NU-Q Research Programs Support Student-led Projects
Student Research Week at NU-Q highlighted a wide range of research opportunities available to students on campus.
This year’s event featured presentations of student research projects that have either been completed or are still in progress. Internal and external grants supported independent research travels and language learning abroad. NU-Q faculty also worked with students on a series of collaborative projects that cut across disciplinary boundaries and explore a variety of regional themes.
The week also included informal sessions where students discussed potential research ideas with faculty and research specialists.
“Northwestern is one of the leading research universities in the world and at NU-Q, we continue this tradition with both faculty and students. Our support for student research is an integral part of our programming and constitutes an indispensable component of the NU-Q experience,” said Everette E. Dennis, dean and CEO.
Research Week is organized by the research office, which supports students in exploring funding opportunities and refining grant proposals to pursue their research activities.
During the event this year, students who have received various grants and funding opportunities presented their research to the NU-Q community and discussed the status of their projects and their experience in the program.
The presenters included Inaara Gangji, a student who received a grant from the Qatar National Research Fund for a research project on migrant entrepreneurship as part of her participation in the Undergraduate Research Experience Program with Professor Hasan Mahmud.
“Through this project, I am looking forward to learning about the process by which cobblers, watch-smiths and other migrant business owners earn their income and contribute to the Qatari economy,” Gangji said. “I’m excited to see what we will find as it’s not something that has been studied before.”
A recipient of the Undergraduate Research Grant from the NU Office of Undergraduate Research, Noor Abunaba'a researched the educational constraints affecting Palestinians in the West Bank.
“Applying to the grant was a rewarding experience that taught me a lot about the methodological challenges of working with research subjects,” Abunaba'a explained. “
Mohamed Eltayeb spent his summer studying French in Paris thanks to an Undergraduate Language Grant. “The unique thing about language grants,” he noted, “is that on top of giving you the opportunity to learn a new language, they also support your process of self-discovery by teaching you who you are and what you want to be.”
Omer Alaoui received a Media and Research Award for his analysis of marriage practices in Qatar and had the opportunity to present his findings at the Undergraduate Research and Arts Exposition in Evanston over the summer.
“In my experience, NU-Q has been an ideal place to conduct research as an undergraduate because classes are not limited to lectures only but encourage interactions with the wider community,” Alaoui said. “We are in turn allowed to use this ethnography as primary sources for class papers and even get credit for it.”
