Message from the Vice President of Research and Development
Morocco is placing more emphasis on scientific research and technological innovation, as evidenced by the various programs and initiatives in recent years, the share of GDP devoted to research (almost 0.8%), and the clear direction of the National Strategy on Research and Innovation (SNRI) towards the knowledge economy and as a vector for the assimilation and dissemination of new technologies and scientific progress to support Morocco’s socio-economic and industrial policy.
Since its establishment in 2010, the International University of Rabat has been fundamentally geared towards research, considering research and development and innovation as a priority for its development, outreach and differentiation. Its motto “innovative university” and its vision of a world-class African university deeply reflect the strong commitment of UIR, which aims in particular to contribute to the socio-economic, technological and industrial development of Morocco and the African continent. UIR's research programs are conducted in accordance with the Moroccan Government's policy and aim to support the structuring projects and the various current and future sectoral plans for the development of the Moroccan economy (i.e. the industrial acceleration plan, Green Morocco plan, Energy plan, Digital Morocco plan, National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), etc.).
In this respect, UIR has created a conducive ecosystem for applied research, patenting and technology transfer by striving to create a continuum between education, research and innovation through the creation of multidisciplinary and inter-institutional research labs/centers and research chairs, and the mobilization of a network of high-level academic and industrial partners: international associated labs (LIA) with CNRS France and CNRST Maroc, university-industry labs such as the PSA@Maroc Openlab with the PSA automotive group, in addition to collaborative research projects with the support of national (Ministries, CNRST, IRESEN) and foreign (Europe, United States, etc.) organizations. UIR has also created a Technology Transfer Office (TTO), a business incubator/accelerator and a Technology Development Center (Tech Center) to professionalize and promote technology transfer and Start-ups.
As a young university, UIR now has more than 500 indexed publications and more than 300 patent filings, including some 60 internationally. It also carried out the first license transfers and obtained prestigious awards such as the National Innovation Award, the University-Business Competitiveness Award and the National Technology Innovation Brand Award. UIR researchers have also won prestigious awards in their fields of research, such as the IBM Award, the IEEE Award, the BeluxInnov Award, and the Google Award.
UIR is now recognized as the African leader in terms of patent filing and aims to position itself in international rankings over the medium term. The promulgation of motivating faculty regulations, the implementation of incentives and “Research Track”, as well as the opening of a PhD school, are major drivers to achieve these objectives and to realize the vision of being an African World Class University.
M. Abdelaziz BENJOUAD
Vice President of Research and Development
E-mail :
vprd@uir.ac.ma
Tél :
212 (0) 5 30 10 31 35