The Government of Sharjah offers 5 international research grants within the program "Al Faya Research Grant"
Sharjah, May 20 / WAM / The Sharjah Government has provided five international research grants within the “Al Faya Research Grant” program for projects from the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Spain following a rigorous scientific evaluation process that included 49 international applications submitted by prestigious universities and research centers from four continents including Europe, Africa, Asia and North America.
The two-million-dirham grant program was launched following the inclusion of the Al Faya site on the UNESCO World Heritage List, with the aim of promoting scientific research in the areas of early human settlement, migration, environmental change and adaptation in the Arabian Peninsula through long-term archaeological and environmental studies.
The Sharjah World Heritage Office of the Sharjah Archeology Authority is managing the program in coordination with the Scientific Committee of the Al Faya World Heritage Site. The program includes three main tracks: a long-term research grant, six short-term research grants, and a mentorship fellowship for Emirati youth specializing in archaeological sciences.
The selected projects will produce a new environmental, archaeological, genetic and geological data set that contributes to strengthening international narratives about human history in the southeastern Arabian Peninsula, in addition to consolidating the importance of the Al Faya site and its place in global human evolution research.
After announcing the selected projects, Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Ambassador of the Faya World Heritage Site, said that the quality and diversity of nominations from multiple countries and continents around the world reflect the growing scientific importance of the Faya in the international archaeological research scene. The winning projects were chosen for their methodology, originality, and scientific value, in addition to their ability to strengthen the scientific foundations of the Faya World Heritage Site and contribute to answering global research questions related to human adaptation, human migrations, and environmental change.
She added that these projects reflect the level of research and intellectual ambition worthy of a world heritage site of this importance, and by bringing together expertise from diverse disciplines and regions, the Al Faya Research Grant Program helps build a long-term scientific framework that allows the Arabian Peninsula to continue providing new knowledge about human adaptation, migration, resilience, and resilience.
The long-term research grant was awarded to Professor David Thomas from the University of Oxford for the project “The Past of Al-Faya: Analysis of the Cultural Landscape of Al-Faya and its Spatio-Temporal Evolution.” The three-year project will work to build the first comprehensive ecological framework of the Al-Faya site over the past 200,000 years through the use of satellite image analysis, ground sounding radar, field surveys and advanced dating techniques.
The research aims to explain how early human populations adapted to dry environments and how they spread outside Africa by reconstructing the evolution of environmental conditions in the southeastern Arabian Peninsula over time. The project is implemented in cooperation with Professor Muhammad Ali from Khalifa University and Dr. Julie Durkan from the University of Oxford. The project includes the production of a high-resolution data set and peer-reviewed scientific research, in addition to field training and international laboratory opportunities for Emirati students.
Dr. Mohammed Al Marri from the Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences will implement the project “Origins, Kinship and Adaptation: Reconstructing the Ancient Genome of the Al Faya Site” in 2026. The project will provide the first structural reading that combines human DNA data and environmental DNA from the Arabian Peninsula in the Neolithic era by studying genetic origins, kinship structures, adaptation patterns and ecosystem transformations based on the analysis of human remains and DNA preserved in sediments.
Professor Leslie Gregorica from the University of South Alabama is supervising the project “Mapping the Geological Footprint of Strontium Isotopes in Al Faya: Human Movement in Al Faya.” The project will establish the first regional reference base for strontium isotopes in the southeastern Arabian Peninsula, providing a scientific framework capable of distinguishing between local and non-local individuals and reconstructing patterns of movement and movement within Neolithic societies.
As for the grant awarded to Dr. Nuria Sanz Gallego from the German University of Tübingen for the project “Evolution, Migration, Human Adaptation and Prehistoric Cultural Landscapes” for the year 2027, it will work to establish an international cooperation platform linking ancient archaeological and environmental sites in Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. The project is closely linked to the HEADS program of UNESCO, which is concerned with human evolution, adaptations, spread and social developments, which places the study within broader comparative frameworks for studying early human evolution and migrations.
Dr. Andrea Guerrero from the National University of Distance Education in Spain is implementing the “Sharjah Stone Views: A Multi-Scale Geological Framework for Jebel Al Faya” project for the year 2027. The project will develop the first detailed geological framework linking the distribution of stone sources and early human behavior in Jebel Al Faya during the period extending between the past 210,000 and 80,000 years through advanced digital mapping, geochemical analysis, and spatial modeling.
In addition to the academic scholarships, three Emirati researchers were selected to receive mentorship fellowships at Al Faya: Amina Al Sumaiti, a BA student in Art History and Archeology at the University of Toronto, Sarah Al Kaabi, a 2025 graduate of Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, studying two sub-specializations: Mathematics and Civilizations of the Near and Middle East (2022-26), and Obaid Al Zaabi, a graduate student in Engineering Management at the University of Sharjah (2024-26).
The fellowship provides an organized international training path that includes workshops and scientific visits to prominent sites that include artifacts from the Upper Paleolithic Age and museum collections in Germany, in addition to field training in the World Heritage Hole Wels Cave in southern Germany under the supervision of an academic from the German University of Tübingen.
The fellowship concludes with applied archaeological fieldwork at the Al Faya World Heritage Site, enabling participants to transform their international research experiences into direct local archaeological practice, contributing to the management and preservation of the site.
The grant-winning projects are scheduled to begin between 2026 and 2027 and produce peer-reviewed scientific research, a digital dataset, comparative regional studies, and long-term scientific resources that support archaeological research and heritage management in Al Faya in the future.
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