Sultan Qaboos University and Petrofac, the international service provider to the oil and gas production and processing industry, have signed a sponsorship agreement to sponsor students in postgraduate programs at Sultan Qaboos University during the academic year 2018-2019. As per the agreement, Petrofac E&C Oman would sponsor three Omani students enrolled for the Master (MSc) program in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical & Process Engineering, and Civil Engineering faculties of the College of Engineering at the University. The one-year contract would cover the whole program duration and its fees from 9/2018 to 9/2021 in addition to providing students with conference support and financial support for research.

The sponsorship agreement was signed by Dr. Rahma Al-Mahrooqi, Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Postgraduate Studies and Research at Sultan Qaboos University, and Ray Richardson, Senior Vice President & Country Manager, Petrofac Oman on Thursday, 2 August 2018.

Commenting on the sponsorship agreement with Petrofac, Prof. Abdulla Ambusaidi, Dean of Postgraduate Studies at SQU, said: "We aspire to foster the collaboration opportunities that serve the parties concerned including our students, the university and find external funding opportunities for postgraduate students. We also encourage the private and public sectors to take the initiatives to support the educational and research sectors."

On his part, Ray Richardson, Petrofac's Country Manager said: "We welcome this further step in the long-standing relationship between Sultan Qaboos University and Petrofac. Many high quality graduate engineers from the University have developed successful careers with us and we look forward to further opportunities wherein the synergies of close academia and industry cooperation can be realised.”