دعوة تأسيس الهيئة السورية للبحث والابتكار (SRI) لتمويل البحث الأكاديمي السوري

The recovery of the higher education sector and local research capabilities contributes to supporting community reconstruction during the rebuilding phase, as these factors help generate local data, establish community trust, and train a skilled workforce. In Syria, Assad and his regime caused severe damage to academic infrastructure, high rates of academic emigration, and a noticeable decline in scientific research.
This report presents a structural proposal for the establishment of the "Syrian Research and Innovation (SRI)" agency, a tripartite funding body aimed at supporting the recovery of the Syrian academic sector. By integrating the activities of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector, the agency aims to establish an organized financial framework for academic recovery. Drawing on frameworks applied in the United Kingdom, Germany, Turkey, Rwanda, and Jordan—where each country was selected to benefit from a specific element—the proposed agency will work to create competitive funding pathways. These include micro-grants for early-career researchers, large-scale collaborative networks, and Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs). Managed through a digital research grant system, the agency is designed to support the transition of Syrian higher education from emergency operations to systematic socio-economic recovery, and to align academic outputs with national reconstruction priorities.