Ajman, UAE and the Arab region will also have high priority. 

  6. The competition for the award of funds will be held at least once and at most twice per academic year by the DGSR, except CRG and GSG applications, that can be submitted anytime during Fall and Spring semesters. The DGSR shall follow systematic, transparent, and uniform procedures through its CRCs to evaluate the submitted proposals and award or recommend research grants. 

  7. The maximum award for the College Research Group Grant (CRG) and Graduate Student Grant (GSG) is 15,000 AED. The GSG can be requested by the supervisors of the full SGRA only.
  8. No financial compensation will be provided to faculty members from internal research funds. However, compensation may be provided to students and other researchers working on the funded project as Hourly Paid Research Assistants (HP-RA). 

  9. The research may include budget for the purchase of components, parts, software or other resources needed for successful completion of the project.
  10. The research proposals may include budget allocated for collection of data or field testing, etc.
  11. The research proposals shall NOT include any budget for presentation of papers, resulting from the research projects, at prestigious scientific conferences. The conference travel and publication charges, if applicable, shall cover separately.
  12. The research proposal may include budget to support an hourly paid Research Assistant. The HP-RA may be hired within or outside UAE.
  13. The CRCs and Council of Research have the authority to recommend approval of project budget which is different than that proposed by the Principal Investigator (PI).
  14. The DGSR may not award some research proposals due to limited budget available for AU funded research grants. The research grants shall be awarded on merit and considering the available research budget for each college.
  15. AU shall provide sufficient budget to the DGSR to cater to the needs of high-quality research projects in all colleges.
  16. The Dean of Graduate Studies and Research shall have the authority to approve funding for university funded research projects with an upper limit of AED 50,000 per project. The funds will be granted based on the recommendations provided by the CRCs and the Council of Research. The maximum duration for completion of such projects shall be 12 months.
  17. For research projects with funding requirement exceeding AED 50,000, the Dean of Graduate Studies and Research shall submit a request for approval to the VCAA along with recommendations from the Council of Research.
  18. For interdisciplinary research grant proposals (IDG), the requested budget is expected to be more than 50,000 AED and the project teams are encouraged to consists of members from different colleges.
  19. For high-quality and impactful interdisciplinary research projects the approved research grant can exceed AED 100,000 per project.
  20. The award for Research Travel Grant (RTG) shall not exceed 15,000 AED. Funding shall cover airfare (economy class), visa cost (as applicable) and accommodation cost only.
  21. The travel dates for RTG, must be selected carefully in close consultation with the Head of Department and the College Dean. The applicants must ensure that this visit must not affects his/her teaching and/or any other responsibility within the college. Travel must be completed in the academic year for which the RTG is awarded.
  22. For RTG applications, evaluation criteria may consider, among other factors, the following:
    1. quality of research proposal/project
    2. nature of the work undertaken during the visit
    3. justification of visit
    4. expected outcomes, e.g. potential of subsequently submitting external research grant proposal within a year of the visit, or expected publications in Scopus-indexed or prestigious journals
    5. track record of the applicant and host in relation to proposed research work
    6. the likelihood of the establishment or significant strengthening of a genuine and ongoing international linkage as an outcome of this RTG
  23. All full time faculty members, Assistant Professors and above, are eligible to apply for Research Travel Grants. However, at the time of travel, new faculty members must successfully finish their probation.
  24. The DGSR will monitor the progress of funded research projects through CRCs headed by the Members of Council of Research in their respective colleges.