Abstract:

Egypt has about 7,752 students who received doctoral degree in 2014, up to 4,331 in 2012, yet around 0.2% of the Egyptian national income is being spent on scientific research. The universities’ budgets are strained by the large enrolment of students in undergraduate and postgraduate programs that even non-governmental universities have started to seek international funding as well as collaborations with the private sector to support research projects.

The Research Grants (RGs) program, initiated by the Bibliotheca Alexandrina(BA), seeks out generation of creative and innovative research. It recognizes the existence of a pool of untapped potential available in young researchers all over Egypt eager to collaborate with international institutions, however lack the process needed for such collaboration.

The objective of the RGs program is to support outstanding young postdoctoral Egyptian researchers who perform cutting edge research and undertake collaborative investigation approaches across the science and technology spectrum, by offering them postdoctoral research grants as well as help them establish connections with Egyptian and International scientists and researchers. Initiated in 2004, a total of 48 researchers have been granted the BA RGs.

This work presents the RG program as a model for researchers’ support and research advancement. It also investigated its impact on researchers careers’ progress using quantitative and qualitative methods including questionnaires and interviews. Not only it highlights the benefits to researchers, it also sheds light on the difficulties faced by researchers during the application process, opportunities for program improvement as well as obstacles researchers face to fund their ideas.