Annual Research Conference ARC'18

The Task

ARC’18 is Qatar Foundation Research and Development’s flagship conference that builds upon nationwide efforts to advance Qatar’s ambitious research agenda, and provides a unique platform to activate the multidisciplinary collaboration needed to tackle the most pressing national challenges in research.

The theme of the 2018 edition of the biennial conference was “R&D: Focusing on Priorities, Delivering Impact”, aligned with the four thematic pillars defined in Qatar’s National Research Strategy (QNRS):

• Energy and Environment
• Health and Biomedical
• Computing and Information Technology
• Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities

fischerAppelt was tasked with the development of a creative concept for the conference along with its planning and management.

The Solution

The concept for the conference included the venue design for the central plenary theater, breakout rooms, venue branding and a design for the central ARC'18 exhibition. The stage design for the plenary theater was developed in collaboration with Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar (VCU-Q) in the framework of a design competition among its students.

The project was managed by fischerAppelt, working closely with Qatar Foundation Research & Development and Qatar Science and Technology Park.

The Result

The opening ceremony of ARC’18 was attended by H.H. Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, H.E. Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, CEO of Qatar Foundation, H.E. Dr. Mohammed bin Saleh Al Sada, Minister of Energy and Industry of Qatar and over 2,200 distinguished local and international guests and VIPs.

The opening address was delivered by H.E. Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, followed by a keynote speech by Vivek Kundra, former Chief Information Officer of the United States.

The Annual Research Conference featured an exhibition that included 28 exhibiting organisations, 16 international startups, 269 research poster displays selected from more than 990 submitted abstracts.