Saturday 14 / November / 2026
Muscat: The Research and Innovation Authority continued its intensive efforts to support the national research and innovation system through various programmes and projects, based on its different assigned roles to achieve the targets of "Oman Vision 2040", as the issuance of Royal Decree No. (11/2026) establishing the "Research and Innovation Authority" came as a translation of the Royal Directives to link research outputs to national needs and transform them into practical programmes enhancing the national knowledge-based economy.
The Sultanate of Oman achieved notable progress in the innovation inputs pillar within the Global Innovation Index report for 2026, issued annually by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), by advancing (8) places to reach 47th globally compared to 55th last year, which reflects the foundations, policies and programmes supporting innovation and the promising investment environment, while it maintained 69th place globally in the overall ranking, and the Authority reinforced this path by delivering the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Indicator.
In the field of funding research directed at solving national challenges in line with the targets of "Oman Vision 2040", the Research and Innovation Authority gave this aspect great importance, as research support and funding programmes recorded qualitative leaps to maximise tangible impact, and approved funding for (467) research proposals with a total of (2.2) million Omani riyals in 2026, and the cycle witnessed wide participation from (28) institutions from higher education institutions and research institutions in the PhD holders research category, the graduates research category, and the undergraduate students research category.
The received research proposals were distributed across various research sectors; such as the education and human resources sectors, environmental and biological resources, information and communications technology, health and social services, energy and industry, and culture and humanities and basic sciences. The growth of funded research projects enhances the major role of the efficiency-based institutional funding programme in developing national research capacities, and funding projects with scientific value and economic and social impact, in line with national priorities and the targets of "Oman Vision 2040".
In pursuit of providing scientific solutions to government challenges, the Authority received, through the Strategic Research Projects Programme, (248) proposals to find solutions for (24) government priorities and for (9) government institutions, within a participatory funding policy, through the beneficiary entities providing no less than (50) percent of the cost of research projects to ensure the application of the outputs of this research.
The Authority succeeded in attracting funding exceeding (162) thousand Omani riyals for its programmes through strategic partnerships, and signing (7) research contracts at a cost of (170) thousand Omani riyals within the "Cooperation Programme with Sultan Qaboos Scientific Chairs", and the Sultan Haitham Programme to Support Research Chairs in Academic Institutions was officially announced.
The Research and Innovation Authority achieved operational achievements in infrastructure and entrepreneurship, as the office occupancy rate in "Innovation Park Muscat" in 2026 reached (98%), and (4) usufruct contracts were signed with revenues exceeding one million Omani riyals, and the Park witnessed the opening of basic research and innovation centres, namely: "Oman Makers Centre", and "Midad Digital Centre".
To enhance linkage between the academic and industrial sectors, the "Advanced Technologies Integration Institute - Ejaad" approved during 2026 four applied projects with full funding from the private sector exceeding (130) thousand Omani riyals. In the field of incubating startups, the Authority announced the second edition of "Launch Accelerator" in cooperation with Sultan Qaboos University, as its first edition achieved prominent successes.
It received more than (110) applications for enrolment, resulting in the selection of (10) Omani companies and (3) companies joined from the "Manafea" programme, (4) of which succeeded in obtaining financial investments from local funds with a total value of (160) thousand Omani riyals, and registering the participation of (232) projects in the "Upgrade" programme to transform graduation projects into startups, and announcing the incubation of (10) student projects.
For its part, the Oman Centre for Animal and Plant Genetic Resources "Mawarid" continued its intensive efforts in genetic conservation, achieving in 2026 a number of achievements, most notably implementing a pioneering genomic study of the genetic diversity of the wild rabbit, and establishing a frozen genetic collection for the semen of purebred Arabian horses, in addition to multiplying rare plants such as "Dhofari Lavender".
The Centre worked to preserve more than (350) seed collections in the gene bank, and document data of more than (1000) entries on the "GRIP" platform, and in the bio-economy sector, (5) promising innovative models were graduated through the scientific incubator of the Biodiversity Hackathon "Manafea" programme.
The institutional support directed at research and innovation empowerment was reflected in the brilliance of Omani competencies internationally, as after winning a gold medal and two silver medals at the Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions 2025, Omani innovators were crowned in 2026 with three gold medals and one silver medal at the International Invention, Innovation and Technology Exhibition (ITEX 2026) in Malaysia, and the student innovative project "Haris" was selected among the best (13) projects globally at the London International Forum for Young Scientists, and Omani innovators participated in the Falling Walls Lab competition in Germany, and a young Omani researcher in the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings Forum, and the fifth edition of the Research Skills Forum was organised, and the Dhofar Scientific Forum was organised and the winning institutions in the programme to support research and innovation training courses were announced.
Locally, the "National Research Award" continued its motivational role for researchers and the list of award winners will be announced next December, and in the field of building capacities of researchers and innovators, the Authority funded (145) training courses to enhance research and innovation skills in various academic institutions.
In terms of supporting scientific publishing, the Authority approved (144) requests to support scientific publishing in peer-reviewed scientific journals in 2026, and the Oman Research and Education Network (OMREN) achieved the addition of (5) new global databases, to record more than (600) thousand downloads, while the "Shuaa" digital repository for Omani research production recorded nearly (17) thousand downloads, and the development of the "Oman Research Portal" was completed to be the integrated official interface.
