Overview 

The University of Sharjah has funded a large number of research projects during the last few years, covering a wide spectrum of research areas. This support has given strength to scientific research at the university and allowed it to prosper. It has nevertheless been noticed that a number of projects that were carried out individually could have come under the same umbrella so that researchers would join forces and produce results that emphasize the quality of their research and give a prominent place to the university in those specific areas of specialization. Besides, individual research, however useful it may be, may not compete with collaborative research when it comes to providing practical solutions to actual development problems related to the needs of the society. It is also an international trend to bring under the same umbrella various researchers with the same as well as different research backgrounds.

The University of Sharjah has thus decided to give incentives to researchers to work within research groups. Such groups have been formed and funds allocated to them. Of particular interest among all potential research groups are those which aim at serving the society, solving its problems, and providing suitable answers to its needs.

The main goal behind the formation of research groups is to give an identity to scientific research at the university in specific areas of interest, especially those that target the service of the society. The aim is also to encourage faculty members to work together in cooperation with public and private institutions from the local and international communities