Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University is keen to promote scientific research in all theoretical and practical fields. The University provides financial support, and creates stimulating research environment for faculty members, lecturers, teaching assistants and students to conduct research in their areas of interest, per the university's established rules and regulations. 

The Funding Program for Research Groups is one of the significant supporting programs offered by the University for researchers in all disciplines.

The researcher applies for this program to the Deanship of Scientific Research through the research center of the college the researcher affiliates to.

1) Providing further support to distinguished researchers within the University.

2) Increasing the number of the University's distinguished research papers.

3) Encouraging interdisciplinary research within and outside the University.

4) Involving beginner researchers and graduate students as much as possible to gain more experience and to enhance their research and publishing skills.

5) Facilitating communication, interaction and exchange of experiences between the researchers at Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University and other researchers from local and international universities.

6) Establishing scientific expertise on specific specialized fields.

7) Supporting research partnerships with all governmental and private sectors.

The approved budget for this program is one hundred twenty-five thousand (125,000) riyals.

1) Each group's research priorities shall relate to the strategic plans of the University and be consistent with the Kingdom's Vision 2030.

2) Each group shall have a principal investigator who is one of Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University's staff (Saudi if possible) in order to lead the group. The principal investigator shall not be on a sabbatical leave, scientific contact or exceptional leave during the contract period; shall not be as well the principal investigator for any other project of the internal funding programs by the Deanship of Scientific Research. Proof of remaining at the university for at least one year from the date of signing the contract must be attached for contract faculty members. The principal investigator shall have at least 2 published research papers in the WoS-indexed journals.

3) The principal investigator may not apply for another research group before submitting the final report throughout one year. The principal investigator of the research group is allowed to be a PI for 2 research projects only throughout one year. The principal investigator is allowed to be a PI to the following; future pioneers, young researchers and funding after publication funding programs. 

4) The research group should have at least one PNU affiliated Saudi national. 

 

5) The research project applied for funding shall not be completed before applying for funding.

6) The principal investigator shall set a name for the research group that represents its research activity and area, enclosing a brief of the expected group activity.

7) The specialties within the research group being related shall be taken into consideration.

8) A researcher may participate in two research groups at maximum provided that the researcher does not be a principal researcher in more than one group.

9) The number of members of the research group shall not be less than three and not more than eight researchers. It is preferred if (at least one) post-graduate student from Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University participates is in the group.

10) The priority of funding shall be provided to the research proposal that aims at sharing ideas and experiences and facilitating the access to the latest developments in the field of specialization of the research group.

11) The research partnership shall be activated in coordination with the principal investigator of the research group and the Research Groups Unit at the Deanship as to address the researchers at the universities and research centers inside and outside the Kingdom who are in the same field of the research group specialization.

12) Members of the research group shall maintain harmony and cooperation among them. A new member or more may be admitted if one or more of its former members no longer works at the University, taking into consideration the maximum number of the group members.

13) Preferably, the research group provides seminars and panel discussions at the University in order to benefit the largest number of the University staff and introduce them to the outcomes of the group.

14) The principal investigator shall sign an acknowledgment of publishing five original research papers (Article) in WoS indexed journals only (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) when applying for funding. Papers published in WoS emerging source or in journals that do not have an impact factor are not accepted.

15) All researchers participating in the research project has to make a pledge of the intellectual property of the project using the approved form.

16) The principal investigator and members of the research project must obtain the approval of PNU Scientific Research Ethics Committee. DSR has the right to take action if local and international scientific research ethics are violated.

17)    After obtaining the approval of funding, the research team shall not make any major changes to the project, in particular (the project type, project subject, project methodological plan, project budget). Such changes may be possible if approved by The Permanent Committee.

18) The members of the research group are obligated to complete the group by the research team according to the proposed plan and approved by the Deanship of Scientific Research and not to change the number or names of researchers without obtaining the approval of The Permanent Committee. The Deanship of Scientific Research has the right to cancel the contract and refer the matter to PNU Scientific Research Ethics Committee.

19) The term of the contract is one year from the date of signing it. The contract can be extended for a similar period after obtaining the approval of the Deanship of Scientific Research.

20) The researcher can extend the duration of the research by applying to the Deanship of Scientific Research at least thirty (30) days before the project completion date, including the following:

a. A justification for the additional time required to complete the project, explaining what has been accomplished to the date of submitting the extension request. 

b. Steps required to complete the remaining parts of the research during the extension period. This shall not be valid without a written consent from the Deanship of Scientific Research. 

c. Attachment of the workflow form.

21)   If the period specified for the research group is over and the project has not been completed, the Permanent Committee may grant the researcher or the research group an additional period to complete the project, provided that this period does not exceed six months and does not entail any additional financial dues. This extension shall be granted only twice. The Council of the Deanship of Scientific Research has the right to make an exception.

22) Should the principal investigator leave the University before the completion of the funded research group, the principal investigator shall submit a report to the Deanship of Scientific Research with a request to assign an alternative researcher to be responsible for the research group. After the report is presented to The Permanent Committee, the Committee recommends as deemed appropriate.

23) Should the research project team not complete the basic research for any reason, the Council of the Deanship of Scientific Research, upon the recommendation by The Permanent Committee will follow one of the two options:

a. Stop the research group and refund the remaining financial allocations to the University's research budget. 

b. Complete the research group by delegating the role of the principle investigator to another member of the research group or to another researcher from outside the University. Consequently, the dues of the principal investigator are obtained by the alternative researcher.

24) The final report, invoices, final financial report form, and receipt of invoices delivery have to be submitted after the end of the research group period along with the published papers as stated in the contract.

25) The submission of the final technical report of the research project does not mean the end of the involvement of the research team in fulfilling any obligations or requirements in case of a request to cover the shortfalls in the submitted report, or to complete any of the objectives to be achieved in the research, without incurring any further finical obligations on the Deanship of Scientific Research.  

1. Publication of five original research papers, published as an "Article".

2. Papers shall be original research papers (Article) published in WoS indexed journals only (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4). Papers published in WoS emerging source or in journals that do not have an impact factor are not accepted.

3. Predatory Journals should be avoided as well as blacklisted publishers as stated in No. 16997, dated 5/1/1440. 

You can find a list of Predatory Journals in the following links:

https://predatoryjournals.com/journals

https://predatoryjournals.com/publishers

4. The first and only affiliation of PNU researchers should be in the following form:

Department name/ College name/ Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University

6. The official university e-mail is the only email that can be added in the affiliation for all members of the research team who are affiliated with the university.

7. The research group shall indicate the financial funding by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University and mention the research group number in the published papers and in the acknowledgment as in the following sentence:

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman  University for funding this work through the Research Groups Program, Grant No. RGP-XXX.

8. The commitment to include the names of 70% the project's members who participated in the research when publishing the research papers. In case the consultant or researcher's assistant did not participate in the publishing process, a special acknowledgment of their efforts in achieving the research shall be written after acknowledging the Deanship. 

9. The research team shall not publish with researchers or in journals from countries or entities that have no diplomatic relations with KSA. The University disclaims any responsibility for any consequence arising from such papers.

10. The research group shall present a short report of what has been accomplished.

11. Research papers published before the date of the contract's signature shall not be included as one of the group's achievements.

12. Research papers that include acknowledgment to different parties in the University other than the Funding of Research Groups Program in the Deanship of Scientific Research shall not be accepted.

13. 25% of the fund will be deducted for each acknowledgment made for any external party other than Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University.  

14. Adherence to the rules and ethics of scientific research.

15. Compliance with the plagiarism check criteria issued by PNU Scientific Council No. [151/12] in its twelfth session held on 17/5/1440 AH.

16. The scientific research and inventions resulting from this joint cooperation under this contract, which will be published in the future, shall be the property of Princess Noura bint Abdul Rahman University, with full scientific and legal responsibility by the researchers for the content they provide to the University.

1. Meeting the publishing requirements for the group that ended according to the Contract.

2. Attachment of the Research Group Funding Program Form.

Fifth: Research Groups Financial Regulations:

1. The funding is to be delivered in three phases as in the following:

• 25% of funding to be delivered after signing the Contract by both Parties.

• The second funding representing 25% will be delivered after obtaining the acceptance of publishing 2 scientific papers (Article) in (WoS) indexed journals (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4).

• The final funding which represents 50%, to be delivered after the acceptance and the approval of the final report by the Deanship of Scientific Research's Council, as well as publishing at least 5 scientific papers WoS indexed journals. Papers published in WoS emerging source or in journals that do not have an impact factor are not accepted.​

2. After receiving the due payments and submitting all the documents indicating that in accordance with the Scientific Research Regulations, the principal investigator (the Second Party) is committed to deliver all the financial payments to the research group members according to each group member's role.

3. The remunerations of the research team shall be paid in accordance with Article (12) of the Unified Regulation of Scientific Research issued by the Council of Higher Education resolution which was endorsed by the Royal Order No. 7/b/4403 dated 2/4/1419 H

4. In case the research project is not completed for any reason and the Deanship of Scientific Research Council decides upon the recommendation of the Permanent Committee, the research project should be suspended, the contract with the principal investigator is canceled and the financial commitment expected to be disbursed to the principal researcher upon completion of the project shall be rescinded, and he shall return the disbursed amounts according to the Deanship of Scientific Research regulations.