KAUST News sat down with Dr. Teofilo (Jun) A. Abrajano Jr., director of KAUST's new Office of Sponsored Research (OSR), to find out how OSR's work impacts KAUST's mission and vision.

How and why was OSR established at KAUST?

OSR was created in March 2015 from a merger of three pre-existing offices, KAUST's Office of Competitive Research Funds, the Office of Research Services and the Office of Research Evaluation. Professor Jean Fréchet, KAUST's vice president for research, felt that through the merger, the connectivity between these separate offices would be enhanced. By combining our common resources – strategic, intellectual and administrative services – the new office presides over KAUST's curiosity- and goal-driven research from ideas to impact.

Describe OSR's role and function in the University.

OSR's work is very distinct – the reason for that distinctiveness connects to the distinctiveness of KAUST itself. We support KAUST's research from ideas to impact (which we refer to as "I 2 I"), starting from the development of project ideas within KAUST and with KAUST's global collaborators, to differentiating which ideas are most fundable, to evaluating and enhancing the impact of research outcomes. The OSR supports KAUST's research mandate to ensure the knowledge ecosystem at KAUST is world-class and sustainable and that research is integrated with our education and economic development missions.

How is the OSR different from its counterparts at other universities?

One of the truly distinct features of KAUST compared to other global universities is our control of our research destiny. KAUST is simultaneously the major provider of its research resources and the executor of its own research strategy. This unique situation gives OSR particular responsibilities: our research administrators must be closely involved with the creative process and in exploring and capitalizing on the opportunities provided by KAUST's self-sustained research funding model. It would be unusual indeed to find similar offices at other universities that strategically impact research funding portfolios the way OSR does.

An example of the unique role played by OSR as a catalyst for potentially transformative research is the recent international Sensor Innovation Workshop, which took place at KAUST on May 23-25. The workshop paired 20 KAUST professors with top international scientists across disciplines as diverse as marine science and analytical chemistry to solid state physics and computer and electrical engineering, with discussions focused on advancing sensor research. Several highly collaborative research proposals resulted from this, and are currently being considered for funding by OSR. These have the potential for transformative advances and disruptive innovation.

Describe how OSR builds relationships with KAUST's research partners.

As an office, OSR's primary functions must reflect the University's missions in every way. One of these is to catalyze strategic research collaborations, which is a core activity of successful research universities. KAUST's knowledge and innovation ecosystem is global, and we leverage our top-notch talents here at KAUST by attracting external best-in-class collaborators in areas where we need additional expertise. Hence it is important that we create an environment so that KAUST becomes a preferred destination for top global collaborators, and our researchers should, over time, also become indispensable partners for our collaborators.

It is therefore not enough to just produce impactful research today: we must also work to sustain an environment and culture of continued productivity and global connectivity for future generations who will work and study at KAUST. We want the world to know about what we do here and the immense talent we have – this makes us an indispensable and strategic partner for our research collaborators.

How does OSR work to secure the Kingdom's future?

The primary context of our quest for excellence in curiosity-driven and goal-oriented research at KAUST is our unwavering desire to positively impact the economy and well-being of the Kingdom and the world. I believe the achievement of King Abdullah's vision for KAUST is a singularly historic undertaking in which we should all take great pride. Although KAUST is not the only new institution in the world attempting to join other elite universities that are now making global impact, I feel that KAUST is in the best position to get there. My confidence in this is underpinned not only by our robust endowment, but also by our resolve to marshal our resources towards assembling the very best talents from around the world to inspire a culture of research excellence, risk-taking and innovation, and also by providing the right environment for our researchers to prosper.

OSR's mantra of "ideas to impact" recognizes the necessary connections between our research ideas and their impact on people's lives in the Kingdom and the world. In the end, KAUST's research portfolio must faithfully reflect our institutional priorities and values—what we believe in, what challenges we want to address and the strategic directions we follow to reach a bright future.

- By Caitlin Clark, KAUST News