Sandooq Al Watan Launches Centurium Prize to Strengthen National Research and Development Efforts

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, 14 February 2019: Sandooq Al Watan, the private sector initiative to boost the UAEs social development - has announced the launch of the Centurium Prize, an initiative to enhance scientific research and development efforts within the UAE.

Aiming to improve the capabilities of national human resources and the scientific research community to meet the requirements and challenges of the future, the venture was announced as part of the UAE Innovation Month - which runs until February 28 - and Abu Dhabi Innovation Week.
The Centurium Prize comprises a series of international science competitions that have been devised to stimulate students, researchers, scientists, federal and government entities, as well as private companies, to find innovative solutions to the biggest challenges facing the UAE in an array of vital fields and sectors.

The Centurium Prize reflects the vision of the UAE's leadership to instill a culture of innovation in the country and to achieve the goals of UAE vision 2071, which aspire to make the UAE the best country in the world by investing in youth and enhancing the efforts of scientific research and development, said Mohamed Al Qadhi, General Manager of Sandooq Al Watan.

The Centurium Prize is the latest initiative from Sandooq AL Watan to support researchers and scientists in the UAE to establish exceptional innovative and technological solutions that represent a national contribution to local and global problems.

We are confident that the Centurium Prize, which has been formulated according to the latest international standards, will lead to promising results that have real-world applications. The award will witness extensive coordination between Sandooq Al Watan, the government and various parties within the UAE, to reach the best solutions and achieve the desired change for future generations within the UAE and across the world, added Al Qadhi.

The Centurium Prize is managed by the Sandooq Al Watan research platform research.ae, which currently supports more than 80 researchers in the UAE. The competition includes teams representing various sectors in UAE, including the environment, health and industry. The initiative will award significant cash prizes to participating scientific teams, with millions of dirhams being made available for winners.

The competitions that form the prize are divided into independent contests, each with separate evaluation rules and criteria. The award includes a selection of expert scientific arbitrators representing some of the most renowned scientific and research institutions in the world. The first prize competition is to be announced shortly, along with details on how to participate.

"We expect that this Centurium Prize will create a major impetus in the UAEs scientific community to combine scientific efforts to move from ideas and the research and development stage to practical applications to contribute to the real proactive solutions to meet various local and global challenges, Al Qadhi concluded.