Annual Report 2022

DEAN’S FOREWORD

Greetings esteemed colleagues, it is with great honor and privilege that I address you today as the new Dean of the College of Science. I stand here today deeply grateful for the trust and confidence you have placed in me. I would like to take this opportunity to express my utmost gratitude to my predecessors for their exemplary leadership and dedication. With their guidance, our College has flourished in remarkable ways. It is now my honor to continue their legacy and lead us towards a bright and prosperous future. I bring to this role a passion for science and education, and I am eager to utilize my knowledge and experience to continue to promote excellence in our College. I am eager to work together with all of you to ensure our College's success and make our future a reality.

When it comes to academic excellence, we will strive to create an environment of learning and exploration that is second to none. We will continue to challenge our students to achieve their highest potential and recognize and celebrate their successes. We will also work to ensure that our faculty have the resources and support they need to continue to advance the field of study and mentor our students. In order to foster a sense of community engagement, we will look for ways to engage with our local and global community. This could be through service learning opportunities, outreach programs, and volunteer initiatives. We will also strive to build meaningful partnerships with external organizations in order to support our students and faculty in their endeavors. Finally, we will strive to cultivate a culture of innovation. We will work to create an atmosphere of creativity, collaboration, and experimentation. We will look for ways to inspire our students and faculty to think outside the box and come up with innovative solutions to address societal issues. These three pillars: academic excellence, community engagement, and nurturing a culture of innovation will serve as the foundation of my vision as Dean. Together, we will strive to empower our students, inspire our faculty, and make a positive impact on society.

As we move forward, academic excellence will remain our top priority. I am committed to creating a vibrant and interactive learning atmosphere that will provide our students with the tools they need to succeed in a rapidly changing world. We will continue to evaluate our academic programs to ensure that they meet the needs of the future and to keep up with the changing landscape of educational and economic requirements. We will also pursue active learning initiatives, such as providing hands-on learning opportunities, to ensure that our students receive a holistic educational experience. By fostering an engaging and dynamic environment, we can ensure that our students are prepared to succeed in the real world.

We recognize the importance of community engagement in our endeavors, and it is a core part of our mission. This means more than simply being an academic institution; it means being an active member of the broader community, and forging meaningful partnerships with local organizations, government agencies, and industry leaders. We also want to create opportunities for our students and faculty to make meaningful contributions, by connecting them with our alumni and other members of the community.

By building these relationships with external stakeholders, we can create a more vibrant, dynamic, and impactful learning environment that will benefit not just our college but also the broader community as a whole.

At our university, we are committed to fostering an environment of innovation that empowers our students and faculty to thrive. We will instill a culture of creativity and forward-thinking, equipping our students and faculty with the skills and mindset necessary to stay ahead of the rapidly evolving landscape. We will create an ecosystem that encourages innovative thinking, pioneering research, and catalyzes the development of new ideas and solutions. Through this approach, we will ensure that innovation is ingrained in everything we do, and our students and faculty are able to succeed in the ever-changing world.

On behalf of the College of Science, I am deeply grateful for all of the hard work and dedication that our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and trusted partners have put forth in support of our college's mission. We have faced various challenges and opportunities in our journey, and it has been your unwavering support and collective spirit that has been a source of strength and inspiration throughout our journey. I am confident that with your continued support, dedication, and collective spirit, we will continue to thrive and succeed. Thank you for your commitment to our college and our mission.

DEAN'S OFFICE STAFF

Sultan Al-Amri Haitham Awlad-Thani Clerk (Photocopying Office) Messenger

COLLEGE ADMINISTRATION

COLLEGE SUPERINTENDENT

Mr. Salah Al Shukairi

ASSISTANT DEAN'S OFFFICE FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDIES

Dr. Abir Al Hajri
Assistant Dean for
Undergraduate Studies
Assistant Professor,
Computer Science Department

Ms. Maladh Al Yousfi
Student Affairs Specialist

Ms. Fatma Al Farsi
Clerk

Contact us:

Asst. Dean for
Undergraduate Studies,
College of Science, Sultan
Qaboos University PO Box
36, Postal Code: 123 Al-
Koudh, Muscat, Sultanate of
Oman

Tel Number +968 24141403 &
+968 24142241
Email:

[email protected]

www.squ.edu.om/science /
Undergraduate

The office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies plays a central role in facilitating student success and enhancing the quality of their learning from the day of admission to the time of graduation. Among the roles of the office is to provide services to students and faculty members that support the academic and professional needs of SQU students. Such services are provided to College of Science students as well as to other SQU students who enrol in College of Science courses.

The major duties undertaken by this Office are wide-ranging. They include overseeing admission, registration and the orientation of new students, managing the students’ choice of majors, promoting curriculum design and development, overseeing and supporting the establishment and review of degree and minor programs, helping to facilitate accreditation of degree programs, assisting with timetabling of College courses and mid-semester exams, overseeing academic advising in the College, liaising with counterparts in the other SQU colleges, and the Deanship of Admissions and Registration, as well as providing counselling and succour to probation students. Many of these duties are performed with the assistance of College committees such as the College Curriculum Committee, Timetabling Committee, Academic Advising Committee and the Choice-of-Major Committee. Each committee consists of a representative from each department in the college. The representative serves as a link between the ADUGS office and his department regarding all academic matters related to undergraduate studies.

TEACHING AND LEARNING

The College has continued to maintain a high standard and rigorous teaching and assessment scheme. In 2022, 452 undergraduate students were admitted to the College, bringing the total number of enrolled science students to 2970.

UNDERGRADUATE TEACHING SUMMARY

The total number of registrations per semester has exceeded thirteen thousands in both Spring and Fall 2022.

MAJORS AND MINORS

Students in the College of Science are able to select from a choice of 10 Majors. Additionally, 13 Minors are available to Science students.

MAJORS

The science majors are listed below:

The number of students in the College Majors are summarized in the below histogram while the following pie-charts illustrate the ratio between the majored and non-majored students.

MINORS

The possible minors for science students are listed below:

^* The Minor in Business is offered by the College of Economics and Political Science, and the Minor in Soil & Water Sciences is offered by the College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences.

DEGREE PLANS

New courses developed in the Departments were discussed and approved, and existing courses were reviewed and modified where necessary.

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

There are 18 international students registered for undergraduate courses in the College of Science.

DEAN’S LIST

Of all the responsibilities of the Office of the Assistant Dean for Undergraduate Studies, it is the overseeing of the ceremony, honouring the students named on the Dean’s List that gives me the most satisfaction. My heartfelt congratulations to the 162 students in Spring 2022 and 164 students in Fall 2022 named to the Dean’s List.

UNIVERSITY DAY AWARDS – COLLEGE OF SCIENCE BEST STUDENTS 2022

Two graduating students received the Best Student Award:

UNIVERSITY DAY AWARDS – COLLEGE OF SCIENCE BEST TEACHERS 2022

Three faculty members were awarded the Best-Teacher Award:

UNIVERSITY DAY AWARDS – COLLEGE OF SCIENCE BEST ADVISOR 2022

One faculty member received the Best Advisor Award:

ADVISING

The College faculty continued to provide valuable support to students in Science & Mathematics Education through academic advising. In total, 168 faculty served as advisors for undergraduate students. This activity was coordinated by the Office of the Assistant Dean. It was an important part of our academic culture and critical for students, especially those in the early years of study. The ADUGS office organized a workshop for Advising on 10/4/2022 to 14/10/2022.

GRADUATES

329 College of Science students received their BSc Degree during the Graduation ceremony in Fall 2022.

ASSISTANT DEAN'S OFFFICE FOR TRAINING AND COMMUNITY SERVICE

Dr. Tariq Mohiuddin Ghulam
Assistant Dean for Training &
Community Service
Associate Professor, Physics
Department

Ms. Fathiya Al Hamdani
Clerk

Mr. Abdullah Al Balushi
Coordination & Follow-up &
Archive Specialist

The Office of the Assistant Dean for Training and Community Services (ADTCS) facilitates staff and student training, community services, and student activities in the College of Science. My administrative team consists of Mr. Abdullah Al-Balushi (Coordination & Follow-up & Achieve Specialist) and Ms. Fathyia Al-Hamadani (clerk) who play a very crucial role in coordinating all activities and services offered by the office. The office of ADTCS is supported by committees for each activity consisting of a representative from each department or unit in the college. The representatives serve as focal points, links in the departments and units, and liaise all matters related to the staff and student training, student activities, short courses, workshops, and other community services.

Contact us:

Asst. Dean for Training & Community Service,
College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University
PO Box 36, Postal Code: 123 Al-Koudh, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

Tel Number +968 24142278
Email: [email protected]
www.squ.edu.om/science/Training-Community-Service

ADTCS COMMITTEES

ADTCS tasks are administrated and coordinated via a number of committees at the College level, each includes representatives from all academic Departments in the College and or the College’s Administrative Units. The committees are appointed by the College Board every academic year. This section lists the committees and the members for the academic year 2022.

HIGHLIGHTS

The year 2022 witnessed a number of high impact activities at the Office of the ADTCS:

• A team of 4 student from the Department of Earth Sciences won the 2^nd Place at the IBA 2022 (Middle East Section) Competition.
• The SQU team with representatives from the Department of Computer Science have won the 2^nd and 3^rd place at the Oman Collegiate Programming Contest 2022 which was organized by the College in October 2022.

ES Students Won 2^nd IBA2022 Place

CS Students Won 2^nd & 3^rd OCR 2022 Place

STAFF TRAINING

The College Staff, in collaboration with the Centre for Human Resources Development provides the office with opportunities to advance their knowledge and skills through in-house and external training programmes:

• 17 College staff received in-house training in the HR Center & 3 staff was trained out-house in Italy.

STUDENT TRAINING

The essence of summer training or industrial placement is to apply acquired scientific knowledge to everyday practical experiences. Not only does this exercise equip students with a new set of skills but it also introduces them to real-life work conditions and maximises opportunities on the job market. Student training is a compulsory component in some degree programmes such as, Applied Chemistry, Computer Science and Medical Physics, necessitating the involvement of the Student Training Committee to seek out training opportunities that best meet the stipulated degree requirements. Students in other degree programs usually make their own initiatives to secure training opportunities.

The chart below shows a summary of training opportunities for students during 2022. The places providing the largest numbers of training opportunities to our students were: Daleel Petroleum Company, CGG Services, United Integrated Laboratories, lonaster Alpha Laboratories, Code Academy, Ministry of Defense, Engineering Village, ALS Arabia Biyaq and various government institutions.

EIDAAD STUDENT TRAINING PROGRAM

EIDAAD is a national program to allow students to train for a period of one full academic year in the industry or other enterprises. The student is then required to return to SQU and complete his or her degree. In 2022, 11 students from the College were accepted in the program.

COMMUNITY SERVICES

• The College provided training for 60 students from other higher education institutes.
• The College facilitated 23 school visits to different departments.
• College Staff administered workshops at the thirty-fifth session of the College of Command and Staff.
• The Student Activities Group at the College of Science organized an event to welcome new students affiliated in the university, where students were introduced to the most important conditions and controls, followed by a tour around the College to learn about the most important facilities.
• The College, represented by the student activities group, celebrated the 52nd National Day. The celebration included decorating the college with the flags of the Sultanate and inviting restaurants, cafes and home projects to participate in the event.

STUDENTS ACTIVITIES & ACHIEVEMENTS

The College’s Student Society (CSSS) and the Departmental Student Groups provide a platform to demonstrate everyday science, and serve as an outlet to have fun and reach out to the community. Activities are organized by student committees and include workshops, seminars, exhibitions and competitions. The student groups leaders in the year 2022 are:

Science Society Arwa Al Busaidi		Chemistry Group Gaith Al Harthi
Computer Science Group Al-Anoud Al-Shizawi		Earth Sciences Group Al Azhar Al Mawali
Mathematics Group AL Hanoof AL Shizawi		Physics Group

The main activities in the year 2022 were:

MAIN SPONSORS:

The College’s activities, mainly students activities atract supports from many private and public sector organizations. The list of the main donors in 2022 included:

• Vodafone (The 19th Science Festival Official Sponsor)
• CGG (The 19th Science Festival Sponsor)
• LNG (The 19th Science Festival Sponsor )
• Gulf Mushroom Products (Bio Forum Sponsor, Biology)
• Fisheries Development Oman (Physics Forum Sponsor, Physics)
• RIVOLI Group (Physics Forum Sponsor, Physics)
• Al Hakeem Medical center (Stat Forum Sponsor, Statistics)
• Petrogas E&P LLC (Stat Forum Sponsor, Statistics)

ASSISTANT DEAN'S OFFFICE FOR POSTGRADUATE STUDIES & RESEARCH

Dr. Nawal Al-Rasbi
Associate Prof., Assistant Dean
(PGS&R)
(PhD, Univ. of Sheffield, UK)

Qamariya Al-Mughairi
Research Coordinator

Ibrahim Al-Abri
Postgraduate Coordinator

The College of Science (CoS) has 9 postgraduate programs in the disciplines of Biology, Environmental Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Sciences, Pure and Applied Math’s, Statistics, and Physics. CoS has seven PhD programs offered in six Departments. Current MSc programs in the College of Science are 2 years period and full time. The general objective of these programs is to enhance the academic background of the postgraduate student through 24 credit hours course work and train the student in research skills in the form of a 6 credit hours research project submitted at the end of the second year of the program for a total of 30 credit hours.

On the other side, the culture of research in the College of Science is well cultivated in all Departments of the College of Science. The research output is evidenced by the number of publications in international journals and the SQU Journal for Science as well as conference presentations in keeping with the improved research facilities and the number of postgraduate and research assistants. The research is granted from external sources. These sources are mainly the Research Council (TRC) and the strategic research (SR). The internal source is the internal grants (IG). The research is based on collaboration between colleagues in the same department, different departments within the college, different colleges or different institutes around the world. Postgraduate students and research assistants also aid the search. Different experimental facilities are available in research labs in the College.

Contact us:

Asst. Dean for Postgraduate Studies and Research,
College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University
PO Box 36, Postal Code: 123 Al-Koudh, Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

Tel Number +968 24142243
Email: [email protected]
www.squ.edu.om/science/Research

RESEARCH GRANTS HIGHLIGHTS

The major sources of research funding are internal grants (IG), His Majesty’s strategic grants (HM), the Research Council grants (TRC) and contract research grants (CR). In 2022 research funds in the College was OMR 60,000 from the IG. Also, the College got about OMR 35,700 from His Majesty’s Startigic Grant (HM) for the Department of Computer Science. These numbers are presented in the table below.

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

It is gratifying that the culture of research in the College is well and truly cultivated. The breadth of scholarly activities of the College as recorded in Annual Research Report (see Part 2) is remarkable and is the hallmark of an institution striving for excellence and international recognition. The College made 311 achievements of conference proceedings, book chapters, refereed journal articles and others. The maximum number of publications is scored by Department of Biology with 43 scientific papers followed by Physics and Mathematics with 40 and 39 scientific papers for each respectively.

POSTGRADUATES HIGHLIGHTS

The postgraduate programs are boosted by the increase in research funding and boasting a growing number of international students. The total intake of the College is 195 students. Details of the intake of each department and program are tabulated below. However, 36 MSc and 19 PhD students graduated from the College in 2022.

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY

The Department of Biology was established in 1986. This is one of the pioneer departments in College of Science. In the beginning, the Department of Biology offered BSc degree in Biology and currently it offers two BSc degrees: BSc Biotechnology and BSc Environmental Biology. The department is also conducting two MSC degree programs: MSc Biology and MSc Environmental Science. In addition, Department of Biology offers PhD degree in Biology. Besides teaching undergraduate and graduate courses, the department also extend service courses to students from the College of Agriculture, Education and Medicine and continues its leadership in biological research in the Sultanate. The Department of Biology offers a range of courses from basic to applied sciences which fulfill the requirements of students from College of Science and other colleges. The curriculum is designed in such a way to provide knowledge, to teach the students how to design, conduct and interpret scientific research, and make the students to think critically and ethically about biological research and its social impact. The curriculum makes the students competent to start their profession and prepares them for higher studies. The teaching and research labs are well equipped and a reasonable number of students are pursuing graduate and post-graduate studies. The Department of Biology is committed to teach modern biological sciences and conduct quality research as well. The staff are active in teaching and research and many of them have funded projects supported by various organizations. The faculty members and supporting technical staff are trained in various disciplines of biology, with emphasis on experimental and environmental biology.

HoD Office

Raeid Abed
Professor, HoD
(PhD, Bremen, Germany)

Florida Nevado
Coordinator
Fatema Al Jabri
Coordinator

Members of the Departmental Main Committees

Academic Promotion

Prof. Raeid Abed

Dr. Aisha Al Khayat Al Shehi

Dr. Sardar Farooq

Dr. Michael Barry

Dr. Hameed Sulaiman

Appointment

Prof. Raeid Abed

Dr. Aisha Al Khayat Al Shehi

Dr. Hassan Al Reasi

Dr. Aliya Al Ansari

Dr. Aziz Al Habsi

Dr. Erika Cuellar Soto

Curriculum

Prof. Raeid Abed

Dr. Aliya Al Ansari

Dr. Sardar Farooq

Dr. Mahmoud Yaish

Dr. Bahja Al Riyami

Dr. Erika Cuellar Soto

Dr. Hassan Al Reasi

Dr. Hamada Ali

Dr. Sedky Hassan

Procurement

Prof. Raeid Abed

Dr. Mahmoud Yaish

Dr. Sabri Al Bahlani

Postgraduate Studies

HIGHLIGHTS

The year 2022 witnessed the following:

• Dr. Lamya Al Haj was selected by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as one of 65 Young Global Leader’s around the world to be take part in the Harvard Educational Module in Boston. Dr. Lamya completed the program on “Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st century”.
• Dr. Lamya Al Haj was selected to be part of the official YGL delegation at Davos during May 2022 and was part of a panel discussion on “Transitioning to a Green Middle East).
• Dr. Lamya Al Haj was invited by Harvard Business School GCC club as a speaker in the panel discussion titled “Leadership in an Era of Transformation: Conversation with GCC leaders” 14^th and 16^th of September 2022, Dubai, UAE.
• Dr. Lamya Al Haj was a winner of the prestigious UK Alumni Award 2022 for the advancement of science in the field of “Science and Sustainability 2022”.
• Dr. Lamya Al Haj participated as an invited speaker in multiple events in the occasion of “Omani Women's Day” (15^th to 25^th October 2022).
• Dr. Lamya Al Haj was invited in person by the Minister’s Office as a guest speaker in the “International Day for Tolerance Celebration 2022” organized by the Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs.
• Dr. Lamya Al Haj organized "Jalasat Mulhimoon 4" Oman's largest annual youth inspirational platform with the theme "Empowering People with Disabilities" with a turn out of over 3000 attendees.
• Dr. Lamya Al Haj signed an agreement with the Ministry of Transportation to test biodiesel produced from her research work (November 22, 2022).
• Dr. Lamya Al Haj successfully launched the first Green Bus running on Biodiesel from date seed in the Middle East. The success of her research findings was featured in many regional news channels including “Al Jazeera”.
• Dr. Erika Cuellar Soto gave a talk in the monthly event organized by the Environmental Society of Oman, September 2022

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

• Dr. Lamya Adnan Al Haj received UK Alumni Award 2021-2022 in Science and Sustainability.
• Dr. Sedky Hassan got award from the Federation of Arab Scientific Research Councils, Republic of Sudan in November 2021.

SEMINARS/ WORKSHOPS

• Dr Aliya Al Ansari conducted a workshop on “DNA Barcoding and Phylogenetic Diversity Assessment” for 10 employee from Mawarid/Ministry of Higher Education, on the 12-13 December 2022.
• Dr. Antoine Leduc, gave a talk entitled “Coastal Terrestrial Acoustic Pollution: Effects on Reef Fishes”, within the College of Science Annual Research Meeting, SQU, March 2022.
• Dr. Hassan Ali Al-Reasi, participated in a workshop on “Developing Environmnetal Responsibility: Towards NetZero”, and presented a talk entitled “Role of Center for Environmental Studies and Research towards Carbon Neutrality in Oman” to the Centre for Community Service and Continuing Education, SQU on 12 December 2022.

• Dr. Hameed Lebbai, conducted series of workshop on “Enabling students to ask their own questions in the class: A proven technique to train students to ask questions and formulate right questions” to university students in spring 2022 semester on various dates in March 2022 organized by Independent Leaning Centre at SQU, Oman.
• Dr. Hameed Lebbai, conducted two workshops on “Using question formulation technique and Social emotional learning” to the teaching assistants of Physics department on 4 April 2022 at SQU, Oman.
• Dr. Hameed Lebbai, conducted workshop on “Critical thinking: Why it is a necessary skill required for learning and a must for life”” to university students organized by Independent Leaning Centre at SQU, Oman on 7 November, 2022
• Dr. Hameed Lebbai, conducted a workshop on “Enabling students to ask their own questions in the class” to university students organized by Independent Leaning Centre at SQU, Oman on 10 November 2022.
• Dr. Hameed Lebbai, conducted a workshop on “Developing social-emotional learning to advance academic skills and competency” to FYP students organized by Biology department and Independent Leaning Centre at SQU, Oman on 4 December 2022.

VISITING CONSULTANTS & PART-TIME INSTRUCTORS

The Department received the following academic staff as Visiting Consultants:

• Spring 2022:
  • Dr. Noura Al-Zeheimi, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, PhD in Biology, 2019.
  • Dr. Asma Bini Araba, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2018
  • Dr. Samiya Al-Jaaidi, University of New England, PhD in Biology, 2008.
  • Dr. Geetha Sanket, Maharaja Sayaji Rao University, India, PhD in Microbiology, 2008.
  • Dr. Eric Hopkins, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, PhD in Crop Science, 2021.
  • Dr. Fatma Al Salmi, University of Exeter, UK, PhD in Molecular Genetics, 2021.
  • Prof. Saif Al Bahry, University of New Hampshire, Durham, USA, PhD in Microbiology/Molecular Biology, 1994
• Fall 2022:
  • Dr. Noura Al-Zeheimi, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, PhD in Biology, 2019.
  • Dr. Asma Bini Araba, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2018.
  • Dr. Fatma Al Salmi, University of Exeter, UK, PhD in Molecular Genetics, 2021
  • Dr. Kothar Al Balushi, Universaity of New Castle, UK, PhD in Marine Science & Technology, 2018.
  • Dr. Elsadig Eltayeb, University of Exeter, UK, PhD in Biological Sciences, 1982.
  • Dr. Samiya Al Jaaidi, University of New England, Australia, PhD in Molecular Biology, 2008.

Dr. Fatma Al Salmi, Dr. Kothar Al Balushi, Dr. Noura Al Zeheimi, Dr. Asma Bini Araba, Dr. Eric Hopkins, Dr. Elsadig Eltayeb, Prof. Saif Al Bahry, Dr. Geetha Sanket, and Dr. Samiya Al Jaaidi

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS

The Department of Biology has been collaborating with universities abroad from inception. Following is a brief description of the ongoing collaborations faculty members are involved with:

• Dr. Sirin A. Adham has a standing collaboration with Prof. John Bartlett and his team from the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Toronto, Canada. The collaboration started in May 2020, the team are studying the cancer genetics of Omani breast cancer patients’ using next generation sequencing.
• Dr. Sivakumar Nallusamy has a standing collaboration with Dr. Vijay Gupta, Head of Research and development Scotland's Rural College, United Kingdom.

STUDENT TRAINING & INDUSTRY PLACEMENT

Training opportunities for students in the Summer of 202۲ are tabulated below:

MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

The Department of Chemistry, established in 1986, offers a five-year Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry and Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Chemistry. The curriculum at the undergraduate level is designed to provide students with deep knowledge, practical skills and a logical approach required to begin their professional career right after graduation. The Department also offers a postgraduate program leading to a Master of Science in Chemistry and a Ph. D. degree in various fields of Chemistry. The research in the department covers many areas such as synthesis and characterization of organometallic and coordination compounds, natural products and organic synthesis, materials science, oil enhancement recovery, bio-physical chemistry, computational chemistry, microfluidics and nanotechnology, novel fluorogenic liquid crystalline materials and environmental chemistry.

The Department of Chemistry is one of the biggest department in the College of Science with 29 full time highly qualified academic staff with an extensive level of expertise covering a broad range of subject areas. Our staff are active in research, and many of them hold internally and externally funded research projects. The academic staff are also supported by a strong technical team consisting of 18 highly skilled technicians and a research associate. In addition, the department is very well equipped with various high-end instruments. Furthermore, the academic staff have access to instrumental and high performance computational facilities run by several scientific research centers on SQU campus.

Members of the Departmental Main Committees

HoD Office

Fakhr Eldin Suliman
Professor and HoD
(Ph.D., KFUPM, KSA)

Nouf Al Lamki
Coordinator

Jawaher Al Badi
Coordinator

Advisory Board

Prof. Haider Al-Lawati

Prof. Fakhr-Eldin Suliman

Prof. Salma Al Kindi

Dr. Hamed Al Mamari

BSc Curriculum

Dr. John Husband

Dr. Saleh Al Busafi

Dr. Muna Al-Mandhary

Dr. Bushra Al Wahibi

Dr. Younis Baqi

Post Graduate

Prof. Muhammed Khan

Dr. Raid Abdul Jalil

Quality Assurance and Accreditation

Dr. Wajdi M. Zoghaib

Prof. Majek Fatope

Dr. Emad Khudaish

Dr. Younis Baqi

Dr. John Husband

Research

Dr. Emad Khudaish

External Relations

Dr. El-Said El-Shafey

Dr. Haider Al-Lawati

Dr. Younis Baqi

Dr. Massimo Valentini

HIGHLIGHTS

The year 2022 witnessed the following:

This year, 2022, the Department of Chemistry went through the accrediting process for its two undergraduate degrees, B.Sc. Chemistry (second cycle) and B.Sc. Applied Chemistry (first cycle). The process is reaching its final stages. The site visit was completed, and the preliminary evaluation was positive.

The following Chemistry staff won the corresponding awards for the year 2022:

Prof. Salma Al-Kindy: Best Paper Award for 2022 by SQU Journal For Scientific research for “Development and validation of an RP-HPLC-FLD method for the determination of biogenic amines after Pre-column derivatization with a new pyrazoline based reagent, 3- Naphthyl-1-(4-trifluoromethyl)- 5-(4-carboxy phenyl)-2-pyrazoline’’.

Prof. Rengaraj Selvaraj was awarded life Fellow of Indian Council of Chemists (FICC) by Indian Council of Chemists, Agra, India on December, 2022.

Prof. Rengaraj Selvaraj received the recognition during the University Day Awards of being among the top 2% of researchers as ranked by Stanford University.

Dr. El-Said I. El-Shafey received Certificate of Award from SQU for being among the top 2 % most cited researchers by Scopus and Stanford University in 2021, received during the University Day 2022.

Dr. Raid Abdel-Jalil: Best Researcher Award

Dr. Wajdi Michel Zoghaib: Best Teacher Award

Dr. El-Said El-Safey was awarded HM research grant

Dr. Eman Al-Yahyai: Best Ph.D. Thesis Award

Mrs. Muna Al-Belushi: Best Technician Award

DEPARTING STAFF

• Prof. Majek O. Fatope retired from his position after a long career at SQU.

PROMOTIONS

• Dr. Selverage Rengaraj (Associate Professor) was granted an academic promotion to the Professor rank in 2022.
• Dr. Younis Baqi (Associate Professor) was granted an academic promotion to the Professor rank in 2022.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

• Prof. Salma Al-Kindy: Best Paper Award for 2022 by SQU Journal For Scientific research
• Prof. Rengaraj Selvaraj was appointed as board member of the Pacific Basin Consortium for the term 2022 -2026.
• Prof. Rengaraj Selvaraj Chaired one of the technical session at 3^rd International Conference on Materials Science and Engineering, Boston, USA held during April 18-22, 2022.
• Prof. Rengaraj Selvaraj Chaired one of the technical session at 19^th Pacific Basin Consortium 2022 Conference, Jeju Island, South Korea held during 29^th August, 2022 to 1^st September, 2022.
• Dr. Raid Abdel-Jalil: Best Researcher Award for the year 2022
• Dr. Wajdi Michel Zoghaib: Best Teacher Award for the year 2022
• Dr. El-Said El-Safey was awarded HM research grant for the year 2022
• Dr. Eman Al-Yahyai: Best Ph.D. Thesis Award for the year 2022
• Mrs. Muna Al-Belushi: Best Technician Award for the year 2022

VISITING CONSULTANTS & PART-TIME INSTRUCTORS

The Department received the following academic staff as Visiting Consultants:

Spring 2022:

• Dr. Sayedhosein Mousavipour, Dalhousie University, Canada, Physical Chemistry, 1996.
• Dr. Reem Al Alawi, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, Organic Chemsitry, 2015
• Dr. Nafiseh Bagheri, Shahid Madani University, Iran, Analytical Chemistry, 2019
• Dr. Sindhu Menon, Central University of Hyderabad, India, Inorganic chemistry, 1996
• Dr. Syeda Naheed Furqan, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, Analytical & Environmental Chemistry, 2018.
• Dr. Amal Al Sabahi, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, Analytical & General Chemistry, 2019
• Miss. Huda Al Sharji, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, Inorganic Chemsitry, 2021

Fall 2022:

• Dr. Sayedhosein Mousavipour, Dalhousie University, Canada, Physical Chemistry, 1996.
• Dr. Nafiseh Bagheri, Shahid Madani University, Iran, Analytical Chemistry, 2019
• Dr. Sindhu Menon, Central University of Hyderabad, India, Inorganic chemistry, 1996
• Dr. Aneela Maalik, , University of Rostock, Germany, Organic Chemsitry, 2012
• Dr. Amal Al Sabahi, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, Analytical & General Chemistry, 2019
• Dr. Iman Al-Yahyai, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, Analytical Chemistry, 2022
• Dr. Saba Sulaiman, , Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, Physical Chemistry, 2017
• Miss. Huda Al Sharji, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, Inorganic Chemsitry, 2021
• Mrs. Anwaar Al-Maqbali, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, Organic Chemsitry, 2021

CURRICULUM

• The final year project core course CHEM 5501 was modified to include a poster presentation evaluated by faculty members.

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS

The Department of Chemistry has been collaborating with universities abroad from inception. Following is a brief description of the ongoing collaborations faculty members are involved with:

• Dr. Massimiliano Valentini has a standing collaboration with Prof. Alceo Macchioni and his team from University of Perugia (Italy) in the area of catalytic water oxidation. The team is an internationally recognized group for the discovery of a new class of Ir (III) water soluble complexes active in the water oxidation reaction. Moreover, Dr. Valentini has an international collaboration with Prof. Elena Motti from the University of Parma (Italy) for the synthesis of cobalt complexes bearing the tripodal Klaui ligand. Moreover, Dr. Valentini has a collaboration with Prof. Piccolo from the University of Naples for the phase transfer catalysis of humic substances.
• Prof. Osama Abou-Zied maintains an ongoing collaboration with a diverse group of international researchers from Malaysia and the UK. These researchers include Faisal Khyasudeen and Idayu Zahid from the University of Malaya, Fadhilah Aripin from Universiti Teknologi MARA, Alfonso Martinez-Felipe from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland. Together, they are exploring novel organic molecules and liquid polymeric crystals for potential applications in solar cells and energy storage.
• Dr. Imran Hasan Syed has established a collaboration with:
  • The research group of Prof. Iqbal Choudhary, International Centre for Chemical and biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi, Pakistan in the area of Natural Products Chemistry.
  • Dr. Saravanan and Dr. Ashanl-ul-Haque at the University of Hail, Saudi Arabia. The collaboration with Dr. Saravanan is in the field of Natural Product Chemistry, which led to the isolation and characterization of secondary metabolites from regional plants. The collaboration with Dr. Ashanl-ul-Haque led to the synthesis of substituted triazoles and organic fluorescent probes.
• Prof. Rengaraj Selvaraj has a standing collaboration with:
  • Prof. Majeda Khraisheh, Department of Chemical Engineering, Qatar University, Qatar in the area of Hydrogen Production and separation of Oil and Water.
  • Prof. Younghun Kim’s lab at Kwangwoon University, Seoul, South Korea in the area of water and wastewater treatment.

• Prof. Bhekie B Mamba, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa in the area of Nanotechnology.
• Dr. Alex T. Kuvarega, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa in the area of Nanotechnology.

• Dr. El-Said I. El-Shafey has a standing collaboration with Prof. Marc Cretin, Institut Européen des Membranes UMR5635300 av Emile Jeanbrau 34095 Montpellier cedex 5 since 2022. In the field of capacitive deionization and salt removal. In addition, Dr. El-Shafey has collaboration with Prof. Abdel-Baqi Reffas from the University of Mohammed Boudiaf M’sila in Algeria.
• Dr. Raid Abdel-Jalil has a standing collaboration with Prof. Raphael Stoll and his team from University of Bochum in the area of rare medicinal chemistry. The team is an internationally recognized group for the discovery of new anti-tumor agents for breast cancer.
• Dr. Younis Baqi has a standing collaboration with Prof. Christa E. Müller and her team from University of Bonn in the area of medicinal chemistry. The team is an internationally recognized group for the discovery of new ligands for GPCRs and orphan receptors. Dr. Baqi is also conducting active research with Dr. Jörg D. Hoheisel and his team from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), in the area of natural product chemistry. The team is an internationally recognized group focuses on an assessment and description of the realization and regulation of cellular function from genetic information.
• Prof. Musa Shongwe’s research on iron (III)-based spin-crossover materials has flourished due in part to collaborative research with Dr. Eckhard Bill of the Max-Planck-Institut für Chemische Energiekonversion, Mülheim an der Ruhr (Germany) on Mössbauer spectroscopy and magnetic susceptibility measurements. Prof. Shongwe is also conducting active research with Dr. Craig Robertson of the Department of Chemistry, University of Sheffield (UK) on variable-temperature single-crystal X-ray analyses for both structural characterization and spin-state verification. Dr. Dariusz Matoga of the Faculty of Chemistry, Jagiellonian University (Poland) provides invaluable assistance with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurements and cyclic voltammetry.
• Dr. Abdul Munam maintains his external collaboration with Prof. Mario Gauthier, Institute of Polymer Research, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Canada. Dr. Famiza Abdul Latiff, Faculty of Applied Sciences, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. Dr. Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, (College of Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering, United Arab Emirate University, UAE. He has also started collaborating with Prof. Hajira Tahir, Department of Chemistry, Karachi University, Karachi, Pakistan.

• Dr. Wajdi Michael Zoghaib maintains his research collaboration with Prof. Tarek Abdallah at Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt and Prof. Lee Wilson at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. He also collaborates in Liquid Crystals research with Prof. D. M. Pothukuchi at Jawaher Lal Nehro University in India.
• Dr. Imran Khan actively continued his research collaboration with Prof. João A.P. Coutinho and Dr. Mara G. Freire from the CICECO, Department of Chemistry, Universidade de Aveiro, Portugal. Following the present collaboration, he extended his collaboration with Dr. Ramesh Gardas, Department of Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India.
• Dr. Hamad Al Mamari continues international collaborations in the field of C-H bond functionalization with:
  • Professor Todd Marder, Institut für Anorganische Chemie, Julius-Maximilians-Universität, Würzburg, Germany.
  • Professor Eiichi Nakamura, Department of Chemistry, School of Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.
  • Professor Bogdan Stafane, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Vecna pot 113, SI 1001, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
  • Dr Laurean Ilies, Advanced Organic Synthesis Research Team, RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science Bioscience Building, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198 Japan.
  • Dr. Gerard P. McGlacken, School of Chemistry & Analytical and Biological Chemistry Research Facility, University College Cork, T12 YN60, Ireland
• Dr. Usama Alshana has continued his research collaboration with Prof. Dr. Nusret Ertaş and Prof. Dr. Sema Burgaz from Gazi University in Turkey on arsenic speciation for the evaluation of low-to-moderate arsenic exposure, metabolism and skin lesions in Turkish rural population. He has also continued collaboration with Prof. Dr. Mustafa Soylak from Erciyes University in Turkey for developing new-generation green solvents for separation and pre-concentration of organic and inorganic species in several matrices. His continued supervision of five Ph.D. students at Near East University in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus has led to one Ph.D. thesis, one publication in an international journal and four oral presentations at international conferences in the field of smartphone digital image colorimetry.

• Dr. Emad Khudaish has a standing collaboration with Dr. Mohamed Al Hinaai from Al Sharqyia University (Oman) in the area of construction of electrochemical sensors based on conducting polymers, nano-hybrid materials, graphene oxide derivatives for biological, environmental and pharmaceutical applications. He also has set up new research collaboration with Prof. Guobao Xu from the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China) in the area of construction of hybrid graphitic/metal oxide materials as sensing network for Electro-chemi-luminescence applications.

STUDENT TRAINING & INDUSTRY PLACEMENT

Training opportunities for students in the Summer of 2022 are tabulated below:

NEW EQUIPMENT

The Chemistry Department purchased:

• 1 Fluorescence spectrophotometer (Shimadzu, RF-6000),
• 14 hotplates (IKA)
• 1 Rotary evaporator (BUCHI)
• 4 UV-lamps (UVP Upland)
• 11 analytical balances

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Dr. Laila Al-Maqbali

• Advised the Ministry of Education on a training program for chemistry technicians.
• Reviewed Grade 12 final exams for Muscat Bilingual schools.
• Involved in preparing the employment exam for chemistry teachers in Ministry of education.
• Invited to OQF-ER (external reviewer) training workshop at Oman Authority for Academic Accreditation and Quality Assurance of Education.

Dr. Emad Khudaish was nominated by the Dean (COS) to Chair the College Active Learning Committee to define all related critical components and set up an evaluation protocol for rigorous assessment of all courses offered by the COS.

Prof. Osama Abou-Zied
Delivered a talk “Modified Semiconductor Nanoparticles for Harvesting Solar Radiation and Promising Liquid Crystal Polymers for Energy Storage” at the College of Science Annual Research Meeting, 23 March, 2022.

Dr. El-Said Al-Shafey
Conducted a workshop online “Health and Safety in Chemical Laboratories” for the staff and technicians in Hind bint Usaid Al-Ansari Elementary School on 16th March 2022.

Dr. Hamad Al Mamari
Wrote a document on “Green Ammonia” for Oman News Agency. His YouTube channel of many chemistry and organic chemistry videos continue to attract national and international viewers.

Dr. Isehaq Al-Nafai
Reviewed the placement chemistry exam for qualifying teachers with SQU and MOHERI (Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation).

Dr. Wajdi Michel Zoghaib
Offered training on plant natural products’ extraction for two Al-Amal public school students (Basma Al-Ouwaisia and Alaa Al-Oufia) in preparation of their participation in the InternationalScience and Engineering Festival (ISEF).

Mrs. Muna Al-Belushi

• Organized First aid workshop for chemistry department staff.
• Organized the first College of Science technicians forum

Miss Diana Al-Kyiumi
Provided various workshops and events in chemistry to the Omani Chemical Club

Mr. Issa Al-Makthumi
Advised Chemistry teachers at Osama Bin Zaid private school on handling expired chemicals

Mr. Khaled Al-Maqbali
Trained chemistry technicians at the Asila Bint Qais public school on handling liquid nitrogen

MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE

The Department of Computer Science was established in September 1995. It provides excellence in teaching, research and expert advice. Computer Science is a broad field encompassing such diverse subject areas as Software Engineering, Computer Software System Development, Database Management, Embedded Systems, Web Computing, Real-Time Systems, Networking, Image Processing, Compilers, Automata Processing, Artificial Intelligence, Parallel Processing, Operating Systems, Programming and Bioinformatics. Knowledge of Software Development Methods, Mathematics, Computer Systems and Natural Sciences is applied to the theory, development and implementation of information technology Software Systems for the benefit of the society.

Our academic staff and technicians are well equipped with the best qualifications and experience to meet the expectations of the College and the University.

There are several active research groups within the Department, which have been producing a steady stream of research publications of international caliber and which maintain strong research collaborations with international institutions. All staff are committed and work together to achieve the visions and missions of the Department, College and the University. The Department strives to stay abreast of technology growth and development and recognizes the fact that learning is a multifaceted continuous process. It also encourages e-learning and integrates computational techniques in several courses. Finally, the Department has a number of excellent laboratories with advanced facilities for teaching and research and also shares other facilities within the College and the University.

HoD Office

Abdullah Al-Hamdani

Associate Professor, HoD
(PhD, Case Western Reserve University,
USA)

Ms. Hiba Al-Busaidi
Clerk

Ms. Ruqaiya Al Yahmadi
Clerk

Members of the Departmental Main Committees

Academic Promotion

Dr. Abdullah Al-Hamdani

Prof. Khaled Day

Prof. Zuhoor Al-Khanjari

Dr. Nasser Al Zeidi

Advisory Board

Dr. Abdullah Al-Hamdani

Dr. Nasser Alzeidi

Ms. Ruqaiya Al Yahmadi

Appointment

Dr. Abdullah Al-Hamdani

Prof. Khaled Day

Prof. Abderezak Touzene

Dr. Abir Al-Hajri

Dr. Abdelhamid Abdesselam

BSc Curriculum

Prof. Khaled Day

Prof. Zuhoor Al-Khanjari

Dr. Yassine Jamoussi

Dr. Hamza Zidoum

Postgraduates Studies

Prof. Abderezak Touzene

Dr. Abdulrahman Aal-

Abdulsalam

Dr. Rachid Hedjam

Ms. Fatima Al-Raisi

HIGHLIGHTS

The year 2022 witnessed the following:

• The Department has one ongoing HM, one ongoing TRC, and four IG.
• Three PhD and four MSc students have successfully defended their respective thesis and completed the requirements for their degrees.
• The University has signed a cooperation agreement with the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Information Technology with cooperation of the Ministry of Education and Omantel to conduct the Oman Code Race competition in the university for five years. The Department will participate in the organization of the following three national and regional programming contests:
  • Oman Collegiate Programming Contest
  • Gulf Programming Contest
  • Programming Olympiad for schools
• The Department has participated in the organization of the First Oman Code Race Competition 2022 with cooperation with the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Information Technology and the Computer Science Student Group (CSG) including:
  • The 9^th Oman Collegiate Programming Contest (OCPC2023), 30^th to 31^st ofOctober 2022 with participation of more than 200 students representing 19 Higher Education Institutions in Oman.
  • The 10^th Gulf Programming Contest (GPC2023), 1^st to 2^nd of November 2022, with participation of 147 students from Higher Education Institutions in the Gulf states including 9 teams from KSA, 8 teams from UAE, 3 teams from Kuwait and 29 teams from Oman.
• The Computer Science students won the second to the tenth places in the 9^th Oman Collegiate Programming Contest OCPC 2022 competition and the third place in the 10^th Gulf programming Contest GPC2022.
• Two teams from the Department qualified and participated in The Africa and Arab Collegiate Programming Championship (ACPC 2022), which was held in Sharim El-Shaikh, Egypt on the first week of December 2022.

LEAVING STAFF

• Dr. Huda Al Amri
• Dr. Mohammed Al Badawi
• Ms. Ruqaiya Al Yahmad

SCHOLARSHIPS & OVERSEAS STUDIES

• Ms. Fatma Al-Raisi is pursuing her PhD studies at Carnegie Mellon University, USA.
• The following students completed their PhD degrees in Computer Science in 2022
  • Dr. Hilal Al-Abdali defended his thesis under the supervision of Dr. Mohammed Al Badawi and Dr. Abdullah Al Hamdani.
  • Dr. Yusra Al-Rawshadi defended her thesis under the supervision of Dr. Mohammed Al Badawi and Dr. Abdullah Al Hamdani.
  • Dr. Zainab Al-Kindi defended her thesis under the supervision of Dr. Nasser Al-Zidi and Dr. Mohammed Sarab
  • Dr. Iman Al-Kindi defended her thesis under the supervision of Prof. Zuhoor Al-Khanjari and Dr. Yassine Jamoussi
• The following students completed their MSc degrees in Computer Science in 2022:
  • Ahmed Al Farsi defended his MSc thesis under the supervision of Prof. Abderezak Touzene
  • Samya Al-Hajri defended her MSc thesis under the supervision of Dr. Mohammed Al-Badawi.
  • Safa Al Qassabi defended her MSc thesis under the supervision of Dr. Imran Khan.
  • Abdullah Al Hashmi defended his MSc thesis under the supervision of Dr. Abdullah Al- Hamdani

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

• Dr. Hanaa Al-Zadjali won the College of Science Best Teacher Award in May 2022, on the occasion of the University Day celebrations.
• Husam Al Kaaf, Student won the College of Science Best Student Award in May 2022, on the occasion of the University Day celebrations.

• Mahmood Al-Rabei, Ahmed Al-Riami and Mohammed Al-Hanai, students from DCS and Medicine, won third place in the 10^th Gulf Collegiate Programming Contest (GPC2023), SQU, Oman, 1-2/November/2022.
• Alazhar Al-Abri, Usma Al-Hadhrami and Sultan Al-Rahbi, students from DCS, won the second place in the 9^th Oman Collegiate Programming Contest (OCPC2022), SQU, Oman, 30- 31/October/2022.
• Mahmood Al-Rabei, Ahmed Al-Riami and Mohammed Al-Hanai, students from DCS and Medicine, won third place in the 9^th Oman Collegiate Programming Contest (OCPC202۲), SQU, Oman, 30-31/October/2022.

Winning Team in the 7^th Oman Collegiate Programming Contest (OCPC202۲)

Winning Teams in the 10th Gulf Programming Contest (GPC202۲)

VISITING CONSULTANTS AND PART-TIME INSTRUCTORS

The Department used the service of part-time staff in Spring and Fall 2022 respectively.

• Dr. Ahmed Al Kindi, COMP4501
• Dr. Ahmed Al-Hosni, COMP2002
• Dr. Asila Al Harthy, COMP2010
• Dr. Asmaa Al-Busaidi, COMP2101
• Dr. Faiza Al-Salti, COMP2002, COMP3502
• Dr. Iman Al Kindi, COMP2010
• Dr. Sultan Al-Yahyai, COMP1002
• Dr. Yahya Al Hadhrami, COMP3501
• Dr. Yahya Al-Sawafi, COMP2002, COMP1003
• Ms. Fatma Al-Shohoumi, COMP2010
• Mr. Hilal Al-Abdali, COMP1003, COMP2010, COMP2002
• Mr. Saud Al-Oreimi, COMP2010
• Mr. Saleh Al-Hajri, COMP2010
• Mr. Yahya Al Riyami, COMP2010
• Ms. Yusra Al-Roshdi, COMP2010
• Mr. Zayid Al Shukaili, COMP2010

In addition, there were 25 and 29 student teaching assistants in Spring and Fall 2022 respectively.

CURRICULUM

• The Department prepared and submitted in July 2022 a self-study report for ABET accreditation of its BSc in Computer Science program.
• A team of ABET evaluators conducted an online evaluation of the BSc in Computer Science program during the period 11-13 December 2022. The initial feedback is very positive. The BSc program is expected to get a full 6-year re-accreditation without any deficiencies, weaknesses, or concerns.
• The Department has made some updates on the BSc in Computer Science degree plan for cohorts 2021-2025.
• Updated Courses: The Department has updated the contents and/or prerequisites of the following courses: COMP1003 (added incompatible courses), COMP4100, COMP4509, COMP5101, COMP5606, COMP5900.

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS

The Department of Computer Science has been collaborating with universities abroad from its inception. Following is a brief description of the ongoing collaborations, where faculty members are involved:

• Dr. Hamza Zidoum
  • Collaborates with the Department of Information Technology, Division of Computing Science, Uppsala University.
  • Collaborates with Faculté des Sciences et Techniques Béni Mellal Département Informatique.

• Dr. Rachid Hedjam
  • Collaborates with University of Québec (Ecole de Technologie Supérieure, ETS, Montréal).
  • Collaborates with University of Trento, Italy.
  • Collaborates with Ocean University of China (OUC), Department of Computer Science.
  • Collaborates with the Department of Computer Science and Operational Research at University of Montreal, Canada.
  • Collaborates with the University of Setif (Algeria).
  • Collaborates with University of Ouargla, Algeria).
• Dr. Yassine Jamoussi
  • Collaborates with RIADI Lab, University of Manouba, Tunisia.
  • Collaborates with IRIT Lab. University of Toulouse, France.
• Prof. Youcef Baghdadi
  • Collaborates with the Center of Research in Informatics (CRI) at University of Paris 1, Pantheon- Sorbonne, France.

STUDENT TRAINING & INDUSTRY PLACEMENT

The training opportunities for students in the summer of 2022 are summarized below:

NEW EQUIPMENT

• Seven (7) projectors for the labs
• Three (3) Graphics Card Zotac 3090
• One (1) Computer Server for Deep Learning

COMMUNITY SERVICES

Dr. Abir Al Hajri

• Served as the Head of the Audit Panel of the Customer Services Unit (Fall 2022) as part of the university accreditation. Portfolio of the unit was reviewed and assessed. Site-visits were conducted to help in writing the report that includes the best practices, issues for actions and recommendations in relation to the Center for Information Systems services.
• Continue serving as a member of the Oman Collegiate Programming Contest since 2018.

Dr. Abdelhamid Abdesselam

• Served as reviewer for Pattern Recognition Journal.
• Served as reviewer for SQU Journal for Science.
• Served as an Internal Master thesis examiner for Ms. Sumay Al-Sawafi and Ms. Safa Al- Qassabi from the Department of Computer Science.

Prof. Abderezak Touzene

• Served as a member of the editorial board International Journal of Software Engineering & Applications (IJSEA).
• Served as a member of the editorial board for Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks. https://www.mdpi.com/journal/jsan/editors.
• Served as a member of the editorial board for Computer Networks & Communications: International Journal (CNCIJ). http://flyccs.com/jounals/CNCIJ/EditorialBoard.html.
• Served as a member of the editorial board for Journal Telecommunications. http://www.mdpi.com/journal/telecommunications/editors.
• Served as a member of the editorial board for International Journal of Computer & Software Engineering, an international open access journal, Graphy Publications.
• Served as a member of the advisory/editorial board of The World Academy of Research in Science and Engineering (WARSE).

Dr. Abdullah Al-Hamdani

• Served as a member of the follow-up committee for HM Sultan Qaboos Academic Chairs, Ministry of Higher Education, Muscat, Oman.
• Served as the Chair for the IT Research Group, HM Sultan Qaboos Academic Chairs, Ministry of Higher Education, Muscat, Oman.
• Served as the focal point in the cooperation agreement between SQU and the Ministry of Transport, Communication and Information Technology with cooperation of the Ministry of Education and Omantel to conduct the Oman Code Race competition.
• Served as a member of the Board of Trustee in Muscat College.
• Served as a member of the promotion committee in Oman College.
• Reviewer for Service Oriented Computing and Applications (SOCA) Journal.
• Served as external reviewer for the new Bachelor of Science in Data Science, Ministry of Higher Education, Oman.

Dr. Abdulrahman Aal Abdulsalam

• Served as a Master Thesis Examiner for the Department of Chemical Engineering (SQU), June 2022.
• Served PhD internal Examiner in the Department (Ms. Arunadevi), Jan, 2022.
• Served as a reviewer for AMIA 2023 Informatics Summit.
• Invited Speaker at First International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Health Sciences Education and Healthcare Applications, in Health Sciences Center Kuwait University, November, 2022.

Dr. Hamza Zidoum

• Served as a reviewer for Health Informatics Journal, SAGE Track.
• Served as a reviewer for The International Arab Journal of Information Technology: IAJIT
• Served as a consultant for the Ministry of Higher Education, Directorate General of Private Universities and Colleges. Reviewed a program -Diploma/Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Artificial Intelligence.
• Served as a consultant for the College of Engineering, Assistant Dean for Postgraduate Studies and Research. Reviewed Internal Grant applications.
• Served in editorial board Health Informatics Journal, 2022.

Dr. Imran Khan

• Served as a reviewer for the journal IEEE Transaction on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence.
• Served as a reviewer for the journal Measurement and Control.
• Served as a reviewer for the journal IEEE Access.

Dr. Rachid Hedjam

• Reviewed 1 journal: Pattern recognition (Elsevier, Q1 impact factor 8.51)
• Reviewed 2 journals: IEEE Transaction Geoscience and in Remote Sensing (Q1, Impact factor 8.12).
• Served as an External PhD Examiner in the department of Statistiques, SQU.
• Reviewer for IEEE Transaction on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.
• Reviewer for IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine.
• Reviewer for IEEE transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
• Reviewer for International Journal of Computer Applications in Technology
• Reviewer for The Journal of Engineering Research [TJER].
• Reviewer for Mediterranean Conference on Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence.

Dr. Yassine Jamoussi

• Served as reviewer for the International Journal of Software Engineering and its applications,
• Served as reviewer for the Journal of Engineering Research
• Served as reviewer for the International Journal of Web Applications and Technology.
• Served as a reviewer for the IEEE WETICE track on Advances in Blockchain Technologies & Applications (ChainTech'2022).
• Served as PhD thesis Examiner for the University of Tunis.

Prof. Youcef Baghdadi

• Served in editorial board for International Journal of Computer & Their Applications in Technologies (IJCAT)
• Served as a reviewer for IEEE Transactions on Service Computing

• Served a TCP member of ICEIS.
• Reviewed 1 journal paper for the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Journal.
• Reviewed 1 journal paper for Service-Oriented Computing and Applications (SOCA).
• Reviewed 2 journal papers for Int. Journal of Computer Applications in Technology (IJCAT).
• Reviewed 1 journal paper for Int. Journal of Business Information Systems ( IJBIS).
• Served as a member of the promotion committee of Oman College.
• Served as a member of the promotion committee of Muscat college.
• Reviewed a PHD program for the MOHE.
• Reviewed 3 TRC proposals.
• Served as examiner of 2 PhD theses at SQU.

• Prof. Zuhoor Al Khanjari
  • Invited as speaker to deliver a speech on “Is SMART Education really SMART?”. International Symposium on the Adoption of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) to Thrive Intelligent Education and Digital Economy (ISAFOSS-TIEDE2022), Feb 2022.
  • Invited speaker virtually in the ISACA Muscat chapter in coordination with UTAS. The speech title: “Woman travels the world of Technology”. 29 December 2022. This was to encourage Omani females in the world of technology.
  • Reviewed manuscript for Asian Journal of Research in Computer Science.
  • Served in reviewing papers for the Supercomputing Journal.
  • Reviewed several papers for the Neural Computing and Applications (NCAA) Journal.
  • Reviewed manuscript for Asian Journal of Research in Computer Science.

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

• The Computer Science Group (CSG)
  • Helped in organizing the 10th Oman Collegiate Programming Contest (OCPC2022), 30th to 31st of October 2022 with more than 200 participants from 18 Higher Education Institutions in Oman.
  • Helped in organizing the 10th Gulf Programming Contest (GPC2022), 1^st to 2^nd of November 2022, 49 teams representing Higher Education Institutions from Arabian Gulf States (KSA, UAE, Kuwait and Oman).
  • Helped in organizing the Amman Programming Race.
  • Helped in organizing the Oman Programming Competition OCPC
• The Computer Science Group (CSG) organized the following works shops:
  • An introductory workshop for the OCPC competition on 25 September 2022
  • Mini-competition for OCPC on 25 September 2022
• The Computer Science Group (CSG)
  • Celebrated the National day
  • Organized the Graduates Party on 13 November 2022

MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT

DEPARTMENT OF EARTH SCIENCES

The Department of Earth Sciences at Sultan Qaboos University provides the Sultanate with quality Earth Sciences graduates. The Department strives to contribute state-of-the-art geoscientific solutions and consultancies to the local community and industry. The Department offers degrees in Geophysics and in Earth Sciences as well as highly flexible MSc and Ph.D. programs that are responsive to market needs. The number of students majoring in Earth Sciences increases rapidly and reaches up to 85 students each year.

The Department of Earth Sciences currently has 14 academic staff. In addition, the Department has established very close links with the University Research Centres namely the Earthquake Monitoring Center (EMC), Remote Sensing and GIS Center (RSC), Oil and Gas Center (OGC), and Earth Sciences Research Centre (ESRC).

HoD Office

Osman Abdalla
Prof., HoD
(Ph.D. Technical University Berlin,
2000, Germany)

Mrs. Shahira Al-Balushi
Coordinator

Members of the Departmental Main Committees

BSc Curriculum

Dr. Iftikhar Ahmed

Dr. Rifaat Abdullah

Dr. Andreas Scharf

Dr. Mohammed Farfour

Dr. Mohammed Mustafa

Mr. Khalil Al-Hooti

Accreditation

Prof. Frank Mattern

Prof. Sundarajan Narasimman

Dr. Salah Al-Khirbash

Dr. Mohammed Mustafa

Dr. Khalil Al-Hooti

Promotion

Dr. Talal Al-Hosni

Prof. Sobhi Nasir

Prof. Sundarajan

Narasimman

Prof. Osman Abdalla

Prof. Frank Mattern

Appointment

Dr. Talal Al-Hosni

Prof. Osman Abdulla

Dr. Abdul Razak Al-Sayigh

Dr. Iftikhar Ahmed

Dr. Khalil Al-Hooti

Final Year Projects

Prof. Sobhi Nasir

Dr. Iftikhar Ahmed

Dr. Mohammed Farfour

Postgraduate Studies

Dr. Mohamed El Ghali

Dr. Salah Al-Khirbash

Dr. Frank Mattern

Dr. Talal Al-Hosni

Dr. Mohammed Farfour

Course File

Dr. Salah Al-Khirbash

Prof. Sobhi Nasir

Mr. Said Al-Abri

Research Committee

Dr. Bernhard Pracejus

Prof. Osman Abdalla

Prof. Sundarajan Narasimman

Liaison

Dr. Talal Al-Hosni

Dr. Mohammed Farfour

Advisory Board

Dr. Talal Al-Hosni

Prof. Osman Abdalla

Dr. Mohammed Farfour

Examination & Appeal

Prof. Osman Abdalla

Dr. Salah Al-Khirbash

Dr. Abdul Razak Al-Sayigh

Dr. Andreas Scharf

Dr. Khalil Al-Hooti

HIGHLIGHTS

The year 2022 witnessed the following:

• Dr. Talal Al-Hosni has been appointed as a new Dean of College of Science.
• Prof. Osman Abdalla has been appointed as a new Head of the Department
• Department members received a number of awards. These include: Best Researcher Award for Dr. Andreas Scharf, Best Academic Advisor Award for Dr. Abdul Razzak Al-Sayigh; and Best Employee Award for Mr. Hilal Al-Zeidi, the Best Paper Award for Dr. Mohamed El-Ghali, National Research Award for Prof. Osman Abdalla
• Students of the Department won the first place in the Imperial Barrel Award over the region and won the 4th place in the world competition. The team is composed of: Alaa Al-Naabi (Geophysics), Amrou Al-Alawi (Earth Sciences), Khadija Al- Maimani (Earth Sciences), Fatma Al-Lawati (Geophysics), Al-Rryan Al-Mahdouri (Petroleum Engineering)

The student team at the 2022's IBA

LEAVING STAFF

• Prof. Frank Mattern resigned from his position as a Professor in June 2022.
• Dr. Nikolaos Oikonomoy resigned from his position as an Associate Professor in December 2022.
• Dr. Sundararajan, Narasimman left his position as a Professor in June 2022.
• Dr. Bernhard Pracejus resigned from his position as an Associate Professor in June 2022.

SCHOLARSHIPS & OVERSEAS STUDIES

• Dr. Amani Al-Abri (Lecturer) completed her PhD at Boston University in USA and joined the Department in December 2022.
• Mr. Musaab Al-Sarmi (Lecturer) is a doctoral candidate at The University of Edinburgh and expected to complete his degree in August 2024.

PROMOTIONS

• Dr. Mohammed Farfour (Assistant Professor) was promoted to the Associate Professor.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

IBA competition

• Students of the Department won first place in the Imperial Barrel Award over the region and won the 4^th place in the world competition. The team included: Alaa Al-Naabi (Geophysics), Amrou Al-Alawi (Earth Sciences), Khadija Al-Maimani (Earth Sciences), Fatma Al-Lawati (Geophysics), Al-Rryan Al-Mahdouri (Petroleum Engineering). The team was supervised by Dr. Mohammed Farfour.

Dr. Mohamed A.k. El-Ghali

• Awarded the Best Paper Award for oral communication at the 2^nd Mediterranean Geosciences Union Annual Meeting (MedGU-22), held in Marrakech, on 27–30 November 2022, and the paper which is considered for publication as a “book chapter” in the conference proceedings by Springer. [Paper number 707/ Title] Genesis of grain-coating clays and their effect on the development of feldspar overgrowths: A case study of the Late Cambrian to Early Ordovician Barik Formation sandstone reservoir, Huqf region, Central Oman. [Authors] Mohamed A.k. El-Ghali, Iftikhar Ahmed Abbasi, Olga Shelukhina, Mohamed S.h. Moustafa, Arshad Ali, Osman Salad Hersi, Shahad Al Mahrooqi, Khalid Al-Ramadan, Abdulwahab Muhammad Bello, Hezam Al-Awah, Abdullah Alqubalee

Dr. Rifaat M. Abdalla

• Awarded as an outstanding Education Leadership Award from the Conference on Education on December 2022, held in Dubai.

Dr. Andreas Scharf

• Awarded the Best Researcher Award

Prof. Osman Abdalla

• Awarded The National Research Award in the Research field “Environmental and Biological Resources” 2022 for the paper “Fresh-saline water dynamics in coastal aquifers: Sand tank experiments with MAR-wells injecting at intermittent regimes. Journal of Hydrology with Shahad Mattar Al-Yaqoubi et al.

VISITING CONSULTANTS & PART-TIME INSTRUCTORS

The Department received the following academic staff as Visiting Consultants and researchers: Fall 2022:

• Dr. Salah Bashir Abdalla, The University of Khartoum, Sudan, PhD in Engneering Geology, 1997.
• Dr. Mohamed Al Gharbi, Water Research and Technologies Center, Tunisia, Ph.D in Earth Sciences. (Aix Marseille University, 2010−2013)

Dr. Salah Abdalla Dr. Mohamed Al Gharbi

CURRICULUM

• Postgraduate Program - Part time PhD program was approved by the Department and the College.

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS

The Department of Earth Sciences has been long collaborating with universities abroad. Following is a brief description of the ongoing collaborations faculty members are involved with:

Dr. Mohamed Moustafa

• Has a research collaboration with Dr. Mohamed Al Gharbi from Water Research and Technologies Center, Tunisia, who visited Oman from 22.12.2022 to 01-03-2023 prticipate on the geological field trips to adam area.

Dr. Andreas Scharf

• Has research collaboration with Dr. Emanuel Masini and Dr. Max Ducoux (M&U, Grenoble, France), visiting Oman to work on the Mesozoic rifted margin architecture of Oman from 20.01.2022-05.02.2022.
• Has a research collaboration with Dr. Uwe Ring (Stockholm University, Sweden), visiting Oman to work on high-pressure rocks of the Saih Hatat area from 25.10.2022-10.11.2022.
• Has a research collaboration with Dr. Christopher Bailey (William & Mary, USA), visiting Oman to work on Cenozoic extension of the Oman Mountains from 01.12.2022-20.12.2022.
• Has a research collaboration with Profs. Eugenio Carminati and Luca Aldega, Sapienza University, Rome, Italy, and Frank Mattern (SQU) on the Thermal maturity/peak temperatures (in clays) of parautochthonous and Hawasina sediments of the Batain region of Oman.

Prof. Frank Mattern

• 2021 – present, South Africa, Sweden
  Mineralogy, geochemistry, age and tectonics of quartz veins in the Saih Hatat Dome, eastern Oman. Cooperation partners: Profs. Robert Bolhar, (University of Widwatersrand, South Africa) and Uwe Ring (University of Stockholm, Sweden).
• 2019 – present, Greece, UAE, USA,
  Post-obductional uplift dynamics of the elevated passive continental margin of eastern Oman. Copoperation partners: Profs. Kosmas Pavlopoulos (Sorbonne University, Abu Dhabi, UAE), Daniel Moraetis (University of Sharjah, UAE), Michael Foumelis (Aristotle Universtity of Thessaloniki, Greece), Elena Papageorgiou (Aristotle Universtity of Thessaloniki, Greece), Steven Foreman (Baylor University, USA).
• 2017 – present, USA, South Africa, Sweden
  Structural and geochronological investigation of listwaenite of the Fanja area. Cooperation partners: Profs. Christopher Bailey (University of William and Mary, USA), Robert Bolhar, (University of Widwatersrand, South Africa) and Uwe Ring (University of Stockholm, Sweden).
• 2019 – present, Sweden, South Africa
  Orogen-parallel, sinistral shearing in the Oman Mountains due to Cenozoic oblique convergence between Arabia and India. Cooperation partners: Profs. Robert Bolhar, (University of Widwatersrand, South Africa) and Uwe Ring (University of Stockholm, Sweden).
• 2019 – present, Italy
  Paleomagnetism of Meso-Cenozoic rocks of the Oman Mountains to understand the (oroclinal?) bending of the Oman Mountains between central Oman and Musandam. Cooperation partners: Geophysicist Profs. Francesca Cifelli and Massimo Mattei (Università degli studi Roma Tre) and structural geologist Prof. Eugenio Carminati and mineralogist Prof. Luca Aldega (both Sapienza Università di Roma).
• 2018 – present, South Africa
  Dating of fault- and fold-related mineralized key veins of the Oman Mountains ranging in age from the Ediacaran to the Neogene. Cooperation partners: Prof. Robert Bolhar, University of Widwatersrand, Braamfontain, South Africa

• 2018 – present, China
  Paleoseamounts recorded within the Yarlung Zangbo suture zone (Tibet, China) Cooperation partners: Geoscientists from Nanjiang University, Nanjing, China, including Prof Dr. Xianghui Li.
• 2017 – present, Italy
  Thermal maturity/peak temperatures (in clays) of parautochthonous and Hawasina sediments of Oman (Musandam Peninsula, Hawasina Window, Jabal Akhdar, Saih Hatat and Batain region)
  Cooperation partners: Structural geologists and clay mineralogists of Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Italy

Dr. Mohamed El-Ghali

• Dr. Mohamed El-Ghali has a research collaboration with:

Dr. Salah Al-Khirbash

• Evolution of the Precambrian Arabian Shield (Prof Martin Whithouse, Swedish Museum for Natural History, Stockholm, Sweden and Prof. Vicky Pease, University of Stockholm, Sweden) and Mohammed Ali (Khalifa University)
• Unravelling the Neoproterozoic Accretionary History of Oman (Prof Alan Collins and Dr. Morgan Blades, University of Adelaide

Dr. Iftikhar Ahmed

• Has a research collaboration with Prof. Ercan Ozcan of theIstanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey. Prof. Ozcan visited Oman to work on the Late Cretaceous rocks of Oman.

INDUSTRIAL COLLABORATION

• This is through the supervision of MSc students: Number of MSc students have their final MSc project from oil companies.
• We received a visit from CGG, International Company of Geophysics. The visit aimed to push further the collaboration between the department and the company.

STAFF TRAINING

Dr. Andreas Scharf

• Dr. Andreas Scharf has attended a seven-week workshop entitled “Critical thinking” organized by the CHETL of SQU. The workshop was from October to November 2022.
• Dr. Andreas Scharf has attended a seven-week workshop entitled “Educational Philosophy” organized by the CHETL of SQU. The workshop was from October to November 2022.
• Dr. Andreas Scharf has attended a seven-week workshop entitled “Outcome Based Learning Objectives” organized by the CHETL of SQU. The workshop was from October to November 2022.

STUDENT TRAINING & INDUSTRY PLACEMENT

• Ms. Alla Yasir Al Ghafri completed the EIDAAD program at OXY for a “Year in Industry” intership in Fall of 2022.
• Dr. Mohammed Farfour conducted a training course for students of the department on the use of seismic methods for prospect identification and reservoir characterization

COMMUNITY SERVICE

The Department has hosted the following students as interns during the year 2022

• Arwa Rashid ALJahwari
• Muznah SHutait ALRahbi
• Aayah Hamdan ALBelushi
• Raneem Khalid ALWahibi
• Wa'ad Saud ALSHibli
• Ibtisam Saif ALSalmi

Dr. Andreas Scharf

• Dr. Andreas Scharf led a one-day field trip, organized by the Geological Society of Oman to Fanja area on the 16.12.2022. The topic of the field trip was about the tectonic setting of listwaenite.
• Dr. Andreas Scharf has served as an external advisory board member of the Bachelor programme in applied geosciences of GUtech
• Dr. Andreas Scharf served as a conveener on the European Geoscience Union Annual General Assembly in Vienna on the 24th of April.

Dr. Mohamed El-Ghali

A- Internship

• Number of students from Sultan Qaboos University and German University of Technology in Oman – Gutech participate in internship under the supervision of Dr. Mohamed El-Ghali.

B- Short Courses

• i) Sandstone diagenesis and reservoir quality prediction within sequence stratigraphy
• ii) Techlog

Prof. Osman Abdalla
Prof. Osman Abdalla served as a scientific committee member for the fourth conference on Geospatial Technologies for Disaster Management.

Dr. Rifaat Abdalla
Dr. Rifaat Abdalla has served in the conference scientific committee for the fourth conference on Geospatial Technologies for Disaster Management.

Dr. Mohamed Moustafa

• Two short courses were given to the students during Earth Sciences Research Center- Second Summer Training Program-2022:
  1- Carbon isotopes to interpret the sequence stratigraphy,
  2- Why should you care about meteoric diagenesis?
• Visiting Brilliant Youth Private School to talk about geology

Prof. Frank Mattern

• 21st International Geological Congress, Beijing, China, August 22nd-August 26th, 2022 (virtual) Co-Convenor of Oral Session T2-2 (24 and 25/8/2022)
• Field Trip Co-Leader of field trip VFT05 “The Mesozoic-Cenozoic volcano-siliciclastic succession and oil shale sedimentary sequence of the Songliao Basin and Changbai Mountain areas, NE China” (27/8/2022)

• Appointed Co-Convenor for session TS7.4 “The Arabian Plate and its surroundings – past and present"; EGU (European Geosciences Union) General Assembly, Vienna, May 23rd-May 27th, 2022, EGU 2022
• Field Trip Co-Leader. Scharf, A., Mattern, F., 2022. Extensional tectonogenesis of listwaenite (Fanja area, eastern Oman; Geological Society of Oman Fieldtrip), December 16th, 2022, 39 p., Muscat, Oman.
• Reviewed the oral & PowerPoint presentation of the departments IBA student team 5. March 2022 and suggested improvement
• Continued the activity as Invited External Advisory Board Member for the Bachelor Programme in Applied Geosciences of Gutech as of 10/1/2021
• Invitations to review manuscripts for Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences (ajes22_0002) Journal of African Earth Sciences (AES11418)

Prof. Osman Abdalla

• Prof. Osman Abdalla co-Organized the World Water Day 2022 "Groundwater - Making the Invisible visible", 22 March 2022, Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman
• Prof. Osman Abdalla co-Organized the Webinar on "Shallow Water Table in Urban Areas: Challenges & Solutions". 10th Feb 2022. Sultan Qaboos University, Muscat, Oman

Dr. Salah Al-Khirbash

• Lecture to GSO “Low-grade Nickel Laterites of North Oman Mountains: Geochemical & Mineralogical Characterizations as keys to their feasibility study during the exploration stage. March 2022.

MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS

The Department started in 1986 as Department of Mathematics and Computing offering a single Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics and Computing. This evolved into three Bachelor degrees in Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science. In 1995 the Department of Computer Science was established to host the Computer Science degree. The mother Department name then changed to Mathematics and Statistics (DOMAS). In 2018, the Department of Mathematics and Statistics (DOMAS) split into two departments; the Department of Mathematics and the Department of Statistics.

The Department of Mathematics is among the largest departments in the University with over 40 faculty members. The department offers programs leading to B.Sc degree in Mathematics, M.Sc degree in Pure Mathematics and M. Sc degree in Applied Mathematics, and a doctorate degree in Mathematics. The department offers service courses to several colleges in SQU. The department is committed to quality teaching, research and community service. The Department of Mathematics faculty members are very active in research.

HoD Office

Ahmad Al Salman
Professor, HoD
(PhD, University of Pittsburgh, USA)

Zuwaina Al-Jahwari
Coordinator

Azza Al Barwani
Coordinator

Members of the Departmental Main Committees

BSc Curriculum

Dr M. Boulbrachene.

Dr. T. El Bashir.

Dr. A. Al-Raisi.

Dr. G. Wanjala.

Prof. Q. Khan .

Service Teaching

Coordinators

Graduate Studies

Prof. Ahmad Al Salman

Coordinators of PG

Programs.

Chair of Research

Committee

Research

Prof. M.M. Rahman.

Prof. M. Al-Lawati.

Dr. M. Shahriari.

Dr. I. Al Ayyoub.

Social

Dr. M. Al-Hinai.

Dr. O. Tout.

Dr. S. Gupta.

Appointment

Prof. Ahmad Al Salman

DEPARTING STAFF

• Dr. Ahmad Fino resigned from his position as Assistant Professor in September 2022.
• Dr. Marouane Rabaoui resigned from his position as Assistant Professor in September 2022.
• Dr. Shamil Makhmutov resigned from his position as Associate Professor in September 2022.
• Dr. Aref Kamal retired after long years of valuable service to the department in June 2022.
• Dr. Muhammad Ziad retired after long years of valuable service to the department in June 2022.

AWARDS & RECOGNITION

• Prof. Mohammad Mansur Rahman received the Vice-Chancellor’s Certificate of Recognition on the 22nd University Day (8 May 2022) for becoming one of the World’s Top 2% Best Scientists by the Stanford University.

VISITING CONSULTANTS & PART-TIME INSTRUCTORS

The Department received the following academic staff as consultants and part timers:

• Spring 2022:
  • Dr. Khadija Al-Balushi
  • Dr. Amal Al-Kharusi
  • Dr. Latifa Al-Balushi
  • Dr. Mahmoud Al-Hashmi
• Fall 2022:
  • Dr. Khadija Al-Balushi
  • Dr. Amal Al-Kharusi
  • Dr. Latifa Al-Balushi
  • Dr. Mahmoud Al-Hashmi
  • Dr. Sheikha Al-Weheibi
  • Dr. Huda Al-Mammari
  • Dr. Nasser Al-Salti
  • Dr. Zainab Al-Mamari
  • Qais Al-Faraei
  • Dr. Abdellatif Bellahnid
  • Dr. Muna Al-Ghabshi

VISITORS & CONSULTANT

• Dr. Yassir Dinar visited Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge, United Kingdom, from 18 July to 12 September 2022 as Simons Fellow on the program ``Dispersive hydrodynamics: mathematics, simulation and experiments, with applications in nonlinear waves''.
• Dr. Yassir Dinar visited Prof. Ian Strachan, School of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Glasgow, from 6 to 9 December. The visit was covered by Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences and University of Glasgow.
• Prof. Nasser-Eddine Tatar, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Saudi Arabia, visited Dr. Sebti Kerbal during Nov. 25-Dec. 3, 2022.
• Q. J. A. Khan visited Indian Statistical institute, Kolkata, India from 4^th July,2022 to 12th July 2022 to collaborate with Prof. Joydev Chattopadhyay.
• Khanna, N., visited Prof. S. K. Kaushik, Kirori Mal College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India, June 15- July 12, 2022, for joint collaborative research work and delivered a talk on frame theory for PhD students.
• Prof. Ruhan Zhao, State University of New York, Brockport, U.S.A , visited Dr. Jasbir S. Manhas during December 20-29, 2022.
• Prof. Mohammad Mansur Rahman visited Prof. M. Z. Saghir, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada during 24-31 March, 2022.
• Prof. M. Ziad Saghir, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada, visited Prof. Mohammad Mansur Rahman during 29 May 2022 -2 June 2022.

CURRICULUM

• The Final Year Project Coures (MATH5101 & MATH5101) have been upgraded to a research
  based Course.
• A new elective course for the MSc program, both Pure and Applied, MATH6119-Inverse Problems and Regularization, has been approved.
• Training Courses: MATH5401-Internship I & MATH5402-Internship II have been approved.

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS

The Department of Mathematics has been collaborating with universities abroad from inception. Following is a brief description of the ongoing collaborations faculty members are involved with:

• Dr. Sanjiv Kumar Gupta has a standing collaboration with Prof. A. H. Dooley ,
  University of Technology, Sydney, Australian, on " Fourier Multipliers of H-type
  Groups".
• Dr. Samir Karaa is collaborating with Dr. Chaoyu QUAN, SUSTech International Center
  for Mathematics, Shenzhen, China, on "The analysis of subdiffusion problems on non-uniform meshes"

• Dr. Sebti Kerbal is collaborating with an expert and eminent researcher in the stability of fractional differential equations, namely Prof. N. Tatar, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, KSA.
• Dr. Sebti Kerbal is collaborating in the field of inverse problems and fractional differential equations with Dr. E. Karimov a young and very active researcher in the field of classical and fractional differential equations. Dr. Karimov from Fergana State University, Uzbekistan, established a strong and productive international collaboration.
• Dr. Sebti Kerbal is collaborating with Prof. Kirane and Dr, Ahmed Fino exceptional contributors in the development of blow-up of solutions for classical and fractional differential equations. Further contributions of Prof. Kirane, Khalifa University, UAE are existence, non-existence of solutions, and inverse problems while Dr. Fino, American University of the Middle East, Kuwait is mainly blow-up solutions.
• Prof. Q. J. A. Khan is collaborating with Prof. David Greenhalgh, Strathclyde University, Glasgow, Scotland, U.K.. One reserch paper is in progress.
• Dr. Nikhil Khanna has a standing collaboration with Prof. Shiv K. Kaushik, Dr. A. Zothansanga and Mr. Dilip Kumar, University of Delhi, Delhi, India, on "Wavelet Analysis".
• Dr. Jasbir S. Manhas has a collaboration with Prof. Ruhan Zhao, State University of New York, Brockport, U.S.A, on ".Special Classes of Operators on Spaces of Analytic Functions".
• Prof. Mohammad Mansur Rahman has a standing collaboration with (i) Prof. Kuppalapalle Vajravelu, University of Central Florida, USA, (ii) Prof. M. Z. Saghir, Toronto Metropolitan University, Canada, (iii) Prof. Ioan Pop, Babes-Bolyai University, Romania, (iv) Prof. Hakan F. Oztop, Firat University, Turkey, (v) Dr. M. J. Uddin, International Maritime College Oman, NUST on "Nanofluids, Transport in Porous Media, and Heat Transfer".
• Prof. E.V. Krishnan has a standing collaboration with Prof. Anjan Biswas, Grambling State University, Grambling, USA and Dr. Khalil Al Ghafri, University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Ibri, Sultanate of Oman on solitons in optical fibres.

NEW EQUIPMENT

The Department received one laptop and 8 desktops.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

• A committee is working on a new specialization in Computational and Industrial Mathematics.
• Prof. Ahmad Al-Salman continue serving in some TWAS committees (as fellow).
• Prof. Ahmad Al-Salman continue serving as official nominator for the VinFuture Prize.
• Prof. Ahmad Al-Salman chaired an MSc thesis defense in department of Biology on 5 May, 2022.
• Prof. Ahmad Al-Salman served as the chair of college of science 2021 Prospectus.
• Prof. Ahmad Al-Salman refereed papers for several mathematical journals.
• Dr. Ibrahim Elmojtaba prepared the appointment and qualification exams for the ministry of education.

• Dr. Sebti Kerbal Member of the scientific committee: First International Symposium on Current Developments in Fundamental and Applied Mathematics Science (ISCDFAMS -2022)” Atatürk University Erzurum, 23-25 May 2022.
• Dr. Sebti Kerbal coordinating FracDiff research group, Department of Mathematics, SQU, 2018-present.
• Dr. Sebti Kerbal serving external reviewer for Oman Authority for Academic Accreditation and Quality Assurance (OAAAQA), Oman.
• Dr. Sebti Kerbal serving External Reviewer for the Director of Higher Education, Bahrain Quality Assurance (DHR/BQA), Bahrain
• Khanna, N., refereed papers for the following journals: Computational and Applied Mathematics, Numerical Functional Analysis and Optimization, Integral Transforms and Special Functions, Poincare Journal of Analysis and Applications.
• Prof. Mohammad Mansur Rahman reviewed papers for (i) International Journal of Thermofluids, (ii) Thermal Science, (iii) Applied Thermal Engineering, (iv) Heat Transfer,
  5. Waves in Random and Complex Media, (vi) Energies, (vii) Journal of Nanofluids, (viii) International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer.
• Prof. A. Purnama chaired a PhD thesis defense in the Dept. of Chemistry on 6 September 2022.
• Prof. A. Purnama served as Internal Examiner for a PhD thesis defense in the Dept. of Mathematics on 28 December 2022.
• Prof. E.V. Krishnan chaired an MSc thesis defense in the Dept. of Physics on 22 May, 2022.
• Prof. E.V. Krishnan reviewed research papers for (i) Journal of Computational and Applied Mathematics, (ii) Results in Physics, (iii) Optik, (iv) Chaos, Solitons and Fractals.
• Prof. Ahmad Al-Salman served as an associate editor of SQUJS
• Prof. Ahmad Al-Salman

STUDENTS ACTIVITIES

Group: Mathematics

MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS

The Department of Physics has been constantly providing quality education at the undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD levels. The Department is teaching about 40 courses at the undergraduate level and 20 courses at the MSc level. The curriculum for the physics degree covers the fundamental concepts of physics and mathematics, practical training in laboratories and workshops, computational techniques and research-oriented project work. E-learning and computational techniques are being encouraged in many courses. The flexibility of the degree program permits students to earn a major in Physics together with a minor in other subjects. In addition, the Department offers physics minor in Astronomy, Medical Physics and Applied Nuclear Science. This gives students the opportunity to choose courses they enjoy and provides graduates with access to a wide variety of occupations and professional scientific careers.

The Department has a number of excellent General and specialized teaching laboratories in the fields of Electronics, Modern Physics, Nuclear Physics, Thermal Physics, Mechanics, Lasers and Optics and Computational Physics. Students receive first-hand training in Electronics, Metal and Wood Workshops.

The departmental research facilities include Mossbauer spectroscopy, Faraday and VSM systems for magnetic measurements, four point probe for electrical resistivity measurements, surface science ultra-high vacuum (UHV) instrument equipped with XPS, AES, UPS and SPA-LEED, AFM, STM, MFM, vacuum coating and sputtering systems, state of the art station for the characterization of ferroelectric liquid crystals, LRC-meter for dielectric studies, surface tension apparatus, electrical characterization tools using IVT and CVT in addition to computational facilities including the high performance computing [HPC].

HoD Office

Professor Issam Ali, HoD

(PhD, Wisconsin-Madison, USA)

Zulaikha Al-Mahrooqi
Coordinator

Members of the Departmental Main Committees

Academic Promotion

Prof. Issam Ali (HoD-

Chair)

Prof. Hisham Widatallah

Prof. Imad Al-Omari

Prof. Rachid Sbiaa

Dr. Alaa Ibrahim

Accreditation & Quality Assurance

Dr. Kazi Abedin

Alumni

Dr. Hajir

Hamrashdi (Chair)

Ms. Amina Mohd Al

Shuelili

Appointment

Prof. Issam Ali (HoD-

Chair)

Dr. Mudhahir Al-Ajmi

Dr. Sumesh Sofin Pillai

Dr. Tariq Mohiuddin

Dr. Nidhal Sulaiman

BSc Curriculum

Dr. Zach Ioannou (Chair)

Dr. Alaa Ibrahim

Dr. Nazife Koca

Dr. Nooralhuda AlSaqri

Budget and Procurement

HIGHLIGHTS

SQU’s Operational Plan 2040 started in full force in this year. One important pillar is the movement towards active learning pedagogies in our teaching classes. This has been set in motion in our first-year level courses, in particular, PHYS2101, PHYS2102, PHYS2107 and PHYS2108. For PHYS2101 and PHYS2102, the movement to active learning is a consolidation of the efforts that started in 2018. For PHYS2107 and PHYS2108, active learning has been introduced in full (lectures and tutorials). Some faculty members also volunteered to convert their own courses (PHYS2401, PHYS3601 and PHYS3104) by incorporating some active learning methodologies. It is exciting to see that the shift towards research-based teaching methodologies is taking shape in our department.

The year 2022 also saw the creation of the “Labs Team”, concerned with the improvement of teaching in our labs. There is currently enough research evidence to show that undergraduate laboratories should concentrate on skills as opposed to enhancing student learning in topics related to lectures. These skills include critical thinking, analysis and evaluation, all of which are demanded by the market. This team identified all the challenges faced in our labs and has put forward a roadmap on how to tackle them while emphasizing student skills. This work is ongoing.

It is gratifying that our Department’s faculty excellent work is very well recognized on a yearly basis. Three of our faculty members have been promoted in 2022: Professors Nazife Koca and Mudhahir Al Ajmi to Professor level and Dr. Ridha Horchani to Associate Professor level. Congratulations to all on well-deserved promotions.

The Department saw some changes in personnel in 2022. Dr. Davood Momeni resigned in summer. On the other hand, Dr. Ali Kachmar (Machine learning for materials science and computational physical chemistry with emphasis on energy and fuel applications) was appointed in Fall.

DEPARTING STAFF

• Dr. Davood Momeni (Associate Professor) resigned in June 2022.

APPOINTMENTS

• Dr. Ali Kachmar, PhD (Louis Pasteur University, Strasbourg, France, 2008) (FL2022).

SCHOLARSHIPS & OVERSEAS STUDIES

• Ms. Kawtar Al-Rasbi, Lecturer, started her PhD scholarship at the University of Leeds, UK.
• Ms. Rahma Al-Busaidi, Lecturer, started her PhD scholarship at the University of Manchester, UK in Sep. 2019.
• Ms. Rahma Al- Harthi, Lecturer, started her PhD scholarship at the University of Leeds, UK in 2020.
• Ms. Zamzam Al-Khalili, Lecturer, started her PhD scholarship at Imperial College London, UK in Oct. 2019.

PROMOTIONS

• Prof. Nazife Koca was promoted from Associate Professor to Professor in 2022.
• Prof. Mudhahir Al-Ajmi was promoted from Associate Professor to Professor in 2022. Dr. Ridha Horchani was promoted from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor in 2022.

Prof. Mudhahir Al-Ajmi Dr. Ridha Horchani

Prof. Nazife Koca

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

• Dr. Sumesh Pillai received the Best Researcher Award for the academic year 2021- 2022 during the University Day celebrations.

VISITING CONSULTANTS & PART-TIME INSTRUCTORS

Spring 2022:

Visiting Consultants:

Prof. Mohamed Elamin Elzain, PhD (Birmingham University, UK, 1978)
Dr. Asadig Mohammed Asadig, PhD (University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2014)
Dr. Haikel Jelassi, PhD (University of Paris, 2007) (Visiting Consultant)

Part Timers:

Dr. Ismail Zahran Al-Yahmadi, PhD (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2021)
Dr. Maya Al-Azri, PhD (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2013)
Dr. Afaf Al-Lawati, PhD (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2014)
Dr. Nada Alnaamani, PhD (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2020)
Mr. Abdulrahman Al-Dhahab, B.S. (University of Colorado at Boulder, United States, 2021)
Ms. Al-Maha Abdallah Hamed Al-Habsi, MSc (University of Liverpool, UK, 2021)
Mr. Hamood Salim Al Shidhani, MSc (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2019)
Ms. Elham Issa Al-Kharusi, MSc (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2021)
Ms. Fadheela Ebrahim, B.S. (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2013)
Ms. Muna Mohammed Al-Busaidi MSc (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2021)
Ms. Noor Mohammed Al-Kindi, B.S. (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2020)

Fall 2022:

Visiting Consultants:

Prof. Mohamed Elamin Elzain, PhD (Birmingham University, UK, 1978))
Dr. Asadig Mohammed Asadig, PhD (University of Cape Town, South Africa, 2014)

Part Timers:

Dr. Khadija Al-Rashdi, PhD (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2019)
Dr. Maya Al-Azri, PhD (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2013)
Dr. K. Venkata Madhuri, PhD (Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, India, 2003)
Dr. Humaid Ali Al Badi. PhD (University of South Australia, Australia, 2018)
Dr. Ismail Zahran Al-Yahmadi, PhD (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2021)
Dr. Humaid AlBadi, PhD ( University of South Australia, Australia, 2018)
Mr. Abdulrahman Al-Dhahab, B.S. ((University of Colorado at Boulder, United States, 2021) Mrs. Fadheela Ebrahim, B.S. (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2013)
Dr. Humaid AlBadi, PhD ( University of South Australia, Australia, 2018)
Mr. Malik Rashid Saif Al.Naabi, MSc (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2019)
Mr. Mohamed Abdulsattar Al-Balushi, MSc (University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia, 2019)
Ms. Alzahra Mohammed Al Shaqsi, B.S. (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2022)
Ms. Omaima Suliman Al Dhuhuri, B.S. (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2021)
Ms. Sharifa S. Al Rashdi, (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2016)
Ms. Sumaiya Alfalahi, (Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, 2021)

CURRICULUM

• BSc Program
  • Teaching methodologies, syllabus and critical thinking skills issues were worked extensively for all BSc courses.

• Active learning methods have been applied for PHYS2101, PHYS207, PHYS2102, PHYS2108 and PHYS3103.

• Postgraduate Program
  • For the academic year 2022/2023 one student has started the PhD program.
  • The following postgraduate students have graduated during 2022 in the terms indicated:

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS

• Dr. Abey Issac has research collaboration with Prof. Richard Hildner from Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, Groningen, The Netherlands.
• Dr. Ali Kachmar is developing a collaboration with Prof. Matthieu Micoulaut from Sorbonne Université, France.
• Prof. Hisham Widatallah has been collaborating with Drs. E. C. Crabb and E. A. Moore of the
  School of Chemical and Life Sciences, the Open University at the United Kingdom and Prof. O. Cespedes of Physics Department, University of Leeds University at the United Kingdom.
• Prof. Nazife Koca has been collaborating with Prof. Ramazan Koc, Gaziantep University, Turkey in the area of Quasicrystallography.
• Prof. Rachid Sbiaa has been collaborating with Dr. Nicolas Tiercelin from Ecole Centrale, IEMN, University of Lille, France and Prof. S. N. Piramanayagam from Nanyang technological University, Singapore.

STAFF TRAINING

• Ms. Fadhila Al-Mabsali attended l Project Management Professional PMP course, during 29 May- 2 June 2022.
• Mr. Ali Al Zaabi, Ahmed Al Fahdi & Hamyar Al Shukaili attended the XRF & XRD Principle and Applications in Rock Analysis course conducted by CAARU, during the period of 27th-29th June 2022.

STUDENT TRAINING & INDUSTRY PLACEMENT

NEW EQUIPMENT/BOOKS

Function Generators, (20 pcs) Manufacturer: GWinstek (1420 OMR)
Digital multimeter GDM-8245, (10 pcs) Manufacturer: GWinstek (1400 OMR)
Power Supply, (5 pcs) Manufacturer: GWinstek (1086 OMR)
Fingerprint/Face recognition locks for Physics lobby door, Optics lab, Surface science lab and LN plant. (1669.5 OMR)
Grinding Bowl for Ball milling machine (2298.383 OMR)
Laser Diode, Pico Quant GmbH, Germany

COMMUNITY SERVICE

• Prof. Hisham Widatallah has served as
  • Associate Editor, the African Review of Physics,
  • Member, Editorial Board the Open Journal of Microphysics (OJM),
  • Member, Advisory Board, the Us-Africa initiative in Electronic structure, American Physical Society,

• Member, International Advisory Board, African School for Electronic Structure Methods and Applications,
• Associate Editor, the African Review of Physics,
• Member, Editorial Board the Open Journal of Microphysics (OJM),
• Member, Advisory Board, the Us-Africa initiative in Electronic structure, American Physical Society,
• Member, International Advisory Board, African School for Electronic Structure Methods and Applications.

• Prof. Nazife Koca served as
  • Associate Editor for SQU Journal for Science
  • Committee member for the best teacher award- 2022.
• Prof. Rachid Sbiaa served as
  • Editorial Board member for IEEE Transactions on Magnetics,
  • Editorial Board member for Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group,
  • Editor for SQU Journal of Science,
  • Chairman of a PhD defense for the student Zainab Al Maamari,
  • Thesis Committee member for a PhD defense of the student Muna Al Maamari,
  • External Examiner for a PhD defense of the student Ahood Al Naamani.

• Dr. Sumesh Sofin R.G Pillai and Dr. Abey Issac organized safety seminar for Physics Students in spring and fall semesters (2022).

MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS

The Department of Statistics came into existence in 2018 following the executive order of his excellency the Vice Chancellor splitting the then department of Mathematics and Statistics into two departments, one of Mathematics and one of Statistics. The Department is the first department of Statistics in the Sultanate of Oman universities and tertiary education institutions.

The Department of Statistics provides one service course in probability (STAT2103) for the students in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Further, a part of our degree program is taken by other majors for Statistics background deemed necessary by their departments.

Currently, Department of Statistics is with 14 staff members and over six hundred student registrations per semester. The department offers programs leading to BSc. MSc. and PhD. in Statistics. A general minor in Statistics is offered to students of other majors in the College of Science. The department is committed to quality teaching, research and community service. It aspires to:

• Fulfil the role of Sultan Qaboos University as the national house of
  expertise in the area of Statistics,
• Open wider doors for interdisciplinary research of direct relevance to
  Oman,
• Impact and invigorate SQU Statistics academic programs,
• Pursue cutting-edge research,
• Enhance statistical consulting and community-services involvement,
• Inspire new ways to work together with the community.

HoD Office

Moh’d Taleb Alodat
Associate Prof., HoD
(PhD, McGill University, Canada)

Ms. Janet Dela Cruz Bautista
Coordinator

Members of the Departmental Main Committees

BSc Curriculum

Dr. Khidir Abdelbasit

Dr. Moh’d T. Alodat

Dr. Ronald Wesonga

Prof. M. Mazharul Islam

Examinations

Dr. Faisal Ababneh

Dr. Manoj Kumar

Dr. Mounir Arfi

Dr. Amadou Sarr

PG Coordinator & Research

Dr. Khidir Abdelbasit

Projects

Dr. Faisal Ababneh

Prof. M. Mazharul Islam

Dr. Manoj Kumar

Appointment

Dr. Moh’d T. Alodat

HIGHLIGHTS

THE YEAR 2022 WITNESSED THE FOLLOWING:

STATISTICS DAY - SQU

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS | COLLEGE OF SCIENCE | SULTAN QABOOS UNIVERSITY The importance of Statistics has been acknowledged worldwide, and 20 October 2010 was the first world statistics day to celebrate the numerous contributions and achievements of statistics in our lives. Since then, World Statistics Day was set to be celebrated every five years.

The growing interest in Statistics in the Sultan of Oman is becoming more visible, thus the Department of Statistics agreed to set 20 October every year to be the Statistics Day at SQU, and the official first Statistics Day was on 20 October 2022.

The event was held in the Department and different parties participated in the event. All Statistics Faculty and students were involved. In addition, representatives from SQU Hospital, NCSI, and Bahthi platform at Horizon Statistical Consulting participated in the event. The event included an opening talk by the HoD, short talks by the participants, poster presentations, live experiments, and open discussions between the students and the other parties. The event was successful and encouraging for more to come in the forthcoming years.

• One MSc student (Ms. Amal Al Kalbani) and one PhD student (Iman Al Hashmi) graduated in 2022
• The Data Science Analytics Lab (DSAL provides R and Rstudio Support Service to students (Spring 2022).
• The DSAL conducted two workshops:
  • Enhancement of Data Science Analytics with High Performance Computing at Sultan Qaboos University (Part I). Held on 1 October, 2022, presented by Dr. Amjad Al Tobi (Deputy Director, Operations and Infrastructure, CIS) and Dr. Ronald Wesonga (Department of Statistics, SQU.). It was co-organized by Dr. Iman Al- Hasani, Vice Chair, Data Science Analytics Lab (DSAL).

• Enhancement of Data Science Analytics with High Performance Computing at Sultan Qaboos University (Part II). Held on 1 October, 2022, presented by Dr. Amjad Al Tobi (Deputy Director, Operations and Infrastructure, CIS) and Dr. Ronald Wesonga (Department of Statistics, SQU.). It was co-organized by Dr. Iman Al- Hasani, Vice Chair, Data Science Analytics Lab (DSAL).

• Dr. Iman Al Hasani was invited as the Speaker in Oman’s 2^nd Big Data & Analytics Meet, Muscat, Oman, (December 2022). She presented a talk on “Enhancing the Open Data Policy in Oman”, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7422279.

RETURNING STAFF

• Dr. Maryam Al Alawi (Lecturer – Assistant Professor)

PROMOTIONS

• Dr. Ronald Wesonga (Assistant Professor) has granted an academic promotion to the Associate Professor rank in November 2022.

Dr. Ronald Wesonga

SCHOLARSHIPS & OVERSEAS STUDIES

• Amani Al Rubkhi (Lecturer) pursues her PhD study in University of Strathclyde, UK

SEMINARS

VISITING CONSULTANTS & PART-TIME INSTRUCTORS

The Department received the following academic staff as Visiting Consultants:

• Spring 2022:
  Visiting Consultant
  • Dr. Muhammad Idress Ahmed, St. Andrews University, United Kingdom, PhD in Statistical Modelling, 1988.

Part –Time

• Dr. Moza Al Bulushi, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, PhD in Statistics – Field Multilevel Modelling, 2015.
• Dr. Amira Al Amri, University of Southampton, United Kingdom, PhD in Social Statistics – Qualifying the Patterns of Road Traffice Crashes in the Sultanate of Oman: Statistical Evaluation of Aggregate Data from Police Records, 2018.

• Fall 2022:
  Part-Time
  • Dr. Moza Al Bulushi, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, PhD in Statistics – Field Multilevel Modelling, 2015.
  • Dr. Zainab Al Belushi Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, PhD in Statistics, 2021.
  • Dr. Iman Al Hashmi Sultan Qaboos University, Oman, PhD in Statistics – Skewed Elliptical Distribution and their Applications, 2022.
  • Dr. Yasir Al Harthi, University of Wollongong, Australia, PhD in Mathematics and Applied Statistics – Modelling Student Flows in the Omani Higher Education System, 2021.

CURRICULUM

• Further revision of the Statistics degree plan for Cohorts 2021-2025 was made and the revised version approved.
• A fully online version of the University elective STAT2100 is developed and approved. It will be offered in Fall2023.

• Proposals for part-time MSAc. and PhD. programs in Statistics were made and submitted to the ADPGSR who forwarded them to the PGS committee for approval.
• Department's reports on Research-based courses and Research-Teaching NEXUS procedures were compiled and submitted to the CCC.

INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATIONS

• Islam, M.M. visited Prof. Shahjahan at the Daffodil International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh, to hold discussions on their ongoing research collaboration. He also gave a talk during his visit.
• Islam, M.M. hosted research visit of Dr. Mamunur Rashid of DePauw University, Indiana polish, USA, to hold meeting on their ongoing research collaboration. Dr. Rashid gave a talk during his visit to the Department of Statistics, Sultan Qaboos University.

STUDENT TRAINING & INDUSTRY PLACEMENT

Training opportunities for students in the Summer of 2022 are tabulated below:

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Dr. Khidir Abdelbasit

• Member of the Gulf Cooperation Council Statistics Centre (GCC STAT) and SQU Joint/Technical Committee
• National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) and SQU Team

Dr. Iman Al Hasani

• External Examiner for the Mathematics Component of the General Foundation Programme (GFP) at the Middle East College (MEC), (2021-present).
• Member of a university committee: Students Retention and Academic Progression Procedure (OAAA reviewers team (F)), SQU, (2021- present)
• Member of a university committee: A study of the administrative, financial and operational challenges at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, SQU, (2022).
• Speaker in the first College of Science Annual Research Meeting, (March 2022). Al- Hasani, I. presented a talk on “Estimating Effectiveness of Online Geographically-based Advertising Campaigns at the College of Science Annual Research Meeting. “

• Participant in the Collaboration Campfire “Explore R’s Process for Localization (Translation)”, (July 2022). [Acknowledgment here].
• Participant in The Turing Book Dash (May 2022) [Online]: Almarzoog.B and Al- Hasani, I. presented a preview version of The Turing Way in Arabic.
• Speaker in the Statistics Department Seminar Series, SQU (March 2022): Al-Hasani, I. gave a seminar on “The Impact of Misspecification in Inferences about the Effectiveness of Geo-experiment Advertising Campaigns”.
• Speaker in the first Asia R Community Meetup (February 2022) [Online]: Al-Hasani. I represented Arab R Community in Asia R Community: “Building inclusive communities”. Presentation Slides: https://zenodo.org/record/6159437
• Organizer of Online Meetup events for Oman R Users group [https://www.meetup.com/oman-r-user/]. The events were co-organized by Ms. Afra Al Manei, Department of Planning and Statistics, SQU.
  • Getting Familiar with the Use of Git and GitHub in RStudio, (September 2022). [Presenter: Ms. Mouna Belaid- Engineer in Statistics and Data Analysis]
  • Scraping Arabic Websites, (September 2022). [Presenter: Mr. Samer Hijazi- Data Scientist]
  • Testing Shiny Apps with {shinytest2}, (August 2022). [ Presenter: Dr. Mohamed El Fodil Ihaddaden- R/Shiny developer]
  • Building Websites in R with Distill}, (August 2022). [ Presenter: Jennifer Sloane- PhD Student at UNSW]
  • Open Science approach to increase the discoverability of the local research outputs}, (August 2022). [ Presenter: Dr. Batool Almarzooq - Computational Biologist at King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC)]

Dr. Ronald Wesonga

• Member: International Academic Cooperation Committee
• Member: Royal Statistical Society (RSS), United Kingdom

• International Statistical Institute (ISA), Netherlands
• International Association of Statistical Computing (IASC), Netherlands

Prof. M. Mazharul Islam

• Life Member, Bangladesh Statistical Association, Bangladesh
• Member: International Union of Scientific Study of Population (IUSSP), Paris, France
• Member: Population Association of America (PAA), USA
• Member: Bangladesh Association for the Advancement of Science, Bangladesh
• Member: Bangladesh Population Association
• Member, Asian Population Association
• Member: Editorial Board, South Asian Journal of Population and Health
• Member: Editorial Board, American Journal of Innovative Research and Applied Science
• Member: Editorial Board, International Journal of Community and Family Medicine
• Member: Editorial Board, Global Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health
• Member: Editorial Board of EC Pediatrics Journal
• Member: Editorial Board, International Journal of Statistics in Medical Research

STUDENT ACTIVITIES

The Statistics Student Group organized and participated in various activities and events

• Organized Stat Kids event that targeted school students in age 8 to 12 years old, (March 2022).

• Participated in the staff-student forum, (March 2022).
• Organized an opening event titled “Menwal”, (September 2022).

• Participated with some sketches and drawing in Omani Women day, (October 2022)
• Participated in the SQU Specializations Exhibition, (October 2022).
• Participated in Oman Science Festival, (October 2022).

• Organized a graduation party for Statistics graduates, (November 2022).

• Organized a celebration for the National Day, (November 2022).

MEMBERS OF THE DEPARTMENT

CENTRAL ANALYTICAL AND APPLIED RESEARCH UNIT (CAARU)

Central Analytical and Applied Research Unit

Ahlam Al-Azkawi
Head

Contact us:

Central Analytical & Applied
Research Unit
College of Science
Sultan Qaboos University
PO Box: 36, Postal Code: 123
Al-Khoudh Muscat,
Sultanate of Oman

Telephone & Fax:

Tel Number: (+968) 2414681/6802
Fax Number: (+968) 24146810
Email: [email protected]
https://www.squ.edu.om/science/A
bout/Units/CAARU

(CAARU) is set upped to fulfill the researchers’ demands at SQU and other institutions in and outside Sultanate of Oman in addition to analytical service requirements for non-academic organizations like ministries and companies. With more than 10 state-of-the-art analytical instruments and highly qualified dedicated team, CAARU is committed in covering wide range of applications offering multidisciplinary analytical support, in the fields of chemical, geochemical and petrochemical analysis, nanotechnology and material sciences, molecular and cellular biology, microbial identification, environmental, pharmaceutical and many other applications. The expert team is help researchers and students to design their (PhD, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman) experimental plan in order to modify or develop new methods for their analysis to help meeting their research objectives. CAARU team is further working on projects of high demand in the community by designing procedures and protocols mainly related to consumers.

CAARU is also playing part in community service by providing consultancy and analytical serviced to other organizations and individuals. In addition, the unit is offering highly specialized training and practical demos to high school students and colleges, hence has become an attractive training center to Omani and non-Omani youth, graduates and employed, who seek to enhance their practical skills and knowledge in instrumentations

HIGHLIGHTS

• In October, the unit was honored by the visit of her Excellency Prof. Rahma Al Mahrouqi, the Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation along with a delegate of decision makers from different government and private sectors.
• CAARU has successfully accomplished the repair, upgrade and preventive maintenance (PM) of most of its vital instrumentation.
• SEM and MALDI-TOF, which remained un-functional since 2020, became operational in late 2022.
• Total CAARU expenditure in 2022 was 224,509.12, out of which, OR 150,082.1 was for instruments’ repair, upgrade an d PM.
• New Benchtop XRD was installed in November 2022.
• The numbers of samples received for different analysis has increased to 7574 compared to 5782 samples last year. Eventually, CAARU revenue from charged services has also increased by 38% compared to 2021 revenue.
• College of Medicine and Health Sciences and some Departments in College of Science (Chemistry, Earth Sciences and Physics) have extended collaboration to CAARU in providing access to facilities, which are not available in CAARU, thus expanding the services provided and this in turn generated revenue.
• Around 22 wet lab Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's) were created, verified and approved for implementation. The SOP’s include various types of titration to analyze water and soil, edible oil analysis, PCR, gel electrophoresis, determination of cellulose, hemicellulose & lignin, FAME analysis etc.
• Dr. Suad Al Burtamani presented a paper titled "Facts You May Not Know about Slimming Herbs" in the Symposium of Nutritional and Health Claims for Products, held in Nizwa on February 1^st, 2022 by the "Omani Society for Consumer Protection".
• CAARU staff had good contribution in publication during 2022. At least 14 journals and book chapter publication had affiliation with CAARU staff mainly Dr. Sanket Joshi, Mr. Sathish Babu and Mr. Singaravadivel Thangavel. Besides the publication, staff have actively contributed in some research projects with potential publications.
• A 3-day workshop on XRF and XRD-Principle and Application in Rocks Analysis was conducted for SQU staff at CAARU coordinated by Centre of Human Resources Development (CHRD).

TRAINING IN CAARU

Training and capacity building is one of CAARU’s main objectives hence; several training programs are annually conducted in the unit for either students, graduates, or staff.

This year, with the coordination of the Centre of Human Resources Development (CHRD), a 3-day workshop on XRF and XRD-Principle and Application in Rocks Analysis was conducted for SQU staff. The workshop conducted in June 2022 was delivered by the Material Science team led by Mr. Saif Al Mamari and attended by eight Technical Staff, 5 researchers and 1 academic staff from different SQU divisions.

CAARU has also accommodated five trainees for On-Job Training program required for their graduation and received another 20 graduates from different universities through CHRD. In addition to training, nine undergraduates are from SQU.

STAFF NEWS

• Mr. Mahmood Al-Riyami, who was the backbone of CAARU instrument maintenance and support retired in January 2022.

• Ms. Zahra Al Mamari successfully completed MSc in Chemistry in SQU on part time basis.
• Ms. Muna Al Hosni & Ms. Bushra Al Daghari are pursuing their part time Masters course in SQU.
• Ms. Ratiba Al Mueni & Ms. Asma Al Bahri are pursuing their full time PhD at SQU. One in College of Agriculture and Marine Sciences and the other in College of Medicine and Health Sciences.

CONCLUSIONS & PROPOSED 2023 PLAN

The unit has successfully achieved most of its 2022 operational plan in terms of securing the required budget for instrumental repair, upgrade and PM, that has been pending since 2020 hindering the smooth operation of the unit. That has helped in the marketing plan and attracting new customers and this was clear from the number of services provided including sample analysis and training, in addition to the generated revenue.

Maintaining high standard service and continues development will definitely enhance CAARU’s ability and visibility in the market to serve the industry as well as other academic institution across the country. The Unit has gained a good reputation as a focal point for analytical services, training and consultancy.

In 2023, CAARU will continue focusing on the following:

• Evaluating current CAARU’s performance and proposing for improvements.
• Maintaining instrument performance.
• Proposing calibration and test programs for improving the reliability and validity of the data reported.
• Promoting CAARU services to reach out more clients.
• Facilitating training programs in the field of instrumentation and analysis.
• Enhancing CAARU's community service contribution.
• Improving CAARU's research abilities.

IT ZONE

Ms. Wasila Al-Busaidi
Head
(MSc, Liverpool Univ., UK)

Ms. Abeer Al-Siyabi
IT Technical Support

Contact us:

IT Zone Unit
College of Science
Sultan Qaboos University
PO Box: 36, Postal Code: 123 Al-Khoudh
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

Telephone & Fax:

Tel Number: (+968) 24141404
Fax Number: (+968) 24413415
Email: [email protected]

Website:

http://www.squ.edu.om/science/units/
IT-Zone

IT Zone, established in 2012, is a service unit that provides Information Technology (IT) services to the College of Science community. Its mission is to provide high quality of IT services to the end-users and raise the awareness about ethics in IT.

Its main objectives list includes: designing programs that satisfy the requirement of local end-users, providing a wide range of IT technical support for the local end-users, educating and training local users for better utilization of IT, and serving the community inside and outside SQU. The unit’s offices are located beside the College of Science Dean’s Office, and currently has two dedicated staff.

HIGHLIGHTS

During the year 2022:

• Enhance the visibility of the College on Social Media platforms.
• Lead the project of purchasing new computer equipment required by the Departments along with Computer Users Committee. The table below shows the details:

UNIT ACTIVITIES

The unit conducted the following activities in 2022:

• New Interactive Display Boards: Unit lead the project of purchasing 3 new interactive display boards for the College meeting room #90, Mathematics Department meeting room, and Biology Department meeting room.
• College website (Arabic & English): the Unit keep updating and enriching College website contents in both languages.
• College on Social Media platforms: the Unit lead the project of enhancing the visibility of the College in the social media platform through its account (@sci_squ) on Instagram & Twitter to post important information, news & events for College students, employees and SQU Society. The Unit hires students (designer & photographer) from TA Program also to support this process.

• New Interactive screens: Unit head the project of purchasing and installing two more interactive screens that are used to post important events and news. The total number of interactive screens is 4 distributed in the following location in the college:
  • Biology Museum next to Administration Offices (West Building)
  • Earth Sciences Museum in the Administration Offices (West Building)
  • Next to Student Activities Office (East Building)
  • Next to GIS lab & CAARU Unit (Annex Building)
• Trainings: The Unit run training programs for 2 students from outside SQU where they learned basic of IT troubleshooting, installing hardware & software and provide required technical support for end users.

LIFE SCIENCE UNIT

Mr. Ahmed Al-Wahaibi
Head of Life Science Unit

Dr. Amina Al-Farsi
Systematic Botanist / Herbarium Curator

Mrs. Thekra Al-Manthari
Herbarium Assistant / Seed Bank Curator

Contact us:

Sultan Qaboos University, College of
Science, Life Science Unit
PO Box: 36, Postal Code: 123 Al-Khoudh,
Muscat, Sultanate of Oman

Tel.: (+968) 24142363
Fax: (+968) 24413415
Email: [email protected]

Website:

http://www.squ.edu.om/science/units/
Life-Science-Unit

Introduction:

• In 2012, the unit has been officially established as the Life Science Unit (LSU), which is under the management of Dean’s Office in the College of Science.
• The LSU has three facilities working together as sections: Botanic Garden, Herbarium and Seed bank.

  Vision:

• Play an integral role in the conservation and sustainability of Oman’s Flora and Fauna.
• Become a center of expertise to fulfill the vision to protect cultural heritage.

  Mission:

• Develop an ex situ conservation place.
• Offer recreation facility to the public.
• Promote public awareness and positive action towards wildlife diversity at the same time.

  Objectives:

• Through education and research, we aim to create and inspire the understanding, appreciation and conservation of the nature’s wildlife. This will promote the university mission of research, education and outreach.

Highlights: The following work has been done in the Life Science Unit

throughout the 2022 year:

Events:

• The unit organized an outdoor event at SQU Botanic Garden on the Omani Tree Day (31 October). The Environment Authority participated in the event and contributed in distribution of wild plants seedlings to the visitors. Some plant natural products were available for purchase-cultivated plants, flowers and honey.

Visits:

• The botanic garden received many visitors, the most important of

which is the director of the Arab Training Center and GCC Scout camp participants. In addition to several visits from private and international schools.

• A researcher from the University of Technology and Applied Sciences visited the Herbarium to consult our collection for plant identification. Environmental activists visited the herbarium to gain knowledge on the classification and documentation of wild plants of Oman.

Teaching:

• In cooperation with many colleges, the unit provides educational materials and lectures for some courses in College of Agriculture and

marine Science and college of Science. Moreover, the unit provides continuing classes for pre-school students in the Child Care Center in SQU.

• The Life Sciences Unit, in cooperation with the Center for Environmental Studies and Research, received students trained in plants and environmental sciences.
• The Herbarium is a main focal source for practical demonstration and taxonomic information for educational courses in College of Science (BIOL3005 and BIOL5021) and College of Agricultural and Marine Sciences (PLNT2515).

• The new entrance to the Botanical Garden was opened after being redesigned as the development goals of the Botanical Garden.

• Collection field trips made throughout the year to collect and document wild plants. A total of 125 specimens were collected from several locations in northern Oman. These specimens form an asset to enrich the herbarium collection and our knowledge on the diversity and distribution of species across various geographic ranges.
• Start collecting seeds for the seed bank from the botanic garden and several field trips. A total of 80 seeds were collected, cleaned, labelled and entered in the seed bank database. This collection will provide a great knowledge for education and research inside and outside university.

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

THE INTERNAL GRANTS PROJECTS (IG)

Enhanced Biodiesel Production Using a
Newly Isolated Oleaginous Alga Asterarcys sp. DS5
Project Code: IG/SCI/BIOL/22/01
Investigators: Prof. Raeid Abed and Dr. Elsadig Eltayeb
Duration: 2 year
Budget: 2500 OMR
Year: 2022-2024
Oman is moving towards diversifying its economy by adopting technologies of renewable energy and bio-based industries. Algae have been known for their high relevance in producing biofuels and a wide range of high-value products. Recently, a novel strain of algae has been isolated from Wadi Al-Khoud and has been found to be Page 2 of 12 rich in lipids. This strain has a high potential for use in biodiesel production. In this proposal, the identification of the strain Asteracys will be validated using morphological and genetic methods. Then, the production of lipids from this alga will be assessed using several extraction protocols and using different solvents. Lipid accumulation from this strain will then be optimized by growing the strain under nutrient deprivation and salinity stress. Finally, biodiesel will be extracted from this alga and the produced biofuel will be assessed for its fuel characteristics.

JOURNALS

1. Abed RM, Al-Fori M, Al-Hinai M, Al-Sabahi J, Al-Battashi H, Prigent S, Headley T: Effect of partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide (HPAM) on the bacterial communities of wetland rhizosphere soils and their efficiency in HPAM and alkane degradation. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 2022, 30(4):9713-9724.
2. Abed RM, Muthukrishnan T, Nassar MM, Al Battashi H, Alzebdeh KI: Degradation of newly developed date palm agro-residues-filled polyethylene biocomposites in the planktonic and benthic zones of a marine environment. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery 2022:1-16.
3. Adham SA, Szewczuk MR, Mraiche F, Petricoin E: Recent advancements in neoadjuvant chemotherapy for specific breast cancer subtypes. Frontiers in Oncology 2022, 12.
4. Al-Battashi H, Sivakumar N: High-solid loading enzymatic hydrolysis of waste office paper for poly- 3-hydroxybutyrate production through simultaneous saccharification and fermentation. Journal of Polymers and the Environment 2022, 30(7):3045-3054.
5. Al-Bedak OA, Abdel-Sater MA, Galal HM, Hassan SH: Production of cell wall-hydrolyzing enzymes and GC-MS extract analysis of Byssochlamys lagunculariae, a new record isolated from Egypt. Bulletin of Pharmaceutical Sciences Assiut 2022, 45(1):359-369.
6. Al-Busaidi A, Glick BR, Yaish MW: The Effect of Date Palm Genotypes on Rhizobacterial Community Structures under Saline Environments. Biology 2022, 11(11):1666.
7. Alfarsi, B.S.A., Hassan, S.H. 2022. Biosorption capacity of methylene blue by Alternaria alternata. Journal of Multidisciplinary Sciences, 42.
8. Al-Hakkani MF, Gouda GA, Hassan SH, Mohamed MM, Nagiub AM: Cefixime wastewater management via bioengineered Hematite nanoparticles and the in-vitro synergetic potential multifunction activities of Cefixime@ Hematite nanosystem. Surfaces and Interfaces 2022, 30:101877.
9. Al-Hakkani MF, Gouda GA, Hassan SH, Mohamed MM, Nagiub AM: Environmentally azithromycin pharmaceutical wastewater management and synergetic biocompatible approaches of loaded azithromycin@ hematite nanoparticles. Scientific Reports 2022, 12(1):10970.
10. Al-Hakkani MF, Gouda GA, Hassan SH, Saddik MS, El-Mokhtar MA, Ibrahim MA, Mohamed M, Nagiub AM: Cefotaxime removal enhancement via bio-nanophotocatalyst α-Fe2O3 using photocatalytic degradation technique and its echo-biomedical applications. Scientific Reports 2022, 12(1):1-20.
11. Alharbi NK, Al-Zaban MI, Albarakaty FM, Abdelwahab SF, Hassan SH, Fawzy MA: Kinetic, isotherm and thermodynamic aspects of Zn2+ biosorption by Spirulina platensis: optimization of process variables by response surface methodology. Life 2022, 12(4):585.

12. Ali HE, Bucher SF: Effect of drought and nutrient availability on invaded plant communities in a semi‐ arid ecosystem. Ecology and Evolution 2022, 12(9):e9296.
13. Al-Kindi S, Al-Bahry S, Al-Wahaibi Y, Taura U, Joshi S: Partially hydrolyzed polyacrylamide: enhanced oil recovery applications, oil-field produced water pollution, and possible solutions. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 2022, 194(12):875.
14. Almeida-da-Silva CLC, Sivakumar N, Asadi H, Chang-Chien A, Qoronfleh MW, Ojcius DM, Essa MM: Effects of frankincense compounds on infection, inflammation, and oral health. Molecules 2022, 27(13):4174.
15. Al-Rashdi FKH, Al-Sadi AM, Al-Riyamy BZ, Maharachchikumbura SS, Al-Sabahi JN, Velazhahan R: Endophytic fungi from the medicinal plant Aloe dhufarensis Lavranos exhibit antagonistic potential against phytopathogenic fungi. South African Journal of Botany 2022, 147:1078-1085.
16. Al-Zaban MI, Alharbi NK, Albarakaty FM, Alharthi S, Hassan SH, Fawzy MA: Experimental Modeling Investigations on the Biosorption of Methyl Violet 2B Dye by the Brown Seaweed Cystoseira tamariscifolia. Sustainability 2022, 14(9):5285.
17. Darwish H, Alharthi S, Mehanna RA, Ibrahim SS, Fawzy MA, Alotaibi SS, Albogami SM, Albogami B, Hassan SH, Noureldeen A: Evaluation of the Anti-Cancer Potential of Rosa damascena Mill. Callus Extracts against the Human Colorectal Adenocarcinoma Cell Line. Molecules 2022, 27(19):6241.
18. Fawzy MA, Al-Yasi HM, Galal TM, Hamza RZ, Abdelkader TG, Ali EF, Hassan SH: Statistical optimization, kinetic, equilibrium isotherm and thermodynamic studies of copper biosorption onto Rosa damascena leaves as a low-cost biosorbent.

32. Saeed SA, Taura U, Al-Wahaibi Y, Al-Muntaser AA, Yuan C, Varfolomeev MA, Al-Bahry S, Joshi S, Djimasbe R, Suwaid MA: Hydrothermal conversion of oil shale: Synthetic oil generation and micro-scale pore structure change. Fuel 2022, 312:122786.
33. Sidique, E., Hassan, S.H., Dawoud, M.M. 2022. Natural Radioactivity Measurements and Radiological Hazards Evaluation for Some Egyptian Granites and Ceramic Tiles. Sustainability, 14(21), 14611.
34. Singh S, Kumar A, Sivakumar N, Verma JP: Deconstruction of lignocellulosic biomass for bioethanol production: Recent advances and future prospects. Fuel 2022, 327:125109.
35. Stief P, Schauberger C, Lund MB, Greve A, Abed RM, Al-Najjar MA, Attard K, Bonaglia S, Deutzmann JS, Franco-Cisterna B: Intracellular nitrate storage by diatoms can be an important nitrogen pool in freshwater and marine ecosystems. Communications Earth & Environment 2022, 3(1):154.
36. Tábara LC, Al-Salmi F, Maroofian R, Al-Futaisi AM, Al-Murshedi F, Kennedy J, Day JO, Courtin T, Al- Khayat A, Galedari H: TMEM63C mutations cause mitochondrial morphology defects and underlie hereditary spastic paraplegia. Brain 2022, 145(9):3095-3107.
37. Tourinho de Melo E, OHC Leduc A, Cambui Barbosa EC, Nogueira Vasconcelos R. Evaluation of the ecological role of legal reserves in the Atlantic Forest of Bahia as determined by land-use. Revista Brasileira de Gestão Ambiental (2022) 16(1): 16-26.
38. Yang Y, Hassan SH, Awasthi MK, Gajendran B, Sharma M, Ji M-K, Salama E-S: The recent progress on the bioactive compounds from algal biomass for human health applications. Food Bioscience 2022:102267.
39. Zohri A-NA, Kassim RM, Hassan SH: Methylene blue as an exogenous electron mediator on bioelectricity from molasses using Meyerozyma guilliermondii as biocatalyst.

BOOK AND BOOK CHAPTERS

1. Jana GA, Glick BR, Yaish MW: Salt tolerance in plants: Using OMICS to assess the impact of plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB). In: Mitigation of Plant Abiotic Stress by Microorganisms. edn.: Elsevier; 2022: 299-320.

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

1. Hoor Al Siyabi and Hameed Sulaiman. Ban or Policy mix? A proposed action plan for sustainable consumption and production (SCP) of single-use plastic bags in the Sultanate of Oman. Joint conference on green technology and environment and waste management and recycling. Bangkok, Thailand, August 25-26, 2022.
2. Abdullah Al Nadabi and Hameed Sulaiman. Impact and influence of land cover in regulating city temperature. Joint conference on green technology and environment and waste management and recycling. Bangkok, Thailand, August 25-26, 2022
3. Rabie Al Rahbi and Hameed Sulaiman. Carbon sequestration potential of Vachellia tortilis in As Saleel Natural park reserve in Oman. Joint conference on green technology and environment and waste management and recycling. Bangkok, Thailand, August 25-26, 2022
4. Lamya Al Haj. Transitioning to a green Middle East. Davos annual meeting 2022, World Summit (World Economic Forum).
5. Lamya Al Haj. National Workforce development: Conversation with GCC leaders. Harvard Business School conference, CROSSROADS GCC FUTURE IMPACT FORUM 2022.
6. Lamya Al Haj: Research and develop in the Arab World. Popular science.
7. Al-Bakri S, Sivakumar N. Biodiesel Production Using Fermented Sludge-Derived Lipids. Fourth Euro- Mediterranean Conference for Environmental Integration (EMCEI 2022), 1-4 November 2022, Sousse, Tunisia.
8. Erika Cuellar Soto, Hands-on conservation of biodiversity: lessons taught, Annual Research Meeting, College of Science.

SERVING ON EDITORIAL BOARDS OF JOURNALS AND CHAIRING CONFERENCE SESSIONS

1. Aliya S Alansari organized a workshop: DNA Barcoding and Phylogenetic Diversity Assessment for MAWARID, 21-13 December 2022.
2. Hameed Sulaiman, Serving on the editorial board of “Current Pollution Reports” by Springer.
3. Antoine Leduc: Peer reviewer at Journal of Animal Ecology and Zoology in the Middle East.
4. Sedky Hassan: Associate editor for Sultan Qaboos University Journal of Science.
5. Sedky Hassan: Associate Editor for Frontiers in Bioprocess Engineering.
6. Sedky Hassan: Editorial member in the Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology.
7. Sedky Hassan: Editor in Chief for the Journal of Multidisciplinary Sciences.
8. Nallusamy Sivakumar: Associate Editor for Bioenergy and Biofuels section from Frontiers in Energy Research.
9. Nallusamy Sivakumar: Review Editor for Bioprocess Engineering section from Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology.
10. Sirin Adham: Guest Editor: Frontiers in Oncology.

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

RESEARCH GRANTS PROJECTS

New Functional Materials for Sustainable Energy - Europium β-diketonate Complexes Incorporating Donor-π-Acceptor Terpyridine Ancillary Sensitizer Ligands for Energy-efficient Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs)

Project Code: RC/RG-SCI/CHEM/22/01
Investigator: Prof. Muhammad S Khan
Duration: 2 years
Budget: 20,000 OMR
Year: 2022-2024
The major thrust of the project is to design and develop novel functional organo-europium(III) complexes (OEuCs) that could be employed as an emitting layer (EML) to fabricate energy-efficient OLEDs for solid-state lighting (SSL) and display applications. The performance of such OEuC-based OLEDs depends on their absorption profile, energy difference between the triplet state and emitting levels of Eu(III) and other factors. Overall, the metal-organic hybrid materials possess improved material properties for application in O-E devices. For this purpose, novel OEuCs of the type [Eu(β-diketone)3N^N^N] will be designed and synthesized by incorporating an anionic β-diketone ligand and new donor-π-acceptor (D-π-A) type tridentate N^N^N terpyridine (Tpy) ligands with improved electron and hole transporting properties. The project will address the following key areas: (i) development of a synthetic protocol for a series of (D-π- A) acetylide-functionalized Tpy ancillary ligands (ii) synthesis of OEuCs of the type [Eu(β-diketone)3N^N^N] by incorporating (D-π-A) acetylide-functionalized Tpy ancillary ligands (iii) chemical, thermal, spectroscopic, structural, electro-chemical characterization of the newly synthesized ligands and complexes, (iv) study of the optoelectronic (O-E) properties of the new materials and their structure-property relationships (v) fabrication of OLEDs using selected OEuCs as EML, and assessment of their device performance.

Quantitative Estimation of Pharmacologically Relevant Phenolic Compounds in Olive Oils Harvested in Jabal Al Akhdar in the Sultanate

Project Code: RC/RG-SCI/CHEM/22/02
Investigator: Prof. Haider Al Lawati
Duration: 2 years
Budget: 19,800 OMR
Year: 2022-2024
Olive oil is used worldwide as a much-appreciated product for its remarkable health effects that are mainly linked to the presence of natural phenolic compounds (PCs). Scientific studies have demonstrated the reducing effect of regular olive oil consumption on the risk of oxidative damage to DNA and RNA, inflammatory diseases, and different types of cancer. According to the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), the antioxidant activity of olive oil is mainly correlated to the presence of PCs (mostly hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein, and tyrosol). Besides, oleocanthal has been found to be responsible for the anti-inflammatory effect. Oleocanthal and oleacein are also involved in the anticancer activity. Thus, the phenolic content of olive oil is an essential parameter in assessing its quality, and study on the identification and measurement of PCs is of current interest.

Recently, the Sultanate of Oman witnessed the planting of several varieties of olives in the Jabal Al Akhadar area. Diverse varieties and environmental conditions will affect the phenolic content of the produced olive oils, and their quality and health effects. Thus, considering the real importance of the matter, this project intends to evaluate the quality and health effects (anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties) of Omani olive oils and classify them based on their usefulness. In this regard, the concentrations of five particular PCs (tyrosol, hydroxytyrosol, oleuropein, oleocanthal, and oleacein) will be determined in olive oils harvested in Oman. This helps us in directing the industry toward the production of the best type of olive oil in terms of economic and health impacts. In addition, according to the regulation EU n.432/2012, we will be able to claim the production of high-quality olive oils with a high protection effect (for samples with a total PCs concentration exceeding 250 mg kg−1) against oxidative stress. This claim gives value to the local olive oils and encourages Omani producers to improve their oil quality.

INTERNAL GRANT PROJECTS

Green Nanomaterials for Environmental Remediation: Degradation of COVID19 Related Pharmaceuticals Under Solar Light Irradiation

Project Code: IG/SCI/CHEM/22/01
Investigators: Prof. Rengaraj Selvaraj and Dr. Bushra Al Wahaibi
Duration: 1 year
Budget: 3300 OMR
Year: 2022
Renewable and green energy projects are currently attracting research attention worldwide because renewable resources are a promising approach to address global environmental pollution and energy production challenges. The world is currently faced with the COVID 19 pandemic and nations are advocating for immediate testing and treatment once symptoms appear. The presence of pharmaceuticals in surface water is an emerging environmental issue and has received increasing concern in recent years. These pharmaceuticals must either be degraded or removed from wasterwater to ensure that they will not contaminate aquatic environments. Therefore, attention will be given to the development of Green hybrid photocatalytic materials for the degradation of COVID 19 related pharmaceuticals which are commonly used in the hospitals of Sultanate of Oman during this pandemic. Oman has an ideal environment for solar energy utilisation for environmental remediation research projects. The proposed project will address the following key areas: (i) development of visible light active hybrid photocatalytic materials by hydrothermal and solvothermal methods (g-C3N4, SnS2/g-C3N4; TiO2/g-C3N4; Fe2O3/ g-C3N4, etc.,) (ii) chemical and structural characterization of the newly synthesized materials by different advanced analytical techniques (XRD, XPS, UV-DRS, PL-emission, SEM, EDX and HR-TEM), (iii) application of synthesized materials for the degradation of COVID 19 related pharmaceuticals present in water and hospital wastewater under solar light irradiation. (iv) Bench model batch reactor photocatalytic studies will be undertaken to optimize the experimental conditions and assess the device performance. The project will develop scientific and research skills and expertise in the Oman.

Isolation of Anticancer Compounds from Omani Medicinal Plants

Project Code: IG/SCI/CHEM/22/02
Investigators: PI: Dr. Saleh N. Al-Busafi and Co PI: Dr. Sirin Adham
Duration: 2 year
Budget: 3400 OMR
Year: 2022-2024
Plants served for long time as an important source for developing medicines to treat various type of ailments. Cancer represents a challenging medical problem to humans and requires novel treatment approaches. Some natural products isolated from plants become an effective agent to treat different types of cancer. In addition to their superior anticancer properties, natural products are also well known with their less side effects on human bodies. In the sultanate of Oman, traditional healers used plants extract to treat different types of diseases such as infections, bone fractures, stomach problems and others. Nowadays, substantial number of research start to study these Omani medicinal plants and isolate pure natural products from them that can serve as potential candidates to treat diseases. In this project, we will study four Omani plants, Calotropis procera (Shakhar), Juniperus servaschanica (Alalaan), Moringa peregrina (Shoa), and Teucrium mascatense (Jada), to isolate pure natural product that acts as anticancer agents. The purified active compounds will be used to check their anti-cancer activity on cancer cell culture models.

Phytochemical and Pharmacological Investigation on the Plumeria Obtusa Leaves

Project Code: IG/SCI/CHEM/22/03
Investigators: Dr. Imran Hasan Syed and Dr. Abdul Munam
Duration: 2 year
Budget: 4000 OMR
Year: 2022 - 2024
Plumeria obtusa belongs to the family Apocynaceae. This plant is native to Central America and grows in the tropical region. P. obtusa is grown widely in Oman and used for ornamental purposes. Traditionally, it is used to treat diabetes mellitus, skin diseases, heal wounds, cracked heels, ulcers, leprosy, toothache and use contraceptives. Different parts of plants have shown promising antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiproliferative, antimutagenic, anti-inflammatory, antiulcerogenic properties, but limited information about the cytotoxic activity is known. Because of the exciting medicinal properties of this plant, phytochemicals from the leaves of Plumeria obtusa will be isolated and the cytotoxic activity will be determined.

Desalination of Brackish Groundwater from Al-Batinah Region on Graphene Derivatives for Irrigation Purposes

Project Code: IG/SCI/CHEM/22/04
Investigators: Dr. El-Said I. El-Shafey and Dr. MyoTayZar
Duration: 3 year
Budget: 5500 OMR
Year: 2022-2025
About 92 % of the fresh water resources in the Sultanate of Oman comes from groundwater. However, high level of salinization of groundwater is taking place in the coastal region in Al Batinah North and South governorates, the main agricultural land in the country, turning the ground freshwater to brackish. Brackish water irrigation has adversely affected the agricultural productivity of the soil. Based on our previous studies at SQU, Na⁺, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺are the major cations, however, Cl^-, SO4^2- and NO3^- are the major anions in brackish groundwater. Currently, the farm crop culture is under stress and a change to crops of more tolerance to salinity is taking place. However, in the long term, this might not be a solution as salinity increases with time deteriorating the soil and crops. The current desalination methods such as reverse osmosis is expensive and not affordable by many farm owners. In this research, different techniques will be tested for brackish groundwater desalination for irrigation purposes including ion exchange and capacitive deionization. Activated carbon and 3D Graphene hydrogels will be prepared and functionalized to produce cation and anion exchangers for the removal of cations and anions from the brackish groundwater. This includes strong cation exchange groups, –SO3H and chelating ion exchange groups (amine derivatives) for removing cations, and quaternary ammonium groups to remove anions. Produced sorbents will be tested for the removal of cations and anions from brackish groundwater in batch and dynamic sorption system. A multilayer column will be investigated for complete desalination. In addition, conductive activated carbon with high nitrogen content will be prepared. Both the conductive carbon and 3D graphene hydrogels will be examined for ions removal from the brackish groundwater using capacitive deionization technique. Recycle and reuse of developed ion exchangers will be also tested. For high levels of salt, precipitation technique using ammonium carbonate will be involved prior to ion exchangers / capacitive deionization stages. It is expected that this study will provide an efficient, cheap, sustainable, and recyclable integrated method of desalination of brackish groundwater for irrigation.

Mechanistic Studies on Oxygen Reduction Reaction at the Surface of Carbonaceous Materials Applied for Fuel Cell

Project Code: IG/SCI/CHEM/22/05
Investigators: Dr. Emad Khudaish and Prof. Fakhr Eldin Suliman
Duration: One year
Budget: 3300 OMR
Year: 2022
Development of structurally well-defined electrode surface materials for a high oxygen reduction reaction is a key approach for the construction of energetic fuel cells. A carbonaceous-based catalytic material gives a best offer for none-metallic approach designed cells. In this study, the oxygen reduction reaction induced by graphene oxide, graphene carbon-nitride and their mixing recipes was initiated for possible application. These materials are stable catalysts with high redox abilities and characterized as unique surface modifiers for fast electron transfer process. The electrochemical measurements for oxygen reduction reactions are monitored using the rotating disk electrode in both acidic and alkaline extremes for better understanding and interpretation.

JOURNALS

1. M. Al-Nidawi, Ö. Özalp, U. Alshana, M. Soylak, Synergistic cloud point microextraction prior to spectrophotometric determination of curcumin in food samples. Analytical Letters, In Press.
2. U. Alshana, B. Altun, N. Ertaş, G. Çakmak, E. Kadioglu, D. Hisarlı, E. Aşık, E. Atabey, C. R. Çelebi, N. Bilir, H. Serçe, A. M. Tuncer, S. Burgaz, Evaluation of low to moderate arsenic exposure, metabolism and skin lesions in a Turkish rural population exposed through drinking water. Chemosphere, 304 (2022) 135277.
3. N. Agiel, J. Caleb, A. H. Meriçli, U. Alshana, F. Meriçli, Comparison and validation of bioactive flavonoids by reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography in Crataegus species related to pharmaceutical Crataegus product, Indian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 84(2) (2022) 444-456.
4. S. E. Abughrin, U. Alshana, J. Caleb, Smartphone digital image colorimetry for the determination of aluminum in antiperspirant products. Turkish Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 19(6) (2022) 618- 625.
5. S. E. Abughrin, U. Alshana, S Bakirdere, Magnetic nanoparticle-based dispersive solid-phase microextraction of three UV blockers prior to their determination by HPLC-DAD. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(10) (2022) 6037.
6. Ads, E.N.; Hassan, S.I.; Rajendrasozhan, S.; Hetta, M.H.; Aly, S.H.; Ali, M.A. Isolation, Structure Elucidation and Antimicrobial Evaluation of Natural Pentacyclic Triterpenoids and Phytochemical Investigation of Different Fractions of Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Stem Bark Using LCHRMS Analysis. Molecules, 2022,

Treatment on Oxygen-Based Functional Groups Present on Carbon Quantum Dots, Journal of Luminescence, 2022, 252, 119326 (1−14)

18. R.G.S. Sofin, A. Issac, M.R.S. Al-Naabi, M.T. Zar Myint, H. Htet Kyaw, and O.K. Abou-Zied, Emission Characteristics of Carbon Films in Comparison with Solvatochromic Effects of Carbon Nanoparticles, Spectrochimica Acta A, 2022, 266, 120442 (1−11).
19. Al-Fulaiti, B., S. El-Shafey, S. AlKindi, and Abdel-Jalil, R, “Adsorption of iodine from aqueous solution on modified silica gel with cyclodextrin derivatives”. Pol. J. Environ. Stud. Vol. 31, No. 6 (2022), 1-12.
20. Mohammad Mahmoud, E., Shongwe, M., Saeedian Moghadam, E., Moghimi-Rad, P., Stoll, R., and Abdel-Jalil, R., “Design, synthesis, and molecular docking study of novel cinnoline derivatives as potential inhibitors of tubulin polymerization .”Zeitschrift für Naturforschung C, doi.org/10.1515/znc- 2022-0087.
21. Saeedian Moghadam, E., Al-Sadi, A.M., Talebi, M., Amanlou, M., Stoll, R., Amini, M. and Abdel-Jalil, R., “Novel 5-fluoro-6-(4-(2-fluorophenyl)piperazin-1-yl)-2-(4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)phenyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazole derivatives as promising urease inhibitors. Letters in Drug Design & Discovery, doi.org/10.2174/1570180819666220811145303 .
22. Saeedian Moghadam, E., Al-Sadi, A.M., Talebi, M., Amanlou, M., Amini, M. and Abdel-Jalil, R., “Novel benzimidazole derivatives; synthesis, bioactivity and molecular docking study as potent urease inhibitors”. DARU Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2022 pp.1-9.
23. Saeedian Moghadam, E., Al-Sadi, A.M., Talebi, M., Amanlou, M., Stoll, R., Amini, M. and Abdel-Jalil, R., “Thiosemicarbazone Derivatives Act as Potent Urease Inhibitors; Synthesis, Bioactivity Screening and Molecular Docking Study .”Chemistry Select, doi.org/10.1002/slct.202200860

34. El-Shafey, E. I.*, Al-Mashaikhi, S.M., Al-Busafi, S., Suliman, F.O., 2022. "Effect of alkylamine immobilization level on the performance of hydrophobic activated carbon, Materials Chemistry and Physics, 286, 126154.
35. Muhammad S Khan, Rashid Ilmi, Bright Red Emitting Organic Light Emitting Diodes of Tris β-Diketonate Europium(III) Complex, Materials Science and Engineering Congress (MSE), 27 Sep - 29 Sep 2022, On-line.
36. O.K. Abou-Zied (Invited Speaker) New Chalcone Derivatives for Harvesting Solar Radiation and Promising Liquid Crystal Polymers for Energy Storage, 1st C3 Chemistry Conference, Krems, Austria, May 2022.

BOOK & BOOK CHAPTERS

1. Ashanul Haque, Muhammad S Khan, Mei-Tung Lau, Zikang Li, Paul R Raithby, Wai-Yeung Wong, Conjugated Poly(metalla-ynes), Comprehensive Organometallic Chemistry IV, 14, 2022, 23.
2. Anjum, S.; Ilmi, R.; Khan, I., Smart Nanotextiles for Wound Care and Regenerative Medicine. In Smart Nanotextiles, 2022; pp 159-188.

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

1. Emad A. Khudaish “A modified Hummers soft oxidative method for functionalization of CNTs: Preparation, characterization and potential application for selective determination of norepinephrine”. Mátrafüred’22 International Conference on Electrochemical Sensors, June 12–17, 2022, Visegrád, Hungary.
2. A. B. Abdullahi, S. Ismail, U. Alshana, Deep eutectic solvent-liquid-liquid microextraction prior to smartphone digital image colorimetry for the determination of cobalt in milk and dairy products. 4^th International Congress on Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry (4^th ICABC 2022) (Online: 23–27 March 2022).
3. S. Ismail, A. B. Abdullahi, U. Alshana, Switchable-hydrophilicity solvent liquid-liquid microextraction combined with smartphone digital image colorimetry for the determination of palladium in catalytic converters. 4^th International Congress on Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry(4^th ICABC 2022) (Online: 23–27 March 2022).
4. Valentini M, Invited Lecture at C3 Chemistry Conference, Krems, Austria, 02 – 04 May 2022. “catalytic water oxidation by using Ce(IV) complexes bearing Klaui-type ligands”.
5. Invited Speaker Ringaraj Silvaraj at C3 Chemistry Conference “Synthesis of a novel dual-modality imaging probe, for positron emission tomography (PET) and fluorescence microscopy. 2-4 May 2022, Krems, Austria.
6. Poster presentation, Ringaraj Silvaraj at 17th Belgian Organic Synthesis Symposium Synthesis of a novel series of benzimidazoles containing nitriles derivatives as soil-borne fungicides, 3-8 July 2022, Namur, Belgium.
7. Nawal Al Rasbi, Investigations of Photophysical Propoerties of Ln(III)-Schiff Base Complexes, Poster presentation on International Conference on Coordination Chemistry, ICCC 2022. (Online: 28 Aug– 2 Sept 2022).
8. Synthesis and Mesomorphism of a Novel Series of Liquid Crystals with de Vries Phase Behavior. Wajdi Michael Zoghaib*, Anwaar Al-Maqbali and Dakshinamurthi Potukuchi (Oral presentation). (Krems C-3 Chemistry Conference, May 2-4, 2022, Krems, Austria).
9. Al-Kindy, S. M. Z., Selverag R. “Photocatalytic Degradation of Antibiotics present in Aqueous Solution under solar light Irradiation” Malta X conference 6-11 th November 2022.

SERVING ON EDITORIAL BOARDS OF JOURNALS AND CHAIRING CONFERENCE SESSIONS

1. Khan, M.S. served as the Editor-in-Chief of the SQU J for Science and as a Member of the SQU Academic Publication Board.
2. Khan, M.S. served as a member of the Editorial Board of the Taibah University J for Science.
3. Khan, M.S. served as a member of the Editorial Board of the Polymers (MDPI).
4. O. Abou zaid, Editorial Board Member for Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group)
5. O. Abou zaid, Editorial Board Member for the ISRN Physical Chemistry Journal (Hindawi Publishing)
6. Zoghaib W. M., Editorial Board Member of Asian Chemistry Letters
7. Zoghaib W. M., Editorial Board Member of Journal of Drug Design and Development.
8. Zoghaib W. M., Guest Associate Editor, Frontiers in Soft Matter (Liquid Crystals)
9. Imran Khan, Associate Editor for Physical Chemistry and Chemical Physics (section of Frontiers in Chemistry and Frontiers in Physics).
10. Imran Khan, Review Editor for the journal ‘Polymer’ since October 2020.
11. Imran Khan, Editorial Board Member of Journal of Composites and Biodegradable Polymers since November 2013.
12. Rengaraj Selvaraj, served as Associate Editor for SQU Journal for Science.
13. Rengaraj Selvaraj, serving on Editorial Boards of Journals and Chairing Conference Session Guest Editor of the thematic issue entitled "Bioactive Proteins in Medicinal Chemistry"; Current Medicinal Chemistry, 2022.
14. Nawal Al Rasbi served as an Associate Editor for SQU Journal for Science.
15. Salma Al Kindi, Section Editor National Bulletin of the National Research Center Journal.

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

THE STRATEGIC GRANTS PROJECTS

Automatic Extraction and Collection of Data from Electronic Medical Records for the Cancer Registry using Natural Language Processing and Ensembles of Machine Learning Algorithms

Project Code: SR/SCI/COMP/22/01
Investigators: Dr. Abdulrahman AAlAbdulsalam and Dr. Rachid Hedjam
Duration: 2 years
Budget: 35700 OMR
Year: 2022-2024
Cancer is the leading cause of death in many countries around the world. International and national efforts to prevent and control this disease are being facilitated by cancer registries, which collect data and provide vital statistics for decision makers concerning the incidence, survival and prevalence of cancers within the population. The collection of data in cancer registries is mostly conducted manually by trained registrars through, for instance, reviewing patient medical records and hospital discharge lists. This manual process is becoming unsustainable, slow and prone to error especially with the increasing trend of new cancer cases every year. Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies based on Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) have shown great advances in recent years in the area of automated classification and information extraction from text. In the medical field, these technologies have demonstrated the ability to accelerate data collection, improve data quality, and enhance evidence-based decision making at the point of care. Such technologies can be implemented and evaluated in comparison to domain-experts' decisions and considerable evidence from literature indicate the potential of these technologies to match human-level performance with great consistency. The general aim of this study is to implement and evaluate advanced AI algorithms to automate data collection and information consolidation for the national cancer registry in Oman.

THE RESEARCH GRANTS

Machine Transilation of Written Omani Arabic from Social Media to English using Neural Network Transformers and Active Slag Detection

Project Code: RC/RG-SCI/COMP/22/01
Investigators: Abdulrahman AAl Abdulsalam (PI), Abdullah Al Hamadani (Co-PI), Rashid Al Balushi (Co-Inv)
Duration: 2 year
Budget: 19000 OMR
Year: 2022-2024
Machine Translation (MT) is the area of research within Artificial Intelligence concerned with the automatic translation of text or speech between natural languages such as Arabic and English. The input language is known as the source and the output language is known as the target. There is an abundance of research studies in machine translation between Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) to English, however, studies in machine translation between Omani Arabic dialects and English are very scarce or non-existing. In this research proposal, we highlight a novel approach for translation of written Omani Arabic from social media posts into English. The approach uses state-of-the-art transformers based on an artificial neural network combined with an active slang detection module.

The study aims are: 1) to collect and produce a parallel corpus of written text composed of pairs of sentences of Omani Arabic and their respective translation to English based on social media posts (e.g. whatsapp and twitter) that could serve as benchmark dataset for future studies, 2) to evaluate a novel approach, report its performance using the BLEU metric and establish a first baseline for this task, 3) to provide insights and future direction on the problem of automatic translation of Omani Arabic dialects to English.

INTERNAL GRANT PROJECTS

An Artificial Intelligence Framework for Automatic Analysis, Categorization, and Retrieval of Student Research Projects at SQU

Project Code: IG/SCI/COMP/22/01
Investigators: Dr. Fatma Al Raisi and Dr. Rachid Hedjam
Duration: 2 Years
Budget: O.R. 2,300
Year: 2022-2024
Our work focused on final year project data, where we performed clustering algorithms to analyze and categorize the projects. We then constructed a system that uses document classification and categorization techniques that are used to find clusters of similar research projects within and across different units at SQU. This system allows for efficient navigation of the large body of student scholarly work and can help identify trends over time and emerging research directions. Additionally, the system will measure the extent to which student research and proposed projects match the research profile of the supervising faculty, leading to better matching of advisors to projects. Overall, this system offers a comprehensive view of the student research landscape, which can be used to improve collaboration and avoid redundant work.

Deep Learning Radiomics Approach for Therapeutic Response Assessment in Colorectal Liver Metastases

Project Code: IG/SCI/COMP/22/02
Investigators: Dr. Abdullah Al-Hamdani, Dr. Rachid Hedjam,

Dr. Abdul Rahman Aal Abdulsalam, Adhari Al-Zaabi
Duration: 2 Years
Budget: O.R. 2,380
Year: 2022-2024
Patients suffering from colorectal cancer present with distant metastases at the initial diagnosis. Over 50% of patients with colorectal cancer develop liver metastases and 80% of them are not a candidate for hepatic resection which is considered the best curative treatment. Thus, chemotherapy is the available option for them before and after resection. However, the response rate to chemotherapy among patients varies and it ranges from 40-60%, which may expose patients to toxic effects rather than benefiting from the treatment. Therefore, treatment response assessment to chemotherapy has vital importance to patients suffering from colorectal liver metastases. Many studies had been proposed to evaluate the predictive power of biomarkers obtained from molecular for assessing the treatment response. However, due to the high cost of reproducing these biomarkers and their low predictive power in assessing the treatment response for different cancer types, none of these studies deployed in clinical practice yet. Recently, the radiomics approach has evolved to assess the therapeutic response by extracting quantitative features from routine radiological imaging such as CT, MRI, and PET scan.

Studies have shown that radiomics is better than the reference standard (RECIST) that relies on assessing the response to chemotherapy by evaluating the tumor size rather than considering the spatial heterogeneity of metastatic lesions. Although radiomics plays a great role in disease classification, diagnosis, and treatment personalization in different cancer types, combining it with deep learning is promising as stated by many preliminary studies that focused more on their technical feasibility. So, there is a lack of studies that validate the predictive power of the deep learning radiomics approach for therapeutic response assessment in colorectal liver metastases.

High Performance Computing for Machine Learning Intrusion Detection Based on Nonnegative Matrix Factorization

Project Code: IG/SCI/COMP/22/03
Investigators: Prof. Abderezak Touzene, Dr. Rachid Hedjam, Dr. Nasser Al Zeidi Duration: 2 Years
Budget: O.R. 1600
Year: 2022-2023 (Extension requested)
Hacking activities and network penetration can lead to a tremendous loss to individuals and will have a huge financial impact on enterprises and businesses. Securing networks has become a very critical task because of the recurrent appearance of attacks with the increasing number of Internet users. The detection of network attack, classification (which type of attack) and prevention of attacks are provided by the Intrusion Detection System (IDS). New IDS should take into account the large volume of data generated by the large number of connected devices and analyze it on real-time the network traffic on real-time to be able to distinguish between normal (allowed) and abnormal traffic (attack to be blocked). The volume of data is so big that could not be stored in a single computer and there is a lack of distributed machine learning algorithms to process large-scale datasets for classification.

The objectives of this project are to develop an efficient Message Passing Interface (MPI) using our LUBAN @SQU HPC for MNF taking into account the locality, task load balancing, and reducing the communication overhead by using asynchronous overlapping techniques and improve the overall convergence rate. Our target application is instruction detection as nowadays there is a huge number and varied types of attacks in the internet. The parallel or distributes MNF algorithm will be used to find and classify the Internet of Thing normal network traffic and the different classes of IoT attacks.

Matrix Factorization and Deep Learning for Cancer Detection from Histology Images

Project Code: IG/SCI/COMP/22/04
Investigators: Dr. Rachid Hedjam
Duration: 2 Year
Budget: O.R. 2450
Year: 2022-2024
The project was designed for a doctoral student who declined to continue studies. I need to reshape the project a bit for another related thesis problem, which a new PhD student is working on. The student implemented some existing algorithms and tested them on a Benchmark dataset and the student was able to obtain encouraging results. The student submitted the results to a conference in Dubai but the submission was unfortunately rejected due to weak contribution. We need more time to develop our own algorithm and publish the results in a Journal by the end of this year.

JOURNALS

1. Alshohoumi, F., Al-Hamdani, A., Hedjam, R., AlAbdulsalam, A., and Al Zaabi, A. (2022). “A Review of Radiomics in Predicting Therapeutic Response in Colorectal Liver Metastases: From Traditional to Artificial

   Intelligence

   Techniques”,

   Healthcare,

   10(10), 2075; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare10102075

2. Al-Kindi, I. Al-Khanjari, Z. and Jamoussi, Y. (2022). “Extracting Student Patterns from Log File Moodle course: A case study”, International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education 11(2): 917-926.
3. Aruna Devi, K. A., Abdesselam, A., Hedjam, R., Zidoum, H. and Al-Bahri, M. (2022). “Recent CNN-based techniques for breast cancer histology image classification”, The Journal of Engineering Research 19(1): 41–53
4. Boutiche, Y., Abdesselam, A. (2022). “Robust vegetation segmentation under field conditions using new adaptive weights for hybrid multichannel images based on the Chan-Vese model”, Ecological Informatics, 72: 101850.
5. Boutiche, Y. and Abdesselam, A. (2022). “A Histogram-Based Heuristic for an Adaptive Active Contours Color Image Segmentation”, SSRN Electronic Journal, January 2022, DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.4120049
6. Day, K., Al-Salti, F., Alzeidi, N. Touzene, A. (2022). “A Multiple Data Collection Tree Protocol for UWSNs”, Journal of Communications 17(2).
7. Elkholy, M., Baghdadi, Y. and M Marzouk, M. (2022). “Snowball Framework for Web Service Composition in SOA Applications”,

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

1. AlAbdulsalam, A. (2022). “Dialectal Arabic Identification using One-vs-One Classification with TF-IDF Weights Computed on Character n-grams” In Proceedings of the Seventh Arabic Natural Language Processing Workshop (WANLP): 436–441
2. Al Harty, F., Touzene, A. (2022). “Hybrid Cell Selection Mechanism for V2X Handover'', 4th International Conference on Inventive Computation and Information Technologies (ICICIT - 2022), 25-26, August 2022 | Coimbatore, India. To appear in Lecture notes of Computer Science as a book chapter.
3. Al-Anqoudi, Y. and Al-Hamdani, A. (2022). “A Machine Learning Classification Model for Process Waste Types Identification and Business Process Re-Engineering Automation”, International Conference on Machine Learning, Big Data, Cloud and Parallel Computing: Vol. 1. IEEE.
4. Al Jassasi, I. and Baghdadi, Y. (2022). “Categorization of the Requirements of Social Commerce Platforms”, International Conference on Information Technologies (InfoTech): 1-5, IEEE
5. Shaffi, N., Hajamohideen, F., Mahmud, M., Abdesselam, A., Subramanian, K. and Al-Sariri, A. (2022). “Triplet-Loss Based Siamese Convolutional Neural Network for 4-Way Classification of Alzheimer’s Disease”, International Conference on Brain Informatics: 277–287
6. Zidoum, H., Al-Sawafi, S., Al-Ansari, A. & Al-Lawati, B., (2022). “Identifying Severity Clusters in SLE Patients”, Springer Lecture Note in Networks and Systems, Kohei Arai Editor, FTC 2022 Volume 3.
7. Zidoum, H., Al-Sawafi, S., Al-Ansari, A. & Al-Lawati, B., (2022). “Unsupervised Learning Approach to Drive Therapeutic Precision in a Complex Disease”. Proceedings of the 2^nd International Conference on Computing and Machine Intelligence.

SERVING ON EDITORIAL BOARDS OF JOURNALS AND CHAIRING CONFERENCE SESSIONS

1. Dr. Abdelhamid Abdesselam, Served as Associate Editor for SQUJ.
2. Prof. Abderezak Touzene, Member of the editorial board International Journal of Software Engineering, Member of the editorial board for Journal of Sensor and Actuator Networks, Member of the editorial board for Computer Networks & Communications: International Journal (CNCIJ), Member of the editorial board for Journal Telecommunications, Member of the editorial board for International Journal of Computer &Software Engineering, an international open access journal, Graphy Publications, and Member of the advisory/editorial board of The World Academy of Research in Science and Engineering (WARSE
3. Dr. Hamza Zidoum Served in editorial board Health Informatics Journal, 2022.
4. Prof. Youcef Baghdadi Served on the editorial board for Int. Journal of Computer & Their Applications in Technologies (IJCAT)
5. Prof. Youcef Baghdadi, reviewed 1 journal paper for the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Journal, reviewed a journal paper for Service-Oriented Computing and Applications (SOCA), reviewed 2 journal papers for Int. Journal of Computer Applications in Technology (IJCAT) and reviewed 1 journal paper for Int. Journal of Business Information Systems ( IJBIS).
6. Prof. Zuhoor Al Khanjari, Invited as speaker to deliver a speech on “Is SMART Education really SMART?”. International Symposium on the Adoption of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) to Thrive Intelligent Education and Digital Economy (ISAFOSS-TIEDE2022), Feb 2022.
7. Prof. Zuhoor Al Khanjari, Invited speaker virtually in the ISACA Muscat chapter in coordination with UTAS. The speech title: “Woman Travels the world of Technology”. 29 December 2022. This was to encourage Omani females in the world of technology.
8. Prof. Zuhoor Al Khanjari, Reviewer for Asian Journal of Research in Computer Science, Supercomputing Journal, the Neural Computing and Applications (NCAA) Journal and Asian Journal of Research in Computer Science.

DEPARTMENT OF EARTH SCIENCES RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

INTERNAL GRANT PROJECTS

Fractures and Diagnosis Effect on the Reservoir Quality: An Example from Albian- Cenomanian Carbonate Unit of the Natih Formation, Jabal Akhdar Area, Oman

Project Code: IG/SCI/ETHS/22/01
Investigators: Dr. Andreas Scharf, Dr. Mohamed Abdusasamad, Dr. Ahmed Iftikhar, Dr. Mohammed Farfour, Dr. Arshad A. Ali, Dr. Michael Pope,
Dr. Hezam Al-Awah and Dr. Ethan Grossman, Dr. Robert Bolhar, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa
Duration: 2 year
Budget: O.R. 3,100
Year: 2022-2024
This proposal aims to study and understand the fractures and diagenetic features of the Albian-Cenomanian carbonate unit of the Natih Formation that crops out in the Jabal Akhdar area, Oman, and their influences on reservoir quality. Moreover, the outcropped carbonate rocks can serve as analogs for heterogeneous reservoir rocks in the subsurface of the Sultanate of Oman. The study goals can be better achieved, and predictive conceptual models can be developed when the diagenetic alterations and fracture distribution that influence reservoir quality are linked to depositional facies and stratigraphic sequence framework (systems tracts and key sequence stratigraphic surfaces) of the carbonate succession. Particular emphasis will be placed on the cemented (mineral-fill) and open fractures and their role in developing, redistributing, and destroying secondary porosity. The study will, thus, be conducted employing an integrated approach, which involves the analysis of field geometries, petrography, reconstruction of conceptual tectonics modeling, fracture system characterization micro-thermometry (fluid inclusions), and geochemical (major and minor elements as well as stable and radiogenic isotopes) analyses of the diagenetic minerals and host carbonate rocks.

JOURNALS

1. A. Oukil, A. Soltani, S. Zeroual, H. Boutaghane, O. Abdalla, A. Bermad, M. Hasbaia, M. Boulassel. 2022. A DEA cross-efficiency inclusive methodology for assessing water quality: A Composite Water Quality Index, Journal of Hydrology, Volume 612, Part A, 2022, 128123, ISSN 0022-1694.
2. S. Al-Yaqoubia, A. Al-Maktoumia, A. Kacimov , O. Abdalla, M. Al-Belushi 2022. Understanding saline water dynamics in coastal aquifers using sand tank experiment and numerical modeling. Desalination and Water Treatment 263 (2022) 220–229, doi: 10.5004/dwt.2022.28234
3. Farfour, M.; Economou, N.; Abdalla, O.; Al-Taj, M. Integration of Geophysical Methods for Doline Hazard Assessment: A Case Study from Northern Oman. Geosciences 2022, 12, 243.
4. A *Izady, A Joodavi, M Ansarian, M Shafiei, M Majidi, Kamran Davary, Ali Naghi Ziaei, Hossein Ansari, MR Nikoo, A Al-Maktoumi, M Chen, O Abdalla. 2022. A scenario-based coupled SWAT-MODFLOW decision support system for advanced water resource management, Journal of Hydroinformatics, accepted. Journal of Hydroinformatics (2022) 24 (1): 56–77.
5. Farfour, M., and Foster, D., 2022. A new AVO fluid indicator using the fluid line: Theory and application. Journal of Applied Geophysics 204, 104732.
6. Farfour, M., and Foster, D., 2022. Detection of hydrocarbon-saturated reservoirs in a challenging geological setting using AVO attributes: A case study from Poseidon field, Offshore Northwest region of Australia. Journal of Applied Geophysics, 203, 104687,
7. Beichen Zhang, Huiqi Wang, Amani Alabri, Karol Bot, Cole McCall, Dale Hamilton, Vít Růžička. Unsupervised Wildfire Change Detection based on Contrastive Learning.

8. Al-Hosni, T., Nasir, S. 2022. Negligence of geological site investigations leading to slope failure incidents: a case study from Saih Al Ahmar in Bidbid, Northern Oman. SQU Journal for Science, 27(1), 63-73.
9. Sundararajan, N.; Ebrahimi, A.; Pracejus, B.; Al-Hosni, T.; Al-Neseiri, J. 2022. Integrated Geophysical study for Delineation of Structure Favorable to Uranium Mineralization in Al-Amerat, Sultanate of Oman. Jordan Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences (JJEES), 13 (3), 215-222. http://jjees.hu.edu.jo
10. Scharf, A., Mattern, F., Bolhar, R., Callegari, I., Mattern, P. & Ring, U. (2022) Oligocene/Early Miocene E/W-Shortening in the Oman Mountains Related to Oblique Arabia-India Convergence. Tectonics 41(12), e2022TC007271, doi: 10.1029/2022TC007271. AGU Publications
11. Scharf, A., Bailey, C.M., Bolhar, R., Mattern, F. & Ring, U. (2022) Post-obduction listwaenite genesis in the Oman Mountains inferred from structural analysis and U-Pb carbonate dating. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 595, 117756, doi: 10.1016/j.epsl.2022.117756. Elsevier
12. Weidle, C., Wiesenberg, L., El-Sharkawy, A., Krüger, F., Scharf, A., Agard, P. & Meier, T. (2022) A 3-D crustal shear-wave velocity model and Moho map below the Semail Ophiolite, eastern Arabia. Geophysical Journal International, 231(2), 817-834, doi: 10.1093/gji/ggac223. Oxford University Press.
13. Mattern, F., Scharf, A., Pracejus, B., Al Shibli, I.S.A., Al Kabani, B.M.S., Al Qasmi, Y.A., Kiessling, W. & Callegari, I. (2022) Origin of the Cretaceous olistostromes in the Oman Mountains (Sultanate of Oman): Evidence from clay minerals. Journal of Africa Earth Sciences, 191, 104547, doi: 10.1016/j.jafreqarsci.2022.104547. Elsevier.
14. Mattern, F., Pracejus, B., Scharf, A., Frijia, G. & Al-Salmani, M. (2022) Microfacies and composition of ferruginous beds at the platform-foreland basin transition (Late Albian to Turonian Natih Formation, Oman Mountains): forebulge dynamics and regional to global tectono-geochemical framework. Sedimentary Geology, 429, 106074, doi: 10.1016/j.sedgeo.2021.106074. Elsevier

24. Taura, U., Al-Dhuhli, H., Rudyk, S. Structural and petrophysical controls on the remaining fluid distribution in the reservoirs of Gharif Formation before abandonment. Environmental Earth Sciences, 2022, 81(21), 503.
25. Koepke, J., Garbe-Schonberg, D., Muller, T., Mock, D., Muller, S., & Nasir, S. (2022). A reference section through fast-spread lower oceanic crust, Wadi Gideah, Samail ophiolite (Sultanate of Oman): Petrography and petrology. Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth, 127.
26. Ali, A., Shahid, M. S., Jabeen, I., amp; El-Ghali, M. A. K. (2022). Vida en Marte: Historia, avances, investigación actual y perspectivas. Earth Sciences Research Journal, 26(3), 221-230.
27. Arshad Ali, Iftikhar Ahmed Abbasi, Leonardo Brandão Nogueira, Mohamed A.K. El-Ghali al. Geochemical and C-O isotopic study of ophiolite-altered carbonates of the Barzaman Formation, Oman: Evidence of natural CO2 sequestration via carbonation of ultramafic clasts. Authorea. November 12, 2022.
28. Alidu Rashid, Numair Ahmed Siddiqui, Nisar Ahmed, Muhammad Jamil, Mohamed A.K. EL-Ghali, Syed Haroon Ali, Faisal Kamal Zaidi, Ali Wahid, Field attributes and organic geochemical analysis of shales from early to middle Permian Dohol Formation, Peninsular Malaysia: Implications for hydrocarbon generation potential, Journal of King Saud University - Science, Volume 34, Issue 8, 2022, 102287, ISSN 1018-3647.
29. Arshad, Ali, Shahid Muhammad S, Jabeen Iffat, and El-Ghali Mohamed AK. "Life on Mars (Lo Mars): History, advances, current research, and perspectives: Earth Sciences Research Journal 26, no. 3 (2022): 221-230.

BOOKS & BOOK CHAPTERS:

1. A Izady, O Abdalla, A Al-Maktoumi, M Chen 2022. Sustainable Transboundary Groundwater Management using Groundwater Modeling and Hydrochemical Investigation. Transboundary Aquifers, Challenges and the Way forward, UNESCO 2022.
2. M. Saber, S. Kantoush, T. Sumi, Y. Ogiso, T. Alharrasi, T. Koshiba, M. Abdel-Fattah, A. Al-Maktoumi, O. Abdalla, Y. Takemon, D. Nohara, S. Kobayashi, M. Almamari, K. Al Hooti, A. Al Barwani, H. Almamari, D. Ellithey, E. Holzbecher, A. Hadidi. 2022. Integrated Study of Flash Floods in Wadi Basins Considering Sedimentation and Climate Change: An International Collaboration Project. Wadi Flash Floods: Challenges and Advanced Approaches for Disaster Risk Reduction. P. 401-422. Springer Singapore.
3. Narasimman, S., Alaeddin, E., Pracejus, B., Al-Hosni, T. (2022). Geo-Investigations on the Qarat Kibrit Salt Dome Faulting System South of Adam, Oman—In Search of Anomalies Favorable for Uranium and Associated Minerals. In: Mustapha et al. Advances in Geophysics, Tectonics and Petroleum Geosciences. CAJG 2019. Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation. Springer, Cham.
4. Abbasi, I. A., El-Ghali, M. A., & Al Harthy, A. (2022). Sedimentology of Mixed Siliciclastic–Carbonate Eocene Deltaic Deposits in a Strike-Slip Basin, Eastern Oman. In Recent Research on Geomorphology, Sedimentology, Marine Geosciences and Geochemistry: Proceedings of the 2nd Springer Conference of the Arabian Journal of Geosciences (CAJG-2), Tunisia 2019 (pp. 171-174). Springer International Publishing.

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

1. Farfour, M., and D Foster, 2022. Machine learning and seismic attributes for prospect identification and risking: An example from offshore Australia. Presented in the second SEG and AAPG International Meeting for Applied Geoscience & Energy, Houston, USA. https://library.seg.org/doi/pdf/10.1190/image2022-3752064.1
2. Al-Hosni, T., 2022. 23rd Gulf Engineering Forum on “Engineer and Disaster Challenges”, 20 to 22 March 2022, Ritz-Carlton Hotel at Al Bustan Palace, Muscat, Oman.
3. Al-Hosni, T., Deep-Time Digital Earth (DDE) Open Science Forum, November 9th 2022, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris.
4. Scharf, A., Mattern. F., Pracejus, B., Callegari, I., Bolhar, R., Nasir, S., Al-Wahaibi, S., Al-Battashi, L., Al-Hadhrami, M., Al-Harthi, T. & Al-Sugri, S. (2022) Mineralogy, structure and tectonic significance of quartz veins from the northern Saih Hatat Dome (eastern Oman Mountains). EGU 2022-13597, 23th- 27th May, Vienna, Austria.

5. Moraetis, D., Fassoulas, C., Alzhra, F., Khan, H., Leontaritis, A., Pavlopoulos, K., Scharf, A., Vaxevanopoulos, M., Adamopoulos, K., Digenis, M., Pennos, C. & Nikolaidis, N. (2022) Preliminary tectonostratigraphic results from the Small Trocharis mountains, north-east Lefka Ori, western Crete. 16th International Congress of the Geological Society of Grecce, 17-19th October, Patras, Greece.
6. Weidle, C., Wiesenberg, L., Scharf, A., Agard, P., El-Sharkawy, A., Krüger, F. & Meier, T. (2022) Lithospheric evolution of eastern Arabia beneath the Semail Ophiolite. AG Seismologie 2022, 26th-29th September, Münster, Germany.
7. Ducoux, M., Masini, E., Scharf, A. & Calassou, S. (2022) The Neotethyan Arabian necking zone exposed at the SE Oman mountains: field evidence and consequences. EGU 2022-11305, 23th-27th May, Vienna, Austria.
8. Moraetis, D., Pavlopoulos, K., Fassoulas, C., Scharf, A., Mattern, F., Yu, X., Pennos, C., Adamopoulos, K., Zacharias, S., Hamdan, H. & Nikolaidis, N. (2022) Karst development in different tectonic settings (Middle East, Greece, South China), concept analysis and first findings towards hydrology modeling reconsideration. EGU 2022-5206, 23th-27th May, Vienna, Austria.
9. Pracejus, B., Scharf, A. & Mattern, F. (2022) Thermal overprinting of Mesozoic shelfal limestones on Jabal Akhdar, Oman. EGU 2022-3985, 23th-27th May, Vienna, Austria.
10. Mattern, F., Pracejus, B., Scharf, A., Frijia, G. & Al-Salmani, M. (2022) Two Cretaceous forebulge successions in the Oman Mountains, triggered by the obducted Semail Ophiolite, identified by the facies analysis of limestones, ferruginous crusts and ferruginous oolites. EGU 2022-2123, 23th-27th May, Vienna, Austria.
11. Pavlopoulos, K., Moraetis, D., Foumelis, M., Scharf, A., Mattern, F., Forman, S. & Papageorgiou, E. (2022) Documenting Elevated Passive Continental Margin of Eastern Oman using SAR interferometry and multi-proxy data. European Space Agency, Living Planet Symposium (LPS 2022), 23th-27th May, Bonn, Germany.

20. Mohamed A.K. El-Ghali , Iftikhar Ahmed Abbasi , Olga Shelukhina , Mohamed S.h. Moustafa , Arshad Ali , Osman Salad Hersi , Mohamed Farfour , Hezam Al-Awah, 2022. Middle Cambrian marine transgressive-regressive depositional system of the peri-Gondwana Terranes: An example from Miqrat Formation of the Huqf region, Oman. Mediterranean Geosciences Union (MedGU2022), Annual Meeting, Morocco, 27-30 November 2022.
21. Mohamed A.k. El-Ghali , Iftikhar Ahmed Abbasi , Olga Shelukhina , Mohamed S.h. Moustafa , Arshad Ali , Osman Salad Hersi , Shahad Al Mahrooqi , Khalid Al-Ramadan , Abdulwahab Muhammad Bello , Hezam Al-Awah , Abdullah Alqubalee, 2022. Genesis of grain-coating clays and their effect on the development of feldspar overgrowths: A case study of the Late Cambrian to Early Ordovician Barik Formation sandstone reservoir, Huqf region, Central Oman. Mediterranean Geosciences Union (MedGU2022), Annual Meeting, Morocco, 27-30 November 2022.
22. Ali A., El-Ghali M.A.K., Abbasi I.A., Nogueira L.B., Moustafa M. 2022. Geochemical perspective on the diagenesis of the Buah carbonates from the Jabal Al Akhdar, Oman Mountains. Mediterranean Geosciences Union (MedGU2022), Annual Meeting, 27-30 November 2022.
23. Ali A., El-Ghali M., Kakar M., Abbasi I., Nasir S., Siddiqui R. H., Nogueira L. B., Hersi O. S., Moustafa M., Jabeen I., Ahmed N., (2022) Carbon mineralization potential for climate change mitigation in Oman and Pakistan. SGC36-06, Solid Earth Geochemistry, Cosmochemistry, Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2022, May 22-27, 2022, International Conference Hall, Makuhari Messe, Chiba, Japan.
24. Abdullah Al Fahdi, Mohamed El-Ghali, Abdul Razzak Al Sayigh, Abdullrahman Al Harthi, Mohamed Muoustafa, 2022. The facies descriptions of Jafnayn Formation (Late Paleocene- Early Eocene) in Jafnayn Area in North Oman. Mediterranean Geosciences Union (MedGU2022), Annual Meeting, 27-30 November 2022.
25. Al-Yas Al-Rajihi, Mohamed Al-Habsi, Al-Hakam Al-Yazeedi, Mohamed El-Ghali, 2022. Quaternary mixed siliciclastic-carbonate aeolianite diagenesis and porosity evolution: Petrography and geochemical characteristics of Bousher dune fields of Northern Oman. Mediterranean Geosciences Union (MedGU2022), Annual Meeting, 27-30 November 2022.
26. Jenan Attar, Iftikhar Abbasi, Mohamed El-Ghali, Abdulrahman Al Harthy, Abdulrazaq Al Sayigh, 2022. Lithofacies associations and depositional system of the Muti Formation, Oman Mountains. Mediterranean Geosciences Union (MedGU2022), Annual Meeting, 27-30 November 2022.
27. Elham Alnadabi, Mohamed A.K. El-Ghali, 2022. Petrophysical properties of the Late Carboniferous and Early Permian glaciogenic reservoirs: An example from Al Khlata Formation, Block 56, Eastern flank of South Oman Salt Basin. Mediterranean Geosciences Union (MedGU2022), Annual Meeting, 27-30 November 2022.

ORGANIZING CONFERENCES OR WORKSHOPS

1. Scharf, A., Mattern, F., Callegari, I., Bailey, C.M., Bolhar, R. & Ring, U. (2022) Extensional tectogenesis of listwaenite (Fanja area, eastern Oman: Geological Society of Oman Fieldtrip), December 16, 2022, 37 p., Muscat, Oman.

SERVING ON EDITORIAL BOARDS OF JOURNALS AND CHAIRING CONFERENCE SESSIONS

1. Prof Sobhi Nasir is a member in the International Geology Review, Taylor & Francis, a member in 2. MAYFEB Journal of Earth Science, a member in the 3. Journal Geoscience Reports, Herbert Publication, and an a member of the International Advisory Board of Jordan Journal of Earth and Environmental
2. Talal Al-Hosni is an editorial board member of the Universal Journal of Geosciences and an editorial board member of the Journal of Water Pollution and Control.
3. Andreas Scharf a Convener at the European Geosciences Union (EGU) conference in Vienna (Arabian Plate and its surroundings – past and present at Wednesday May 25, 2022).
4. Rifaat Abdalla was Scientific Committee Member in the Regional Symposium on Geospatial Information Exchange and Research (GIER) German University of Technology in Oman, Muscat, and Sultanate of Oman.
5. Iftikhar Ahmed is an Associate Editor SQUJ for Science, and an Associate Editor, Himalayan Journal of Earth Sciences.
6. Mohamed El-Ghali is a Guest Editor: Springer for the Arabian Journal of Geosciences, and Associate Editor: Springer for the Journal of Petroleum Exploration and Production.
7. Mohammed Farfour is an Associate Editor in the Arabian Journal of Geosciences and a Guest Editor in the Arabian Journal of Geosciences special issue.

DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

JOURNALS

1. Al-Salman, A., Singular Integral Operators With Kernels Supported In Higher Dimensional Subvarieties, Banach J. Math. Anal. 16 (2022), no. 3, Paper No. 48, 19 pp.
2. Al-Salman, A., Marcinkiewicz integral operators on product domains along twisted surfaces, Communications on Pure & Applied Analysis, 21 (2022), 159,181.
3. Al-Maqrashi, K., Al-Musalhi, F., Elmojtaba, I., and Al-Salti, N., Investigating the Role of Mobility between Rural Areas and Forests on the Spread of Zika. Biomath, 11(2), 2212149-2212149, 2022.
4. Boulbrachene, M., Optimal L∞-error estimate for the semilinear impulse control quasi-variational inequality, Mathematical Methods in the Applied Science, 45, (2022) 12125-12135.
5. Boulbrachene, M., and Al Farei, Q., Mixing Finite Elements and Finite Difference in Nonlinear Schwarz Iterations for Nonlinear PDEs, Computational Mathematics and Modeling for Nonlinear Elliptic Problems, 33, (2022) 77-94.
6. Al-Maamari, Z., and Dinar, Y., Conjugate Frobenius Manifold and Inversion Symmetry. Math Phys Anal Geom 25, 23 (2022).
7. Al-Maamari, Z., and Dinar, Y., Frobenius Manifolds on Orbits Spaces. Math Phys Anal Geom 25, 22 (2022).
8. Al-Yahyai, M., Al-Musalhi, M., Ibrahim Elmojtaba, N Al-Salti. (2022). Mathematical analysis of a COVID- 19 model with different types of quarantine and isolation. Mathematical Biosciences and Engineering, 20 (1), 1344-1375.
9. Gupta, S. K., Hare, K. E., The smoothness of orbital measures on noncompact symmetric spaces. J. Aust. Math. Soc. 113 (2022), no. 2, 188–207
10. Al-Maskari, M., and Karaa, S., Error estimates for approximations of time-fractional biharmonic equation with nonsmooth data, J. Sci. Comput. 93 (2022), no. 1, Paper No. 8, pp. 18
11. Al-Maskari, M., and Karaa, S., The time-fractional Cahn-Hilliard equation: analysis and approximation, IMA J. Numer. Anal. 42 (2022), no. 2, 1831–1865.
12. Urinov K., Karimov E. T., Kerbal, S., Boundary-value problem with an integral conjugation condition for a partial differential equation with the fractional Riemann–Liouville derivative that describes gas flows in a channel surrounded by a porous medium, Itogi Nauki i Tekhniki. Seriya "Sovremennaya Matematika i ee Prilozheniya. Tematicheskie Obzory",(2022), (210), p. 66–76.
13. Zothansanga, A., Khanna, N., Kaushik, S.K., and Kumar, D., A note on some new generalized wavelets. J. Math. 2022, Art. ID 7511242, 7 pp.
14. Al Ghafri, K. S., Krishnan, E. V., Khan, S., Biswas, A. Optical bullets and their modulational instability analysis, Applied Sciences, 12(18), 9221, 2022.
15. Al Ghafri, K.S., Krishnan, E.V., and Bekir, A. (2022) "Chiral solitons with W-shaped and other profiles in (1+2) dimensions", The European Physical Journal Plus, 137(1),111.
16. Al Ghafri, K. S., Krishnan, E. V., and Biswas, A. Cubic-quartic optical soliton perturbation and modulation instability analysis in polarization-controlled fibers for Fokas-Lenells equation, Journal of the European Optical Society, 18(2), 9, 2022.
17. Al Ghafri, M. S., and Manhas, J. S., Sum of generalized weighted composition operators between weighted spaces of analytic functions, Asian-Eur. J. Math. 15 (2022), no. 11, Paper No. 2250192, 45 pp. 47B33 (46E15 47B38)
18. Pinto, G. A., Ordered Regular Pointed Semigroups with Biggest Associates, Palestine Journal of Mathematics, Vol. 11(1), (2022), 270-279.
19. Pinto, G. A., On Ordered Regular Semigroups with a Zero Element, Mathematics Interdisciplinary Research 7 (2022), 165-178.
20. .Al-Najjar, H., Purnama, A., Ozkan, K. and Abualtayef, M. (2022) Analysis of Extreme Rainfall Trend and Mapping of the Wadi Pluvial Flood in the Gaza Coastal Plain of Palestine, Acta Geophysica, Vol. 70: 2135-2147 doi: 10.1007/s11600-022-00890-9
21. Al-Muqbali, A.A., and Purnama, A. The effect of a step increase in depth and decay upon dispersion of coastal effluent discharges, Applied Mathematics, Vol. 13: 37-55 doi: 10.4236/am.2022.131004, 2022.
22. Al-Kasbi, A., and Purnama, A. Behaviour of effluent discharged into shallow coastal waters under the influence of spring-neap tidal currents, Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Vol. 22(1): 5-32 doi.org/10.1007/s10652-021-09826-1, 2022.

23. Al-Weheibi, S. M., Rahman, M.M., Saghir, M. Z., and Vajravelu, K., Three dimensional free convective heat transmission flow of copper–water nanofluid in a glass bead permeable matrix within a right trapezoidal cavity in consideration of thermal nonequilibrium conditions, Transport in Porous Media, vol. 145, 653-681, 2022.
24. Uddin, M. J., Al-Balushi, J., Mahatabuddin, S., and Rahman, M.M., Convective heat transport for copper oxide-water nanofluid in an isosceles triangular cavity with a rippled base wall in the presence of magnetic field, International Journal of Thermofluids, vol. 16, pp. 100195, 2022.
25. Rahman, M.M., Saghir, M.Z., Pop, I., Free convective heat transfer efficiency in Al2O3-Cu/water hybrid nanofluid inside a rectotrapezoidal enclosure, International Journal of Numerical Methods for Heat & Fluid Flow, vol. 32(1), 196-218, 2022.
26. Saghir, M. Z. and Rahman, M.M., Forced convection of Al2O3, Fe3O4, ND-Fe3O4 and (MWCNT- Fe3O4) mixtures in rectangular channels: Experimental and numerical results, International Journal of Energy Research, vol. 46, pp. 10002-10019, 2022.
27. Saghir, M. Z., and Rahman, M. M., Thermo-hydraulic performance of pin-fins in wavy and straight configurations, Micromachines, vo. 13(6), pp. 954, 2022.
28. Al-Balushi, L. M., Uddin, M. J., and Rahman, M. M., Oztop, H. F., and Pop, I., Three‐dimensional tilted hydromagnetic natural double‐diffusive convection in a rectangular cuboid filled with nanofluids based on magnetic nanoparticles, Heat Transfer, vol. 51(2), pp. 1275-1305, 2022.
29. Uddin, M., J., Arifuzzaman, M., and Rahman, M. M., Thermo-hydromagnetic performance of water-alumina nanofluid in a trapezoidal vessel, Journal of Thermophysics and Heat Transfer, vol. 36(1), pp. 28-39, 2022.
30. Shahryari, M., Dehn function and the space of marked groups, Journal of Siberian Federal University: Mathematics and Physics, Vol. 15 No. 5, 2022.

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

1. Al-Kharousi, F., International Conference on Recent Development in Mathematics (ICRDM 2022). Submitted a paper to be published in the conference proceedings.
2. Al-Musalhi, F., Analytical solutions to nonhomogeneous fractional differential equations and their applications, 10th International Conference on Applied Analysis and Mathematical Modeling, Turkey, July 1-3,2022 (online).
3. Boulbrachene, M. and Al Farei, Q. L∞-Finite element convergence of linear Schwarz alternating iterations for semilinear elliptic problems, 27th International Conference on Domain decomposition Methods (DD27), Prague, July 25-29, 2022.
4. Boudellioua, M.S. Reduction of Systems of Linear 2-D Difference Equations to a Single Equation", The 27th International Conference on Difference Equations and Applications (ICDEA 2022), Paris, France.
5. Ibrahim, E., On the computation and failure of the basic reproduction number. International Faculty Development Program on mathematical biosystems. 22-27 August, 2022, Mizoram University, India.
6. Khanna, N., Delivered an invited talk titled, “Generalized Analytic Wavelets" in the 3rd Online Seminar on Mathematical Analysis and Generalized Integration held from 18th-20th July, 2022 organized by Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Puebla, Mexico and Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City, Mexico.

7. Khanna, N., Presented a paper titled, “Some New Generalizations of Wavelets" in the International Conference on Nonlinear Analysis and Applications-2022, held during 22-23 November 2022, organized by the Department of Mathematics, Assam Don Bosco University, India in collaboration with the Institute of Physics and Mathematics, Technological University of the Mixteca, Mexico and Department of Mathematics, Ramniranjan Jhunjhunwala College (Autonomous), Mumbai, India.
8. Manhas, J.S. Boundedness of sum of generalized weighted composition operators between weighted spaces of analytic functions, 4th International Conference on Pure and Applied Mathematics (ICPAM- VAN 2022), June 22-23, 2022, VAN, TURKEY.
9. Nasir, H.M. and Al-Hassani, K. A seventh-order fractional linear multi-step method for fractional initial value problem, The 8th International Conference on Control and Optimization with Industrial Applications (COIA2022), 24-26, August 2022, Baku, Azerbaijan.
10. Al-Hassani, K. and Nasir, H.M. A new family of backward difference type schemes for fractional initial value problem, The 8th International Conference on Control and Optimization with Industrial Applications (COIA2022), 24-26 August 2022, Baku, Azerbaijan.
11. Nasir, H.M. and Al-Hassani, K. New fractional linear multi-step methods of order four with improved stability, II Brazilian Symposium on Fractional Calculus (BSFC2022), 17—21 January 2022, Brazil.
12. Rahman, M. M. Flow dynamics in porous media: impacts of Maxwell-Cattaneo heat flux, 1st International Conference on Frontier in Sciences (ICFS-2022) 11-12 November 2022, BUET, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Keynote Speech (Virtual).
13. Rahman, M.M. Heat transmissions through nanofluids and porous media-impacts on nanoscience and nanotechnology, 4th International Conference and Expo on Nanoscience and Nano Technology, Paris, France, 13-14 June 2022, Keynote Speech (Virtual).

CONFERENCE AND WORKSHOP ATTENDANCE

1. Al-Ayyoub, I., Workshop at CETL: Designing & Building Instructional contents suitable for the online environment. The details of the workshop are as follows, 27/10/2022.
2. Al-Ghassani, A., planned the Spring & Fall 2022 Programs of activities for the Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning (CETL).
3. Boulbrachene, M., Member of the International Organizing Committee: 11^th international Eurasian Conference on Mathematical Sciences and Applications, August 29 - September 1^st, 2022, Istanbul Turkey.
4. Dinar, Y., Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge, United Kingdom, as Simons Fellow on the programme `` Dispersive hydrodynamics: mathematics, simulation and experiments, with applications in nonlinear waves'' , August 11, 2022. Talk title: From Drinfeld-Sokolov bihamiltonian structures to Dubrovin-Frobenius manifolds. \url{https://www.newton.ac.uk/event/hyd2/}
5. Dinar, Y., University of Glasgow, United Kingdom, September 7, 2022. Talk title: Algebraic Froebnius manifolds from classical W algebras.
6. Kerbal S, Member of the scientific committee: First International Symposium on Current Developments in Fundamental and Applied Mathematics Sciences (ISCDFAMS -2022)” Atatürk University Erzurum , 23- 25 May 2022.
7. Khanna, N., Member of organizing committee of the “3rd Online Seminar on Mathematical Analysis and Generalized Integration (OSMAGI-3)" held from 18th-20th July, 2022 organized by Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Puebla, Mexico and Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Mexico City, Mexico.
8. Maouche, A., Weekly seminar at the Department of Mathematics (SQU).
9. Purnama, A. (3 Nov 2022) A Simple Model of Salinity in the Arabian Gulf waters, Department of Mathematics Seminar (Fall 2022), SQU, Oman
10. Purnama, A. Co-chair of the Organizing Committee for the OMC Virtual Workshop on Mathematical Modelling and Numerical Optimization (MMNO-2022), Muscat, Oman, 12 May 2022
11. Rahman, M. M., Served as a Member of the Scientific Committee for the following conferences:

12. Shahryari, M., Member of the scientific committee of 15th Iranian Group Theory Conference.
13. Shahryari, M., Member of the scientific committee of 12th Seminar of Linear Algebra and Applications.

SERVING ON EDITORIAL BOARDS OF JOURNALS AND CHAIRING CONFERENCE SESSIONS

1. Al-Salman, A., Serving as an Associate Editor of Computational Mathematics and Computer Modeling with Applications (CMCMA) journal, Dec. 30, 2022-present, also an Associate Editor of Sultan Qaboos University Journal for Science (Jan 2018-present), and a VinFuture Prize, Official Nominator for the prize.
2. Kerbal S., a member of the Journals of Universal Journal of Applied Mathematics, Horizon Research Publishing Corporation and a member of the Journal of MAYFEB Journal of Mathematics
3. Khanna, N., a member of the Poincare Journal of Analysis and Applications (indexed in MathSciNet, zbMATH, and Scopus)
4. Khan, Q. J. A. is an Associate Editor of the IAENG International Journal of Applied Mathematics (International Association of Engineers) Journal since 2007, and Associate Editor of the Journal Contemporary Mathematics since 2021.
5. Krishnan, E.V. Serving on Editorial Board of the Journals: International Journal of Pure and Applied Mathematical Sciences, Global Journal of Mathematical Sciences and Nonlinear Dynamics and Systems Theory.
6. Al-Baali, M., Purnama, A. and Sachs, E.W. are Guest Editors in the Special Issue of the Journal Optimization Methods and Software (OMS) on the conference NAOV-2020, Vol. 37, Issue 4 (2022)
7. Rahman, M. M. is a Guest Editor: Special Issue on Thermofluids and Energy, International Journal of Thermofluids, Published by Elsevier, February 2022, an Editorial board member: International Journal of Thermofluids, Fluid Dynamics & Material Processing, International Journal of Thermofluids Science and Technology (former American Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer), and Editorial advisory board member: International Journal of Heat and Technology.
8. Rahman, M. M. is an Associate Editor: Sultan Qaboos University Journal for Science (SQUJS).
9. Shahryari, M. Serving on Editorial Board of the Journals: Bulletin of Iranian Math. Soc. (Springer)

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

INTERNAL GRANT PROJECTS

Diffusion Controlled Fluorescence Quenching of CsPbBr3 Perovskites

Project Code: IG/SCI/PHYS/22/01
Investigators: Dr. Abey Issac and Dr. Sumesh Sofin R.G,
Duration: 1 year
Budget: 1450 OMR
Year: 2022
In this project, we investigated the PL quenching of QDs by (i) FRET between unbound QD donor-acceptor pairs and (ii) trapping of photo-excited charge carriers into dye-induced surface states in bound QD-dye nanoassemblies. In the first part of the project, Cesium lead tribromide perovskite (CsPbBr3) and Indium Phosphide core/shell QDs (InP) were used as donor and acceptor respectively. CsPbBr3 has a cubic crystal structure with a size of 9 ± 1 nm, whereas InP has a core diameter of 3.9 ± 0.5 nm and ZnS shell thickness of 2.2 ± 0.2 nm. We observed the signatures of FRET in toluene, i.e., a decrease of CsPbBr3 (donor) emission followed by an increase of InP (acceptor) emission. The FRET efficiency found to vary as the acceptor to donor molar ratio ([x]) increases. Interesting observation is that FRET efficiency reaches a maximum of ca. 40% whereas the PL quenching of donor is ca. 65%. This means that FRET alone cannot explain the PL quenching of CsPbBr3, instead an additional quenching mechanism should be present. Since the donor and acceptor are unbound, FRET is mediated through the diffusion process. Moreover, diffusion leads to collision between donor and acceptor QDs as well. Such collisions of acceptor (InP QDs) open new non-radiative decay channels on the donor surface (CsPbBr3 QDs) and thus enhances the PL quenching of donor.

Trapping of photo-excited charge carriers into the defect states is considered as a major reason for the lowering of PL quantum yield in QDs. Defect states located on the surface of QDs are accessible to the photo-excited charge carriers produced in the core through tunneling process. That means, larger the extension of the charge carriers wavefunction onto the QD’s surface, higher the probability of charge trapping into the surface defect states. Quantum confinement effect provides the opportunity to control the wave function extension of charge carriers and thereby the trapping-induced PL quenching. Moreover, if the PL decay rate of the QD is comparable to the charge-trapping rate, time-resolved measurements can provide rich information about the quenching process.

Using Satellite Imagery to Locate Raw Materials for Lunar and Martian Regolith Analogues in the Hajar Mountains of the Arabian Peninsula

Project Code: IG/SCI/PHYS/22/02
Investigators: Dr. Zach Ioannou and Prof. Rachid Sbiaa
Duration: 2 Years
Budget: O.R. 3,950
Year: 2022-2024
Our participation in the science operations of the first Arab mission to the surface of the Moon in 2023 involves the calibration and characterization of the Microscopic Camera (Cam-M) that is mounted on the lunar rover “Rashid” of the Emirates Lunar Mission. The use of Cam-M data will allow for in-situ observations of the lunar regolith and will complement the spectral data that is available from Lunar orbiters. In support to this activity, our work aims to identify and locate the regions in the Eastern Arabian peninsula, and more specifically the regions surrounding the Hajar mountain range, where raw materials can be obtained that can be used for construction of Lunar and Martian regolith analogues. We utilize hyperspectral imagery obtained by Earth-observing satellites as well as public data obtained from satellites and ground rovers operating on the Moon and Mars to help identify local regions of interest.

A Hybrid Portable Imager for Gamma and Neutron Emitting Radionuclide

Project Code: IG/SCI/PHYS/22/03
Investigators: Dr. Hajir Al Hamrashdi and Prof. Abbasher Gismelseed
Duration: 2 Year
Budget: O.R. 6,820
Year: 2022-2024
The imager core has been constructed last academic year with new reliable and accurate power supply for the Silicon photomultipliers in the three layers of the imaging system has been successfully installed. In addition, simulation has been used to verify the potential of enhancing gamma-neuron discrimination abilities of the plastic scintillator within the system. The plan for this year is to work towards designing bespoke readout circuit for 192 SiPM channels coming from the imagers three layers.

Gain Measuremnets and Simulation of the Gas Electron Multiplier Detector

Project Code: IG/SCI/PHYS/22/04
Investigators: Dr. Amr Radi and Dr. Hajir Al Hamrashdi
Duration: 2 year
Budget: 2000 OMR
Year: 2022-2024
In this project, we will do the gain measurement/simulation for gas electron multiplier detector that will be useful for physics research and experiments. Muons have a high speed, which allows them to live longer and travel a greater distance to reach the earth's surface. The muon GEM experiment will directly measure the average muon density or flux on Earth's surface and gain measurement for the gas electron multiplier detector.

Molecular Simulation of Supercapacitors

Project Code: IG/SCI/PHY/22/05
Investigators: Dr. Srinivasa Rao Varanasi, Prof. Isam Sadiq Hassan Ali and

Dr. Mohammed Tewfik Souer
Duration: 2 year
Budget: 7100 OMR
Year: 2022-2024
The proposed research aims at understanding the charging behavior in electrochemical supercapacitor at atomistic length and time scales through molecular dynamics and Monte Carlo simulations. The outcomes of this research are going to enhance our understanding on the intimate relationship between capacitance and pore structure of the electrode, bringing direct application benefits for the design of carbon electrodes for electrochemical supercapacitor applications. The correlation between electrolyte dynamics and pore structure, capacitance and pore structure will benefit the optimization of energy density and power density parameters in these systems. These systems must possess maximum possible energy density without much sacrifice in their power density, such a delicate balance is achievable only through proper design of pore structure with a suitable choice of electrolyte. In this project, we are going to study the structure and dynamics of various solvent based and ionic liquid electrolytes in different carbon nanostructures such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, disordered carbons, template carbons etc., to understand the electrochemical behavior of the electrolytes in relation to electrode pore structure.

JOURNALS

1. A. Al Qanobi, D. Marenduzzo and I. Ali, Simulations of DNA Denaturation Dynamics Under Constrained Conditions, J. Phys.: Cond. Matt., 34, 295101 (2022).
2. R. Horchani, N. Sulaiman, and S. A. Shafii, Eigenvalues and thermal properties of the A¹Σ u⁺ state of sodium dimers, Molecular Physics, 120 (8), e2046194, (2022).
3. A. Ibrahim, N. Sulaiman*, I. Ali, Simultaneous, “Multi-Dimensional Impact of Active Learning Revealed in a first Implementation in the MENA Region, The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, accepted for publication, 119(47), e21086666119 (2022).
4. V. Borish, A. Werth, N. Sulaiman, M. F. J. Fox, J. R. Hoehn and H. J. Lewandowski1, Undergraduate student experience in remote lab courses during the COVID-19 pandemic, in press for publication to Physical Review Physical Education Research, 18, 020105 (2022).
5. E Udoh, P Amadi, U Okorie, A Antia, L Obagboye, R Horchani, N. Sulaiman and Akpan Ikot, Thermal Properties and Quantum Information Theory with the Shifted Morse Potential, Pramana Journal of Physics, 96, 222 (2022).
6. N Ibrahim, U Okorie, N. Sulaiman, G Rampho and M Ramantswana, Solutions of the Schrodinger equation of the shifted screened Kratzer potential and its thermodynamic functions using the extended Nikiforov–Uvarov method, Frontiers in Physics, 772 (Atomic and Molecular Physics), (2022).

21. B. Al Farsi, R.G.S. Sofin, H. Al Shidhani, E.I. El-Shafey, A.S. Al Hosni, F. Al Marzouqi, A. Issac, A. Al Nabhani, O.K. Abou-Zied, The Effect of Microwave Power Level and Post-Synthesis Annealing Treatment on Oxygen-Based Functional Groups Present on Carbon Quantum Dots, Journal of Luminescence, 2022, 252, 119326 (1−14)
22. R.G.S. Sofin, Abey Issac, M.R.S. Al-Naabi, M.T. Zar Myint, H. Htet Kyaw, Osama K. Abou-Zied, Emission characteristics of carbon films in comparison with solvatochromic effects of carbon nanoparticles ,Spectrochim. Acta A 266, 120442, (2022).
23. Venkatesha Narayanaswamy, Imaddin A. Al-Omari, Aleksandr. S. Kamzin, Chandu V. V. Muralee Gopi, Abbas Khaleel, Sulaiman Alaabed, Bashar Issa, and Ihab M. Obaidat; Exchange Bias, and Coercivity Investigations in Hematite Nanoparticles. AIMS Materials Science, Volume 9, Issue 1, 71–84 (2022).
24. Imaddin A. Al-Omari, Venkatesha Narayanaswamy, Sajib Halder, Hussien H. Hamdeh, Sulaiman Alaabed, Aleksandr. S. Kamzin, Chandu V. V. Muralee Gopi, Abbas Khaleel, Bashar Issa, Ihab M.

Obaidat; Mossbauer Investigations in Hematite Nanoparticles. Biointerface Research in Applied Chemistry 12, Issue 4, 4626 – 4636 (2022).

25. Venkatesha Narayanaswamy, Imaddin A. Al-Omari, Aleksandr. S. Kamzin, Bashar Issa and Ihab M. Obaidat; Tailoring interfacial exchange anisotropy in hard-soft core-shell ferrite nanoparticles for magnetic hyperthermia applications. Nanomaterials 12 (2), 262 (21pp) (2022).
26. Shampa Aich, Deepak Satapathy, P Babu, I. A. Al-Omari; Magneto-mechanical properties and

27. Imaddin A. Al-Omari, Muna D. Al-Mamari and D.J. Sellmyer, Tuning the giant Magnetocaloric Effect and refrigerant capacity in Gd1–xYxCrO3 (0.0  x  0.9) perovskites nanoparticles. AIMS Materials Science, 9(2): 297–310 (2022).
28. Sharon V.S, Veena E. Gopalan, Imaddin A. Al-Omari, K. A. Malini; Superparamagnetic Nickel Ferrite Nanoparticles Doped with Zinc by Modified Sol–gel Method. Journal of Superconductivity and Novel Magnetism, 35 (3), pp. 795–804 (2022).
29. Deepak Kumar Satapathy, I. A. Al-Omari and Shampa Aich; Magnetocaloric properties of Ni50Mn28Ga22 melt-spun ribbons. Philosophical Magazine Letters, 102 (1), pp. 1–14 (2022).
30. Sijo S Thomas, Bibin Jacob, Manoj Mohan, K C Dhanyaprabha, Imaddin A. Al-Omari, Salim H. Al-Harthi, Myo T.Z. Myint, Hysen Thomas; Study on the microstructural and magnetic properties of nickel - calcium ferrites. Physica Scripta 97 045816 pp. 1–12 (2022).
31. Venkatesha Narayanaswamy, Imaddin A. Al-Omari, Aleksandr S. Kamzin, Hafsa Khurshid, Abbas Khaleel, Bashar Issa, Ihab M Obaidat; Coercivity and exchange bias in Ti-doped maghemite nanoparticles. Magnetochemistry, 8 (12) 165 (2022).
32. Manoj Mohan, Imaddin A Al-Omari, Salim H Al-Harthi, Myo TZ Myint, Bibin Jacob, KC Dhanyaprabha, Hysen Thomas; Aliovalent Calcium Substitution: An Effective Way to Enhance the Magnetoelectric Coupling Properties of Multiferroic BiFeO3. Physica Status Solidi (a), 219, 2200445 pp.1–12 (2022).

34. Srinivasa R Sirasanagandla, R.G.S Sofin, Isehaq Al-Huseini, Srijit Das, Role of Bisphenol A in Autophagy Modulation: Understanding the Molecular Concepts and Therapeutic Options,(2022), Mini Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry,22 (17), 2213-2223, (2022).
35. Srinivasa Rao Sirasanagandla, Isehaq Al-Huseini, R.G.S. Sofin, Srijit Das,(2022), Perinatal exposure to Bisphenol A and developmental programming of the cardiovascular changes in the offspring, Current Medicinal Chemistry,29, 4235.
36. S. Al Risi and R. Sbiaa, Magnetization reversal and domains structures in (Co/Ni/Co/ Pt) multilayers. Current Appl. Phys. 33, 12 (2022).
37. S. Al Naabi, and R. Sbiaa, Skyrmion dynamics and stability in magnetic nanowire. Appl. Phys. A 128, 1059 (2022).

38. W. Al Saidi, and R. Sbiaa, Stabilizing magnetic skyrmions on constricted nanowires. Sci. Rep. 12, 10241 (2022).
39. D. Kumar, T. Jin, R. Sbiaa, M. Klaui, S. Bedanta, S. Fukami, D. Ravilosona, S-H. Yang, X. Liu and S.N. Piramanayagam, Domain wall memory: Physics, materials and devices. Phys. Reports 958, 1-35 (2022).
40. H I Alrebdi, A N Ikot, U S Okorie, L F Obagboye, R Horchani and A-H Abdel-Aty, “Exact solutions of the Schrödinger equation using extended Nikiforov-Uvarov formalism for generalized pseudo-harmonic oscillator”, (2022) Phys. Scr. 98 015712, DOI 10.1088/1402-4896/acab8b
41. Horchani, R., Al-Shafii, S., Al-Hashimi, N., Ikot, A., Okon, I., Okorie, U., Duque, C., & Oladimeji, E. (2022). “Bound state solutions and thermal properties of the N-dimensional Schrödinger equation with Varshni plus Woods-Saxon potential via Nikiforov-Uvarov method”. Journal of Theoretical and Applied Physics, 16(4), 1-13. (2022), doi: 10.30495/jtap.162243
42. C. O. Edet, A. N. Ikot, U. S. Okorie, M. Ramantswana, G. J. Rampho, R. Horchani, H. Y. Abdullah, H. Y. Zahran, L. F. Obagboye, A.-H. Abdel-Aty & S. Kaya, “Eigenfunctions, uncertainties and thermal properties of diatomic molecules under screened modified Kratzer potential”. Indian J Phys 96, 3429– 3448 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12648-022-02292-5
43. P.O. Amadi, A.N. Ikot, U.S. Okorie, L.F. Obagboye, G.J. Rampho, R. Horchani, M.C. Onyeaju, H.I. Alrebdi, A.-H. Abdel-Aty, “Shannon entropy and complexity measures for Bohr Hamiltonian with triaxial nuclei”, Results in Physics, Volume 39, (2022), 105744, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rinp.2022.105744
44. I. B. Okon, C.A.Onate, E.Omugbe, U.S.Okorie, C. O. Edet, A.D.Antia, J.P.Araujo, C. N. Isonguyo, M. C. Onyeaju, E. S. William, R. Horchani and A.N.Iko, “Aharonov–Bohm (AB) flux and thermomagnetic properties of Hellmann plusscreened Kratzer potential as applied to diatomic molecules using Nikiforov– Uvarov-Functional-Analysis (NUFA) method”, Molecular Physics, VOL. 120, NO. 9, e2046295 2022.

BOOK AND BOOK CHAPTERS

CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS

1. Afsal Manekkathodi is an Invited Speaker: “The International Teaching Labs Workshop 2022”, Imperial College, London, UK.
2. Nazife Ozdes Koca, 10th International Conference on Aperiodic Crystals (Aperiodic 2022), 20-24 June 2022, Saphoro, Hokkaido, Japan.
3. Amr Radi, Seminar on "Using experimental data to extract model equations”, Room: 40/S2-A01 - Salle Anderson CERN, Geneva, Swiss.
1. Hajir Al Hamrashdi, Second International Conference on Applications of Radiation Science and Technology (ICARST-2022), 22 to 26 August 2022, Vienna, Austria
4. Saleem Al-Maskari, Abey Issac, Eklas Al Ghattami, Majda Al-hammadi, SR Varanasi, R.G. Sumesh Sofin, Osama K. Abou-Zied, “Dye-induced Fluorescence Quenching of Quantum Dots having Different Excited State Lifetimes and Confinement Potentials”, DPG onference, Regensburg, Germany, 04- 09.09.2022.

SERVING ON EDITORIAL BOARDS OF JOURNALS AND CHAIRING CONFERENCE SESSIONS

1. Hisham M. Widatallah is an Associate Editor (of experimental condensed matter physics) for the African Review of Physics for experimental condensed matter physics, and a member of the Editorial Board of the Open Journal of Microphysics (OJM) (published by Scientific Research Publishing Company, USA.
2. Abbasher Mahmoud Gismelseed is Serving on Editorial Boards of Journals and Chairing Conference Sessions Served as a reviewer for the following journals: Journal of Meteoritics & Planetary Science (2010 –Present), Journal of American Mineralogist (2010 –present), Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials (MMM) (2005 – Present) and Qatar University Science Journal (QUSJ), 2005.
3. Abbasher Mahmoud Gismelseed is a Member of the Meteoritical Society and a Member of The American Physical Society APS.
4. Nazife Koca, Editorial Board Member of the SQU Journal for Science.
5. Amr Radi is serving on Editorial Boards of Journals and Chairing Conference Sessions on MDPI Particles Diseases, MDPI Symmetry Diseases and MDPI Diseases Diseases.
6. Rachid Sbiaa is an Associate Editor of Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group, Editor of SQUJS and IEEE Transactions on Magnetics.

DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

JOURNALS

1. Islam M.M. and Marium U. (2022). Maternal morbidity during pregnancy in Bangladesh: Evidence from the 2019 Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Survey. Global Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health, 7: 8- 16.
2. Islam M.M., Wesonga R. Al-Hasani I., Al-Mane A., (2022). Knowledge, attitude and mental health status of university students during COVID-19 pandemic in Oman, proceedings of International Conference on the Leadership and Management of Projects in the digital age (ICLAMP) 2022, 27-29 November, 2022, Bahrain.
3. Islam M.M., Wesonga R. Al-Hasani I., Al-Mane A., (2022). Prevalence and determinants of mental health issues among university students during COVID-19 pandemic in Oman: An online cross-sectional study. International Research Journal of Public and Environmental Health, Vol.9 (2),pp. 43-54.
4. Singha B., Karmaker S.C., Islam M.M., Eljamal K., Saha B.B. (2022). Vaccination, compliance with preventive measure and mental health during COVID-19 among adults in Bangladesh: Do vaccination and Compliance with preventive measures improve mental health? International Journal of Statistics in Medical Research, 11: 175-185.
5. Shahjahan M., Islam M.M., Hossain M.K., Amin, M.R., Kamal M. (2022). Knowledge and attitude towards COVID-19 among adult people in Bangladesh: Evidence from an online survey. International Journal of Public Health Science.
6. Al-Shekaili M. , Al-Marzoqi M.A., Al-Huseini S., Islam M.M., Al-Sulaimani F., Hassan W., Al-Kalbani Y., Mohamed Al-Breiki M., Al-Madhani A., Roy N.M., Al-Zakwani I., Ganesh A., Samir Al-Adawi S. (2022). National study of child sexual abuse cases in Oman: characteristics and medico-legal outcomes, Heliyon (Preprint published on 23 September 2022).
7. Rashid M., Islam M.M., Li A. and Shifa N. (2022). Frequent mental distress among adults in the United States and its association with socio-demographic characteristics, lifestyle, and chronic health condition. Journal of Public Health and Development, 20(1):146-162. https:// DOI.org/ 10.55131/jphd/2022/200112.
8. Islam M.M. and Shahjahan M. (2022). Exploring the reasons and factors influencing the choice of home delivery of births in rural Bangladesh: A community-based cross-sectional study. Journal of Health Research, 36(3): 503-514.
9. Assessing the Effect of Bayesian Inference: Step - Stress Partially Accelerated Life Test on Maxwell - Boltzmann Distribution Under Progressive Type - II Censoring With Binomial Removals and Application (with Anurag Pathak, Manoj Kumar, Sanjay K Singh, Umesh Singh and Sandeep Kumar), International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Vol. 13 (Issue 4), (2022), pp 1976 – 2010.
10. Plant Ecology in Indian Siwalik Range: A systematic map and its bibliometric analysis (with Abhishekh Kumar, Meenu Patil, A.N. Singh), Journal of Tropical Ecology, 63, 338 - 350 (2022)
11. Abdelbasit, K., & Wesonga, R. (2022). A data analytic model to determine regional variation of asthma incidence and other chronic obstructive lung diseases in Oman. Healthcare Analytics, 2, 100074.
12. Al-Shaaibi M and Wesonga R (2022) Bias reduction in the logistic model parameters with the LogF(1,1) penalty under MAR assumption. Front. Appl. Math. Stat. 8:1052752. doi: 10.3389/fams.2022.1052752
13. Wesonga, R., Bakheit, C., & Ababneh, F. (2022). Cluster modelling of longitudinal disease data: asthma and potential clinical phenotypes. International Journal of Modelling and Simulation, 42(2), 227-239.
14. Khamis, F., Al Awaidy, S., Shaaibi, M. A., Shukeili, M. A., Chhetri, S., Balushi, A. A., & Wesonga, R. (2022). Epidemiological characteristics of hospitalized patients with moderate versus severe COVID-19 infection: a retrospective cohort single centre study. Diseases, 10 (1), 1.
15. M. T. Alodat, Moh’d Al Fayez, and Omer Eidous (2022). Communications in Statistics Theory and Methods, 51(20): 6963-6977.
17. Al Manei A., Al-Hasani I., Wesonga R. (2022). Investigating Term Weighting Schemes On The Classification Performance For The Imbalanced Text Data: Advances and Applications in Statistics 78, 63 – 82.

BOOKS AND BOOKCHAPTERS

1. Abdellah TAHIRI and Brahim Benaid, Statistical study of the Markov-switching GARCH models and artificial neural network: Financial time series volatility forecasting, Phd Thesis report, December 2022, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir Morocco.
2. Touijrat Boubaker and Brahim Benaid, Statistical Study of Mean and Volatility Shock Transmission between Different Types of Financial Markets, Phd Thesis report, December 2022, Ibn Zohr University, Agadir Morocco.
3. Tumwine, F.R., Bakkabulindi, F.E.K. and Ntozi, J (Eds.). (2022) Academic Research and Leadership in Institutions of Higher Learning: Experiences from Makerere University. Fountain Publishers. ISBN: 978- 9970-19-666-1.
4. Wesonga, R. (2022) Patterns in research output for graduate students registered under different degree programmes at the School of Statistics and Planning: A text data mining approach. In Tumwine, F.R., Bakkabulindi, F.E.K. and Ntozi, J (Eds.). (2022) Academic Research and Leadership in Institutions of Higher Learning: Experiences from Makerere University (pp. 8-26). Fountain Publishers. ISBN: 978- 9970-19-666-1
5. Wesonga, R., Nabugoomu, F., & Owino, A., (2022) Analysis of indicators from the Times Higher Education university rankings 2019: Lesons for the School of Statistics and Planning, Makerere University. In Tumwine, F.R., Bakkabulindi, F.E.K. and Ntozi, J (Eds.). (2022) Academic Research and Leadership in Institutions of Higher Learning: Experiences from Makerere University (pp. 8-26). Fountain Publishers. ISBN: 978-9970-19-666-1

CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS

1. Islam M.M. participated (virtually) and presented paper at the Gulf Research meeting 2022, Gulf Research Centre, Cambridge University, London, UK, and July 13-16, 2022.
2. Al-Hasani, Iman participated and presented paper in the International Conference on the Leadership and Management of Projects in the digital age (ICLAMP) 2022, 27-29 November 2022, Bahrain.
3. Manoj Kumar, delivered invited talk titled, “A New Modified Generalized Two Parameter Estimator for Linear Regression Models” in Eighth International Conference on Statistics for Twenty First Century – 2022, (ICSTC 2022), 16 – 19 December 2022, organized by International Statistics Fraternity, Department of Statistics, School of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, University of Kerala, Trivendrum, India.
4. Al-Hasani,I., presented a talk (December 2022). Enhancing the Open Data Policy in Oman. OMAN'S 2ND BIG DATA & ANALYTICS MEET, Muscat, Oman. Zenodo. at COMEX: Oman's 2nd Big Data & Analytics Meet.
5. Present the paper: Islam M.M., Wesonga R. Al-Hasani I., Al-Manei A., (December 2022). Knowledge, attitude and mental health status of university students during COVID-19 pandemic in Oman at the International Conference on the Leadership and Management of Projects in the Digital Age (ICLAMP) 2022, 27-29 November, 2022, Bahrain.
6. Al-Hasani,I. presented a talk (March 2022). Estimating Effectiveness of Online Geographically-based Advertising Campaigns at the College of Science Annual Research Meeting.

ORGANIZING CONFERENCES AND WORKSHOPS

1. Enhancement of Data Science Analytics with High Performance Computing at Sultan Qaboos University (Part I). Held on 1 October, 2022, presented by Dr. Amjad Al Tobi (Deputy Director, Operations and Infrastructure, CIS) and Dr. Ronald Wesonga (Department of Statistics, SQU.). It was co-organized by Dr. Iman Al-Hasani, Vice Chair, Data Science Analytics Lab (DSAL).
2. Enhancement of Data Science Analytics with High Performance Computing at Sultan Qaboos University (Part II). Held on 1 October, 2022, presented by Dr. Amjad Al Tobi (Deputy Director, Operations and Infrastructure, CIS) and Dr. Ronald Wesonga (Department of Statistics, SQU.). It was co-organized by Dr. Iman Al-Hasani, Vice Chair, Data Science Analytics Lab (DSAL).
3. Ms. Afra Al Manei, organizer of Online Meetup events for Oman R Users group [https://www.meetup.com/oman-r-user/]. The speakers are:
   1. Getting Familiar with the Use of Git and GitHub in RStudio, (September 2022). [Presenter: Ms. Mouna Belaid- Engineer in Statistics and Data Analysis]

2. Scraping Arabic Websites, (September 2022). [Presenter: Mr. Samer Hijazi- Data Scientist]
3. Testing Shiny Apps with {shinytest2}, (August 2022). Presenter: Dr. Mohamed El Fodil Ihaddaden- R/Shiny developer.
4. Building Websites in R with Distill}, (August 2022). [Presenter: Jennifer Sloane- PhD Student at UNSW].
5. Open Science approach to increase the discoverability of the local research outputs}, (August 2022). Presenter: Dr. Batool Almarzooq - Computational Biologist at King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC).
6. Demystifying RStudio, (February 2022). [Presenter: Dr. Ronald Wesonga – Statistics Associate Professor].

2. Dr. Maryam Al Alawi Organized the first Stat Day on 20 October 2022, and Conducted a seminar in the DoS in 10 March 2022, about functional data clustering techniques and a new model-based approach.
3. Dr. Brahim Benaid gave a seminar on ‘Markov-Switching GJR-GARCH models Applied in Financial Time Series’, presented in 27 October 2022, Department of Statistics, College of Science, Sultan Qaboos University.

SERVING ON EDITORIAL BOARDS OF JOURNALS AND CHAIRING CONFERENCE SESSIONS

1. Alodat, M served on Editorial Boards of Jordan journal of Mathematics and Statistics and Pakistan Journal of Statistics.
2. Islam, M. M. reviewed papers for the following journals: Journal of Biosocial Science, BMC Public Health, BMC Global Health, Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal, Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine, PLOS ONE, Annals of Human Biology, Health Science Report, International Journal of Statistics in Medical Research, Population Review, Journal of Public Health and Development, International Research Journal of Public and Environmental Health, Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology, Maternal and Child Health Journal and Journal of International development.
3. Islam M.M. served as member of the Editorial Board for the following Journals: South Asian Journal of Population and Health, American Journal of Innovative Research and Applied Science, International Journal of Community and Family Medicine, International Journal of Statistics in Medical Research, EC Pediatrics Journal and Global Journal of Epidemiology and Public Health.
4. Al Hasani, I. Incubator: Expanding the R community in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). https://www.conftool.org/user2021/index.php?page=browseSessions&ismobile=true&form_session=39
5. Wesonga, R. served on the editorial Board for the Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal and Frontiers in Public Health Journal, Section of Infectious Diseases: Epidemiology and Prevention.
6. Maryam Al Alawi served the Journal of Classification in reviweing a manuscript a local clustering algorithm functions.

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH GRANTS

INTERNAL GRANTS (IG) AWARDED IN 2022

Budget – Dept. Principle Invistigator Project Title O.R.

2500 Prof. Raeid Abed

Enhance+A6:D6d Biodiesel Production Using a Newly
Isolated Oleaginous Alga Asteracys sp. DS5

Green nanomaterials for environmental remediation:

Prof. Rengaraj Selvaraj

degradation of covid 19 related pharmaceuticals under

3300 solar light irradiation
Isolati+C8:D8on of anticancer compounds from Omani 3400 Dr. Saleh N. AL-Busafi

medicinal plants

Phytochemical and Pharmacological Investigation on 5300 Dr. Imran Hasan Syed

the Plumeria obtusa Leaves
Desalination of brackish groundwater from Al-Batinah
Dr. El Said I. El Shafey

region on functionalized graphene and activated carbon

5500 derivatives for irrigation purposes
Mechanistic studies on oxygen reduction reaction at the
Dr. Emad Khudaish

surface of carbonaceous materials applied for fuel cells 3300 An A+A8:D8rtificial Intelligence Framework for
Dr. Fatima Al-Raisi

Automatic Analysis, Categorization, and Retrieval of

2300 Student Research Projects at SQU
Dr. Abdullah Al-Hamdani Deep Learning Radiomics Approach for Therapeutic

2380 Response Assessment in Colorectal Liver Metastases
High Performance Computing for Machine Learning
Prof. Abderezak Touzene

Intrusion Detection Based on Nonnegative Matrix

1600 Factorization

Matrix +C15:D15Factorization and Deep Learning for 2450 Dr. Rachid Hedjam

Cancer Detection from Histology Images

Fractures and Diagnosis Effect on the Reservoir
Quality: An Example from Albian-Cenomanian

3100 Dr. Mohamed M. Moustafa

Carbonate Unit of the Natih Formation, Jabal Akhdar
Area, Oman

Diffusion Controlled Fluorescence Quenching of
Dr. Abey Issac

1450 CsPbBr3 Perovskites
Using satellite imagery to locate raw materials for
Dr. Zacharias Ioannou

Lunar and Martian regolith analogues in the Hajar

3950 mountains of the Arabian peninsula.

A hybrid portable imager for gamma and neutron
Dr. Hajir Al Hamrashdi

7320 emitting radionuclide.

Gain measurement and simulation of the gas electron 2000 Dr. Amr Radi

multiplier detector

Dr. Srinivasa R. Varanasi Molecular simulation of supecapacitors

7100

COLLEGE COMMITTEES 2022