Following an intensive evaluation process, the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science has selected the most promising pre-proposals from the field of world-leading experts seeking to join the programme.

A total of 15 research teams have been invited to proceed to the next stage of the competition and prepare full proposals for submission. Among the shortlisted proposals are projects offering some of the most creative ideas on cloud forecasting and modification, modelling and the use of advanced cloud seeding agents.

Managed by the National Centre of Meteorology and Seismology (NCMS), the programme has received an overwhelming response since its launch in January this year. The shortlist was agreed on by a Technical Committee that met in Abu Dhabi in May. The selected pre-proposals were drawn from 78 submissions, representing 325 scientists and researchers affiliated to 151 organisations drawn from 34 countries around the world.

Dr. Abdullah Al Mandoos, Executive Director of NCMS, said: "Although the quality of the original pre-proposals we received posed some difficult choices, we are delighted to have been able to produce a shortlist packed with potentially innovative ideas in the field of rain enhancement. With the support of the Minister of Presidential Affairs, we are confident that the UAE can take a leading role in addressing the challenge of securing stable water supplies."

All of the original 78 research teams that initially applied were contacted and informed about the status of their pre-proposal, and were given extensive feedback from the anonymous reviewers on the strength and weakness of their pre-proposals. Once the final proposals have been submitted, an expert committee of international specialists will meet in Abu Dhabi in November to review the full proposals and decide on the winners of the competition. The recommendations of the committee will take into account input from approximately 50 ad hoc reviewers covering a wide spectrum of expertise within the field reviewers. As a consequence, all of the proposals will be examined by several reviewers on the basis of very strict criteria.

Commenting on the shortlisting process, Alya Al Mazroui, Programme Manager of the UAE Research Programme for Rain Enhancement Science, said: "The eminent shortlist that we have drawn up includes promising ideas in the field of rain enhancement from across Europe, North America, Asia and Africa. We faced a demanding task in narrowing down a very high quality field."

"Aside from the successful candidates, we categorised the other pre-proposals as highly competitive, invite back with lower priority, and decline, do not invite back. For the next stage of the competition, we intend to call for reviewers from our extensive database of experts to strengthen our evaluation process," added Al Mazroui.

2015 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. Launched by H.H. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, the programme is designed to help arid and semi-arid regions overcome water scarcity challenges by using technology to stimulate rainfall.

The shortlisted candidates are required to submit completed final research projects before September 17, 2015. Up to five prize winning project proposals will be nominated and honoured at a ceremony in January 2016.

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