Water and energy security were highlighted at Qatar Foundation's Research and Development's annual Research Conference recently.

 

It is two of Qatar's Research Grand Challenges stipulated in the Qatar National Research Strategy (QNRS), said a statement.

 

The session began with an overview of Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute’s (QEERI) water security, energy security and environmental security projects. 

 

In addition, the various means of creating solar-powered energy, its influence with major developments in Qatar, and the use of material science to solve energy-environmental issues, were explored in detail.

 

Founded in 2012, QEERI is Qatar’s leading national research laboratory, and is currently conducting research for 29 Grand Challenge projects, 22 sponsored research projects and nine active seed projects. 

 

The seed fund programme supports innovative, early-stage research.

 

Overall, the projects explore new ideas, and open avenues of research, which have the potential for advancing QEERI’s Grand Challenge projects and of attracting external funding and strategic partnerships.

 

The panel discussion, entitled ‘Materials for Solar Energy Harvesting and Photovoltaic (PV) Technologies,’ featured presentations from industry experts Dr Khalid Al-Subai, QEERI, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU); Professor Sukekatsu Ushioda, National Institute for Material Science (NIMS), Japan; Professor David Mitzi, Duke University, USA; and Professor Jörg Bagdahn, Fraunhofer CSP, Germany. The session was moderated by Dr Said Ahzi, QEERI.

 

The conference has served as QF R&D’s flagship event since 2010, providing a unique platform for knowledge-sharing and collaboration between Qatar’s brightest scientific minds and leading international researchers as they work to tackle the nation’s Research Grand Challenges. - TradeArabia News Service