Gulf blockade dents Qatar’s research ambitions

Qatar’s apex science funding agency is putting a brave face on the land, air and sea blockade that is now into its fifth week.

The embargo imposed by an alliance led by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Yemen, Somalia and Egypt (indicated in red on the map) has so far not affected research operations in the country, according to Hamad al-Ibrahim, a public policy researcher and vice-president of R&D at the Qatar Foundation.

QF is equivalent to the national research funding agency. Many of its staff and grantees, however, are from outside Qatar. Those who are citizens of states involved in the actions against Qatar have been ordered to return to their countries of origin.