Muscat – The Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation (MoHERI), in cooperation with the Ministry of Information, has invited applications for two approved research priorities in the second round of the Strategic Research Projects Programme for the government sector.

The two research priorities are: the reality of the Omani media that enhances community awareness and contributes to social and economic development; and the impact of using social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok on the national identity and culture of the Omani public.

Research applications can be submitted through the Research Information Management System (RIMS) at the Oman Research Portal (rims.trc.gov.om) until March 30.

The first research priority includes a number of research points, such as assessing the reality of the Omani media and the extent of the Omani media’s contribution to enhancing community awareness and contributing to social and economic development, and the necessary skills for workers in the media sector and aspects of empowerment for the Omani media.

The second research priority deals with several research points, like characteristics and advantages of social networking sites and their modern technologies, determinants of Omani identity, its elements and values, the Omani public’s uses of social networking sites, and the negative and positive impact of the use of social networking sites on the behaviour of the Omani public and the value system, and lastly ways to face the challenges of using social networking sites to preserve national identity and culture.

Research proposals should be limited to the proposed research priorities and themes only, while the principal investigator must hold a PhD degree or its equivalent, and belong to an institution linked online to the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. The principal investigator and assistant principal investigator must not have any projects funded by MoHERI.

The Strategic Research Projects Programme is one of the most important programmes to support and fund research projects in MoHERI. The programme focuses on national priorities in various sectors.