Qatar aims to become a global hub for research, development, and innovation (RDI). This report examines its RDI talent landscape and reviews international approaches to developing, attracting, and retaining skilled professionals. It finds strong investment in talent development, but persistent retention challenges linked to short visa durations and precarious employment, and identifies opportunities to deepen academia–industry collaboration.

Research, development, and innovation talent in Qatar

The policy and program Landscape

Mehdi Shiva, James Besse, Stella Harrison, Miguel Subosa, Ishita Puri, Abdellahi Hussein, Sara Zikri

ResearchPublished Sep 16, 2026

Qatar has set out an ambitious vision to become a global hub for research, development, and innovation (RDI), underpinned by the recognition that human capital is the foundation of a knowledge-based economy. This report examines Qatar's RDI talent landscape, reviews international approaches to developing, attracting, and retaining skilled professionals, and identifies key gaps and opportunities.

As countries compete intensely for high-skilled labour amid accelerating technological change and ageing populations, RDI talent has become a vital strategic asset underpinning productivity and competitiveness. Qatar's ecosystem has evolved rapidly: gross expenditure on research and development rose from 0.48% to 0.68% of GDP between 2012 and 2021, though it remains well below the OECD average of 2.7%. The workforce is predominantly expatriate, with around 80% of RDI personnel being non-nationals, and only about 7% of Qataris hold STEM qualifications.

To address these challenges, Qatar has introduced initiatives that broadly mirror international good practice, spanning scholarships and mentorship, research placements, incubation and venture funding, and policy reforms aligning education with labour-market priorities. Measures to attract global talent include a forthcoming long-term residency visa offering renewable residence to highly skilled individuals without pre-arranged sponsorship. Persistent challenges remain, however, including limited post-fellowship employment continuity, short visa durations, and constrained academic career pathways.

Achieving Qatar's 2030 workforce targets, including 46% of employment in skilled occupations and at least 18% of graduates in STEM disciplines, will require deeper academia–industry collaboration, diversified RDI funding, and strengthened career and residency frameworks.

Key Takeaways

RDI talent strategies cluster around three objectives

International policies and programmes pursue three broad aims: developing the local talent pool through education and training; attracting international talent; and preventing the outward migration of skilled professionals. Strategies to develop local talent centre on scholarships and fellowships, expanded academic career pathways, and academia–industry collaborations that supply research centres with researchers while giving them industry-relevant skills. Some universities also operate seed funds for academic staff pursuing startup ventures. Qatar implements comparable schemes, with the total number of scholarship programmes growing by 50% between 2012 and 2020.

Qatar has invested heavily in attracting talent, but retention lags

Qatar has expanded research funding and infrastructure, with QSTP and Education City as landmark developments, and introduced incentives such as the Alchemist Doha fund, the Technology Development Grant, and the Mustaqel Residency Visa covering 13 priority areas. Yet retention remains weak: many postdoctoral contracts expire shortly after the associated fellowship ends, prompting the premature exit of researchers and risking a net loss of locally trained expertise.

Retaining local talent is the hardest challenge

Fewer policies explicitly target retention than development or attraction, since much depends on employers offering competitive compensation and career progression. Despite reforms, including becoming the first GCC country to discontinue the Kafala system in 2020, international professionals still face precarious employment. Broader ecosystem improvements – stronger infrastructure and enhanced research opportunities – may indirectly support retention, but coordinated, employer-facing measures remain underdeveloped relative to the scale of the challenge.

Recommendations

Strengthen industry–academia crossover

  • Qatar may wish to consider programmes giving local postgraduate researchers greater industry exposure, drawing on models such as Spain's Ramón y Cajal and Juan de la Cierva schemes.

Extend entrepreneurial support to academia

  • There may be value in exploring university-based incubators that offer seed funding for feasible startup projects from within academia, alongside embedding entrepreneurship education within relevant university curricula.

Supporting researcher retention

  • Aligning visa durations more closely with realistic career timelines and improving post-fellowship continuity could help reduce the premature exit of researchers Qatar has invested in training.

Topics

Document Details

Citation

Chicago Manual of Style

Shiva, Mehdi, James Besse, Stella Harrison, Miguel Subosa, Ishita Puri, Abdellahi Hussein, and Sara Zikri, Research, development, and innovation talent in Qatar: The policy and program Landscape. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2026. https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3894-1.html.
BibTeX RIS

Research conducted by

This work was conducted within the Education, Employment and Skills Program of RAND Europe.

This publication is part of the RAND research report series. Research reports present research findings and objective analysis that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors. All RAND research reports undergo rigorous peer review to ensure high standards for research quality and objectivity.

This document and trademark(s) contained herein are protected by law. This representation of RAND intellectual property is provided for noncommercial use only. Unauthorized posting of this publication online is prohibited; linking directly to this product page is encouraged. Permission is required from RAND to reproduce, or reuse in another form, any of its research documents for commercial purposes. For information on reprint and reuse permissions, please visit www.rand.org/pubs/permissions.

RAND is a nonprofit institution that helps improve policy and decisionmaking through research and analysis. RAND's publications do not necessarily reflect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors.