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AUIQ AWARD 2026AUIQ AWARD 2026
AboutConditionsCriteriaEligibilityDatesCommitteesFAQsContact
AboutConditionsCriteriaEligibilityDatesCommitteesFAQsContact

About the Award

The Al-Ayen Iraqi University Award is a distinguished academic initiative dedicated to recognizing research excellence, celebrating outstanding researchers, and promoting a culture of innovation and scientific impact. The Award reflects Al-Ayen Iraqi University’s commitment to advancing research as a fundamental driver of academic development, knowledge creation, and societal progress.

The Award seeks to highlight researchers whose scholarly contributions demonstrate excellence, influence, and meaningful academic impact. By recognizing exceptional research achievements, it aims to inspire researchers to pursue higher standards of scientific quality, strengthen their global academic presence, and contribute to a more competitive and impactful research environment in Iraq and beyond.

A defining feature of this year’s edition is the partnership with Elsevier B.V., a global leader in research information and analytics. The calculation of research indicators and the analysis of Scopus-based bibliometric data were conducted by Elsevier B.V., the Award’s Data Collection & Analysis Partner, in accordance with the approved award criteria and methodology. The resulting analytical outputs are subject to the Award’s official review and approval process before the announcement of winners.

This collaboration represents an important milestone in the continued development of the Award, strengthening its institutional credibility and international dimension while ensuring that recognition is grounded in trusted research data and established scholarly indicators.

Beyond honoring individual achievements, the Al-Ayen Iraqi University Award aspires to create a lasting culture of research excellence. It serves as a platform for celebrating scientific achievement, encouraging innovation, enhancing academic competitiveness, and recognizing researchers whose work contributes to the advancement of knowledge and the future of research in Iraq, the region, and the wider international academic community.

Award Objectives

  • ✓Promoting a Culture of Scientific Research
  • ✓Honoring Impactful Research Contributions
  • ✓Encouraging Local and International Research Collaboration
  • ✓Highlighting the Researcher’s Role as a Driver of Sustainable Development
  • ✓Supporting the Vision of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and Aligning the Award with the National Agenda for Advancing Scientific Research in Iraq
  • ✓Building a Reliable Evidence Base for Understanding Iraqi Research Performance
1

Founded in 2021

2

Annual Awards

3

Public Universities

4
  • Official Supervision: Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
  • Award Owner and Organizer: Al-Ayen Iraqi University
  • Data Collection & Analysis Partner: Elsevier B.V.

Elsevier Message

At Elsevier, we believe that recognizing outstanding researchers is essential to celebrating research excellence, motivating continuous innovation, and highlighting the impact researchers have on their institutions and communities. We are delighted to provide Al-Ayen Iraqi University with data-driven insights to support the effectiveness of its Academic Researchers Award and the efforts to recognize outstanding research achievements.

Diaa Medhat
Diaa MedhatRegional Manager – Middle East and AfricaResearch Intelligence, Elsevier

AUIQ Award Testimonials

Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research

Al-Ayen Iraqi University

Elsevier Representative

Award Conditions

National Senior Researcher Award

For researchers with an h-index of 20 or higher and at least 20 Scopus-indexed articles published during the evaluation year (2025).

h-index 2020 Articles

Institution Top Researcher Award

For researchers with at least 10 Scopus-indexed articles published during the evaluation year (2025) and an h-index of 17 or higher.

h-index 1710 Articles

Institution Top Researcher by Subject Award

Recognizing outstanding researchers across 27 Scopus ASJC scientific disciplines, using the same approved indicator weights as Institution Top Researcher Award.

Award Categories and Criteria

Al-Ayen Iraqi University Official Award Weights

Category One

National Senior Researcher Award

H-index20%
  • 1 · H-index 20%
Publications30%
  • 2.1 · Career Publications (through 2025) 8%
  • 2.2 · Publications 2025 12%
  • 2.3 · Top 10% Cited Publications (2024) 5%
  • 2.4 · Top 10% Journal Publications (2025) 5%
Author position10%
  • 3.1 · Career Corresponding Author Publications 5%
  • 3.2 · Career First Author Publications 5%
Collaboration11%
  • 4.1 · International Collaboration Rate 8%
  • 4.2 · Academic-Corporate Collaboration Rate 3%
Citations29%
  • 5.1 · Tree Index 4%
  • 5.2 · FWCI (2025) 8%
  • 5.3 · Career Citations (through 2025) 4%
  • 5.4 · Citations Per Publication 5%
  • 5.5 · Non-self Citation Rate 4%
  • 5.6 · Patent Citations 4%

Category Two

Institution Top Researcher by Subject Award

Recognizing outstanding researchers across 27 Scopus ASJC scientific disciplines.

  • ✓27 Scopus ASJC scientific disciplines
  • ✓At least one eligible Scopus-indexed publication in the relevant discipline
  • !Penalty: −5 points per eligible retracted publication
H-index20%
  • 1 · H-index 20%
Publications35%
  • 2.1 · Publications 2025 20%
  • 2.2 · Career Top 10% Journal Publications 15%
Citations & Impact30%
  • 3.1 · Career FWCI 15%
  • 3.2 · Career Citations (through 2025) 15%
International collaboration15%
  • 4 · International Collaboration Rate 15%
  • •Indicators are recalculated from discipline publications and normalized within the same ASJC group using the approved weights.
  • •Researchers may qualify in more than one discipline; rankings are independent and not compared across disciplines.

Category Three

Institution Top Researcher Award

H-index20%
  • 1 · H-index 20%
Publications35%
  • 2.1 · Publications 2025 20%
  • 2.2 · Career Top 10% Journal Publications 15%
Citations & Impact30%
  • 3.1 · Career FWCI 15%
  • 3.2 · Career Citations (through 2025) 15%
International collaboration15%
  • 4 · International Collaboration Rate 15%

Governance Note

Elsevier is responsible for the analytical methodology and ranking outputs, while the Organizing Committee is responsible for the final award decisions.

How Winners Are Selected

  1. 1.

    Data: Official researcher data are extracted from Elsevier analytical files.

  2. 2.

    Eligibility: Researchers are filtered according to the approved award criteria.

  3. 3.

    Indicators: Bibliometric indicators are calculated from eligible publications.

  4. 4.

    Scoring: Indicator values are normalized and weighted using the approved methodology.

  5. 5.

    Ranking: National Senior Researcher Award: National ranking · Institution Top Researcher Award: Institution ranking · Institution Top Researcher by Subject Award: Discipline ranking

  6. 6.

    Approval: Final results are reviewed and approved by the Award Organizing Committee.

Eligibility

General Criteria

  • ✓The researcher must be an Iraqi national.
  • ✓The researcher must be affiliated with an eligible public Iraqi university.
  • ✓The researcher’s institutional affiliation must be verified and disambiguated through Scopus.
  • ✓Relevant Scopus-based bibliometric data must be available.
  • ✓The researcher is evaluated according to the scoring and selection criteria of the applicable award category.

Important Dates

  1. 1

    June 2026

    Criteria & Eligibility Framework

    Defining the award criteria, scoring methodology, and eligibility requirements for all award categories. Prepared and approved by the Award Scientific Committee.

  2. 2

    July 2026

    Communication and Agreement with Elsevier

    Confirm eligible institutions and affiliation mapping, followed by Scopus data extraction and researcher disambiguation. The data were collected and analyzed by Elsevier as the Award’s Data Collection & Analysis Partner.

  3. 3

    August 2026

    Agreement Signing & Data Collection

    Finalizing the agreement with Elsevier and initiating the official data collection and analysis process. Elsevier carried out the Scopus-based data extraction, researcher and affiliation disambiguation, and analytical calculations.

  4. 4

    September 2026

    Results Finalization and Approvals

    Finalizing the award results based on the data and analytical outputs provided by Elsevier, followed by the required official review and approvals before the announcement of winners.

  5. 5

    November 2026

    Now

    Awards Ceremony

    Announcing and honoring the award winners during the official ceremony, celebrating research excellence and recognizing outstanding academic achievements.

Award Governance & Partnership

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

Official Supervision

The Award is conducted under the supervision of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Al-Ayen Iraqi University

Award Owner & Organizer

Al-Ayen Iraqi University is the owner and organizer of the AUIQ Award and is responsible for the award framework, governance, committee coordination, official approvals, and the awards ceremony.

Elsevier B.V.

Data Collection & Analysis Partner

Elsevier B.V. serves as the Award’s Data Collection & Analysis Partner, providing Scopus-based data extraction, researcher and affiliation disambiguation, analytical calculations, and research intelligence support in accordance with the approved award methodology.

Award Committees

Award committees.

Prof. Dr. Haydar Abdul-Ameer Marhoon

Chancellor

Chairman

Prof. Dr. Naseer Ali Hussein

Vice Chancellor for Scientific Affairs & Postgraduate Studies

Member

Prof. Dr. Firas Faeq Kadhim

Dean of the College of Engineering

Member

Prof. Dr. Raaid Nasur Alubady

Dean of the Engineering Technical College

Member

Asst. Prof. Dr. Maytham Talib Qasim

Head of Scientific Affairs

Member

Asst. Prof. Dr. Sarah Jawad Shoja

Head of International Rankings Department

Member

Dr. Lina Mohammed Shakir

Head of Entrepreneurship Division

Member

Prof. Dr. Ahmed Abdulamier Hussain Al-Amiery

Head of the Department of Science and Technology Parks

Member

Award Statistics

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Participating Universities

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Researchers

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Winners — National Senior

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Winners — Institution Top

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Institution Top by Subject

Benefits and Advantages

1

Financial Prizes

A reward that recognizes research effort and encourages continued research.

2

Certificate

A certificate from Al-Ayen Iraqi University.

3

Award Medal

The official AUIQ Award Medal, presented by the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research during the Awards Ceremony.

Published Article on the AUIQ Award 2025

Elsevier · Indexed in Scopus · Q1

The framework and experience of the AUIQ Award have been documented in the research article entitled “AUIQ Award for Iraqi Researchers: A Strategic Framework to Foster Research Excellence and Academic Competitiveness Across Iraqi Institutions.”

The article has been published in Social Sciences & Humanities Open, an Elsevier journal ranked Q1 in Scopus, highlighting the award’s evidence-based approach to research evaluation, academic excellence, and institutional competitiveness in Iraq.

Status
Published — 16 September 2026
Journal
Social Sciences & Humanities Open — Elsevier
Article Reference
SSAHO_103492
Read the Article on ScienceDirect↗
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Time Remaining for the Awards Ceremony

26 November 2026 - 10 AM

Dhi Qar, Al-Ayen Iraqi University

Ceremony Gallery

Moments and portraits from the awards ceremony.

Ceremony gallery photo 1

FAQs

The Award is open to Iraqi researchers affiliated with an eligible public Iraqi university. Researchers must have a verified institutional affiliation in Scopus and sufficient Scopus-based bibliometric data for evaluation. Iraqi nationality is also required under the Award’s eligibility rules.

No. Researchers do not need to submit an application. Eligible researchers are identified and evaluated using bibliometric data obtained primarily from Scopus, in accordance with the approved eligibility and scoring criteria.

The Award has three categories: National Senior Researcher Award, Institution Top Researcher Award, and Institution Top Researcher by Subject Award. For the National Senior Researcher Award, researchers must have an h-index of 20 or higher and at least 20 Scopus-indexed articles published during the evaluation year. For the Institution Top Researcher Award, researchers must have an h-index of 17 or higher and at least 10 Scopus-indexed articles published during the evaluation year. The Institution Top Researcher by Subject Award recognizes outstanding researchers within selected academic disciplines according to the approved subject-specific methodology.

Researchers are ranked within each eligible university using the approved composite scoring methodology. The top five researchers at each university are identified based on their composite scores, after which the Award Committee applies the final award selection process. The approved Award methodology specifies that the Top 5 are determined by composite score rather than by h-index alone.

Yes. Publications involving international collaborators may be included, provided that the researcher’s eligible Iraqi institutional affiliation is correctly recorded and verified in Scopus. International collaboration is also an explicit component of the scoring methodology for all three award categories.

Scopus is the primary bibliometric data source used for the Award. Elsevier B.V. extracts and analyzes researcher-level indicators from Scopus and supports researcher and institutional affiliation disambiguation and data validation in accordance with the approved Award methodology.

A penalty of five points is deducted from the researcher’s final score for each retracted paper. The retraction penalty is applied after the scoring process.

The AUIQ Award recognizes individual researchers. Universities and higher education institutions provide the institutional affiliation framework for evaluation, while the award itself is granted in recognition of individual research achievement.

The Award covers the academic disciplines included within the approved scope of the current edition. Evaluations may cover up to 27 Scopus All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) subject areas selected within the approved Award framework and analyzed with the support of Elsevier B.V. as the Data Collection & Analysis Partner.

Award recipients receive financial and honorary recognition for outstanding research achievement. Recognition may include financial awards, official certificates and letters of appreciation, the AUIQ Award Medal, and formal recognition during the Awards Ceremony.

Yes. The AUIQ Award is an annual initiative dedicated to recognizing outstanding Iraqi researchers and promoting research excellence, academic competitiveness, and scholarly impact across Iraqi institutions.

The AUIQ Award aims to promote a culture of research excellence, recognize high-impact scientific contributions, encourage national and international research collaboration, and strengthen the visibility and competitiveness of Iraqi research and higher education institutions.

No. Meeting the minimum eligibility requirements qualifies a researcher for evaluation but does not guarantee ranking, shortlisting, or selection. Eligible researchers are assessed using the complete weighted scoring methodology, subject to verified affiliation, data quality, and any applicable retraction penalties.

The National Senior Researcher Award uses a 100% composite score based on five main dimensions: h-index: 20%, Publications: 30%, Author Position: 10%, Collaboration: 11%, and Citations: 29%. Each dimension contains specific bibliometric indicators with defined weights according to the approved methodology.

The Iraqi Universities' Top Researchers Award uses a 100% composite score based on: h-index: 20% Publications: 35% Citations: 30% International Collaboration: 15% Researchers are ranked within their university, and the top five researchers are identified according to their composite scores.

The approved analytical framework uses 2025 as the main evaluation data year. For the National Senior Researcher Award, the Top 10% Citation Percentile indicator uses 2024 as the reference year because 2025 publications do not yet have sufficient citation history for reliable percentile-based assessment.

Elsevier B.V. serves as the Award’s Data Collection & Analysis Partner, providing Scopus-based data extraction, researcher and affiliation disambiguation, analytical calculations, and validation support in accordance with the approved Award methodology. Al-Ayen Iraqi University remains the Award Owner & Organizer, and the final results are subject to the Award’s official review and approval process.

Contact

Phone

+964 7811 107640

Email

award@alayen.edu.iq

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