JOSEPH VARGHESE

DOHA THE Qatar Science and Leadership Programme (QSLP) is continuing to gain popularity among Qatari young graduates.

Already 31 students in various universities in Europe and the United States have participated in the programme since its inception in 2009.

Out of these, nine have successfully completed the scheme and joined various research organisations in the country.

The figures were given by Dr Ayman Bassil, head of research and training at QSLP, during an information session on Thursday.

Dr Bassil said that the programme offers students facilities for continuous development.

He said: “The QSLP is a unique capacity building programme for Qatari recent graduates, either holding a bachelor or master degree, and are willing to discover and develop their potential by embarking on a path of diverse scientific research and research administrative environments.

The programme offers two tracks of training, namely research management track and scientific track.” The first one, according to him, focuses on the career development of a research manager while the second one develops the career path of a scientist.

The management track, he said, lasts for 24 months and the scientific track 24 to 60 months.

The programme at the moment has 12 students in the research management track and 19 in the scientific track.

Seven of them are studying at the Imperial College of London. One who completed the scientific track programme has already joined the Qatar Biomedical College Institute (QBRI).

Recent graduates with a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree and a minimum GPA of 3.5 are eligible to apply for the programme.

Graduates from UK universities should have a minimum of upper second class honours.

All the applicants should have good English and computing skills with good communication and interpersonal skills. Those who are following scientific track would need to pursue a masters or PhD studies.