About the Grant Competition
 This grant competition is a follow-on activity to the Iraq Soil Salinity and Water Management Conference held in Baghdad on July 15-17, 2009 that brought together Iraqi scientists and engineers from different Iraqi Ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Science and Technology, Water Resources, and Higher Education and Scientific Research) and universities. The conference was organized as a forum in order to address major challenges to agricultural development in Iraq posed by issues of soil salinity and the management of water resources. Building on the results of the conference, and in support of the growth of Iraq’s agricultural sector, the Dr. Maged Hussein Memorial Grant Competition in Soil Salinity and Water Management seeks to:
- Promote the peaceful and sustainable redevelopment of Iraq’s science and technology infrastructure through cooperative science;
- Increase the amount of fundamental and applied research that is being directed towards critical issues surrounding soil salinity and water management in Iraq;
- Further encourage regional and international collaborative efforts to understand and resolve problems caused by high amounts of saline in Iraqi agricultural soils;
- Promote development of new techniques for management of water resources during the process of farmland irrigation.
About Maged Hussein
Dr. Maged Hussein, a Senior Consultant in the Office of Water and Environment at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad, was a widely respected and well known figure in the Iraqi and international scientific community. Throughout his career, he worked tirelessly to help Iraq address important concerns and problems related to the country’s soil salinity and water management issues. Dr. Maged Hussein used his knowledge and skills to help build water treatment plants, sewers, dams, and irrigation and drainages systems across Iraq. Backed by his strong commitment to leave Iraq in better circumstances than when he arrived, Dr. Maged Hussein spearheaded projects aimed towards enhancing the country’s clean water supply, including recently developing a project to monitor the water quality in remote areas of the country. In his last act serving Iraq, Dr. Maged Hussein attended a ceremony honoring the establishment of a new water treatment plant near Fallujah. It was while returning to Baghdad from this notable event that the vehicle he was traveling in was struck by a roadside bomb, fatally wounding him and other passengers. Dr. Maged Hussein is deeply missed by his family, friends and colleagues. The “Dr. Maged Hussein Memorial Grant Competition in Soil Salinity and Water Management” is dedicated to honoring the memory of Dr. Maged Hussein and his many accomplishments in the fields of soil salinity and water management throughout Iraq.
Deadline for Submission
The Dr. Maged Hussein Memorial Grant Competition in Soil Salinity and Water Management is now closed.
If you have a question about an application that has already been submitted, please email ASTF at astf_baghdad@astf.net or CRDF at iraqsoilandwater@crdf.org.
Thank you for your interest in the Iraq Scientist Engagement Program.
|