RIYADH: The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has endorsed 64 new research projects from King Saud University. The projects of the National Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation were sent by King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) to AAAS for arbitration. Dr. Ali Bin Saeed Al-Ghamdi, the university's Undersecretary for Higher Studies and Scientific Research, said that 172 projects in different technologies, worth SR250 million, were approved in total. Al-Ghamdi said the national plan was one of the most important channels for the support of scientific research. A total of 523 researchers (154 main researchers and 369 participating researchers) participated in the projects. There were 139 advisors on the projects, including 27 inside the Kingdom and 112 abroad. There were 370 student participants – 70 with doctorate degrees, 184 master's degrees, and 116 bachelor degree students. There were 140 assistant researchers, 17 project managers, 220 technicians, 131 administrative staff and 60 other personnel, he said. Al-Ghamdi praised the researchers for the quality of the projects presented. This was the highest rate of endorsement from such an institution, he said. He noted that the National Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation, is funding four healthcare programs - on autism, sleep, obesity and liver function - with a budget of SR20 million in its current and first year. It is also financing the projects of the Strategic Center for the Research and Monitoring of Diabetes and the Science Oasis with a budget of SR14 million each in the first year.
