Highlighting the Work of Arab Researchers

Universities, at least the best ones, create new knowledge and don’t just recycle existing knowledge. They craft solutions to regional and global problems, like cancer, climate change, and drought. Arab universities should share this goal of meaningful research.

That perspective drove me to have Al-Fanar Media, the publication that I led, to cover the work of researchers working at Arab universities. I won funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to do just that.

The Al-Fanar Media editorial team covered both the results of research at Arab institutions and the difficulties that Arab researchers face. Arab governments, with some exceptions, provide little funding for research. Researchers have limited freedom to explore politically and socially sensitive topics, such as sexuality, gender roles, government and religion. Scientists often work in isolation, with no travel money to visit colleagues or attend scientific meetings and few regional research organizations to encourage networking.

After we wrote about researchers, we found in subsequent interviews that they felt our articles gave their work valuable international exposure, that they made new professional connections because of the articles, and appreciated the accessible language we wrote in because it helped them to communicate their research. One researcher noted that the Al-Fanar Media article about his work “gave a proper overview.”

“They communicated the context,” he added, “and were clear about challenges with regards to the funding and support … Other media, when they cover research, focus on the technical only and do not want to sound critical of the status quo.”

In one of the capstones of my career at Al-Fanar Media, the editorial team surveyed 650 Arab researchers, and found that 91 percent would prefer to emigrate for a job elsewhere. The survey drew coverage in Science, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, Times Higher Education, Morocco World News, SciDev (in Arabic), University World News, PIE News and other publications.