The Technical Committee of the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science is set to meet on May 17th and 18th in Abu Dhabi to assess the 78 pre-proposals received in the first phase.

Comprising experts drawn from countries around the world, the Technical Committee will announce the shortlisted candidates on June 1st, 2015.

A centrepiece of the country's Year of Innovation, 2015, the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science was initiated by H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology, NCMS. The NCMS is the organisation that manages the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science.

Dr. Abdullah Al Mandoos, Director of NCMS, said, "With the support of the UAE's leadership, we can lead rain enhancement as a potentially key contributor towards ensuring water security. Globally, we have sought to drive this programme as a cluster point for innovative trans-national cooperation and best practice. Closer to home, we are especially delighted to receive 19 pre-proposals from teams of scientists and researchers based in the UAE."

Dr. Kathie L. Olsen, Founder and Managing Director of ScienceWorks, who is acting as Panel Chair during the Technical Committee's deliberations, said, "The programme offers an outstanding opportunity for talented innovators to re-energise research in a field that has been underfunded by the international scientific community. With a total of 78 pre-proposals, representing 325 scientists and researchers affiliated to 151 organisations drawn from 34 countries around the world, we will face a difficult but rewarding task in narrowing down such a rich field of innovative and ambitious research projects to an agreed shortlist."

The high level of global interest in this programme is a testament to its scientific quality and integrity", added Dr. Olsen.

The application schedule of the programme involves several phases. Following the Technical Committee's announcement of its shortlist at the beginning of June, the successful candidates will be invited to develop full research proposals. The last date for shortlisted candidates to submit their completed final research project is midnight GMT on September 17th (04:00 hrs, September 18th, UAE local time).

Alya Al Mazroui, Programme Manager of the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science, said, "The Technical Committee will ensure that the pre-proposals selected for further development will advance the UAE's ambitious efforts to address the water scarcity challenge in arid and semi-arid regions around the world in a spirit of social and environmental awareness."

This year sees the inaugural cycle of the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science, when up to five projects will be selected as winners for the total grant of US$5 million that will be awarded over a three-year period. The prize winning project proposals will be announced and honoured at a ceremony in January, 2016.