Under the patronage of President Prof. Imad Abu Kishk, Al-Quds University's Deanship of Scientific Research and the Al-Quds Bard College of Arts and Sciences hosted the sixth undergraduate research conference. This event, held virtually via Zoom, included participation from Palestinian and Arab universities.
The conference received 82 research abstracts, which were reviewed by a specialized committee. Approximately 50 presentations, including posters and oral presentations, were delivered by students from Palestinian and Iraqi universities. The topics covered a diverse range of fields, including dentistry, medicine, pharmacy, biomedical sciences, public health, engineering, economics, political science, human rights, and the humanities and social sciences. The presentations were organized into three virtual rooms based on their specialties.
Dr. Hanna Abd Al-Nour, the Executive Vice President of the university, expressed gratitude to the scientific and organizing committees, judges, facilitators, and participating universities and health institutions. He emphasized the importance of scientific research for the university at all academic levels and the need to advance society and Palestine by fostering research through the Deanship of Scientific Research and various faculties. He highlighted the university's efforts to expand its research conferences globally.
Dr. Elham Kateeb, Dean of Scientific Research, highlighted the conference's significance during her opening remarks, stressing the strength and global impact of students and the challenges faced by Palestinian universities, including violations against students in the West Bank and Gaza. She pointed out the denial of education and destruction of educational institutions, resulting in numerous student and faculty casualties and imprisonments. Dr. Kateeb stated that the conference, held via Zoom, aligns with the vision of empowering students in research through the establishment and support of student research clubs and restructuring research education in universities. The conference offers Palestinian researchers an opportunity to engage with peers and experts across various fields.
Dr. Amna Badran, Deputy Dean of Al-Quds Bard College, emphasized the foundational role of scientific research in knowledge production. She stressed the need for knowledge producers to build better lives, advance technology and the economy, and defend their rights. Dr. Badran highlighted the importance of students as the primary drivers of change, which can only occur through dialogue between different ideas and disciplines, fostering research dialogue, capacity building, and progress.
At the conference's conclusion, Dr. Kateeb announced the winners of the best posters and oral presentations across various academic disciplines:
In the field of medicine, Islam Sweiti won the poster category with "Phossy Jaw Disease and Correlation with White Phosphorus Bombing in the Israel-Gaza War". In oral presentations, Duha Dudin and Noor Hilsa took second place with "Consequences of COVID-19 in Adult Patients at least 10 Months After Infection in the West Bank". Raghd Sweiti and Khadija Fanoun also placed second with "Systolic Inter-arm Blood Pressure Difference and Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate in Type 2 Diabetic Patients in Palestine: A Cross-Sectional Study". First place went to Jalal Khateeb, Nicolas Shatleh, Rita Yaqoub, and Siham Madka for "Basic Geriatric Knowledge and Awareness Among Palestinian Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Study".
In pharmacy, Ahmed Ibrahim, Abdullah Zamara, Naseem Hamdan, and Dala Daraghmeh won second place with their poster on "Exploring the Use of Complementary and Alternative Medicine for the Treatment and Prevention of Flu". First place went to Menna Allah Khalil for "The Role of Community Pharmacists as Immunizers: Assessing Their Willingness to Administer Immunizations to Adults". In oral presentations, Rafif Dweib and Tasneem Mujahed took second place with "Beyond Medications: Understanding the Perspectives of Community Pharmacists on Non-Pharmaceutical Products in Palestine", while Yara Halakawi and Thani Rubay’a won first place for "Perception, Barriers, and Willingness to Implement Tele-Pharmacy among Pharmacists in Palestine".
In biomedical sciences, Zein Shweiki placed third in oral presentations with "Assessment of Antioxidant, Antimicrobial, and Anticancer Activity of Olea Europaea Leaves Extracts and Its Effects on Apoptotic Genes". Hanan Atari, Dina Jefal, Ghadir Jamal, Noor Halabi, and Raihana Jabbour placed second with "Antidepressants: New Hypothetical Interactions to Increase Their Efficiency". Malik Tabjeh also placed second with "Phenotypic and Genotypic Characterization of Palestinian Patients with Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis: A Report of 5 New Individuals and Novel Pathogenic Variant". Dina Sais won first place for "Identification of Toxoplasma Gondii Epitopes Using Phage Display Libraries for Serodiagnostic Purposes".
In public health, Israa Bakr, Mariam Alqam, and Hamida Abu Sinina won for their oral presentation "Mental Health of Palestinian Undergraduates During the War on Gaza: A Cross-Sectional Study on CPTSD, Resilience, and General Mental Health". In engineering, Osama Kababji won for his presentation on "Systematic Spatial Planning for Land Settlement in the West Bank – A Case Study of Qabalan Town, South of Nablus".
In education, Baneen Abu Zaid won for her poster on "Designing a Novel Method to Cluster Data Based on an Angular Randomization Test". Lian Abu Hatab won for her oral presentation "Challenges of Machine Translation of English-Arabic". In economics, Sabaa Khalil and Balqees Khalil from Iraq won for their presentation "Measuring and Analyzing Entrepreneurship Awareness and Investment in Iraq (A Field Study on Students and Graduates of Anbar University)", while Margarita Khurufa won for her poster in political science and human rights, and Alaa Al-Ahbari won for his oral presentation "Chilean TRC: Truth-Telling and Gaining Democracy".
The undergraduate research conference is the first of its kind dedicated to student research, annually receiving dozens of submissions from Palestinian and Arab universities, as well as high school students. The conference reflects the university's vision of providing exceptional opportunities for students to participate in specialized international and regional research conferences and publish in prestigious journals. The university also allocates a comprehensive budget to support scientific research, research clubs, and researchers.
