The UQU College of Applied Sciences won the first place in the award of the top registered colleges in the search engines in its second session, according to accurate statistics of data analysis and extraction. The College of Public Health and Health Informatics won second place, and the College of Nursing won third place. This came during the ceremony which was organized by the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Abdulaziz supportive hall to announce the results of the search engine award and honor the researchers who had published the highest number of papers within the publishing channels enlisted in the (ISI) database for the year 2018 A.C. The results of the internal grants for researchers were also announced during the event.

His Excellency the President of Umm Al-Qura University, Prof. Abdullah bin Omar Bafail, said, "The university is very keen on improving the scientific research competences at the level of the colleges and the male and female researchers in all scientific ranks, and on enhancing the scientific and technical capacities supporting scientific publication. This is to contribute to raising the classification of the university within international rankings. Moreover, it is keen on providing the proper environment for innovation, creativity, and development to make the university the favorite destination for researchers."

Dr. Bafail praised the excellence of the human cadres at the Deanship of Scientific Research as well as the accuracy of the e-systems in forming the work procedures and extraction of the statistical data, according to the regulations issued and developed regularly by the Deanship of Scientific Research.

On his part, the Vice President for Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research, Dr. Thamir bin Hamdan Al-Harbi, referred to the contributions of the deanship in highlighting the research efforts of the university affiliates through the search engines and researchers' internal grants, which amounted to 50 grants in the second session. He appreciated the efforts of the vice deanships and research centers in organizing training courses in scientific research to hone researchers skills and provide projects which contribute to serving the community, in line with the Saudi Vision 2030.

The deanship launched a number of e-systems related to the management and application of research grant policies and the provision of statistics and performance indicators, which enable the reviewing of the activities and extracting of data necessary for decision making. This is besides creating a database including detailed data on the researchers' academic ranks, interests and documented research production by documenting the published research projects of the university's researchers. This is in order to set up a well-governed e-work environment and a transparent mechanism, which the deanship has embarked on developing in coordination with the Deanship of Information Technology.

The deanship also launched an initiative to develop the capacities and skills in scientific research within e-platforms specialized in the management and follow up of the programs and training courses organized by the deanship. This is in addition to the management of volunteering research and voluntary research information, and enabling the affiliates and students to participate in the voluntary services of scientific research.

At the end of the event, His Excellency the UQU President honored the three best colleges registered in the search engines, and also honored the researchers who had published the highest number of research papers in the publishing channels enlisted in the (ISI) database for the year 2018 A.C.