Every lecturer holder of a PhD, who is tenured at USEK, is entitled, if he/she wishes, to submit a research project to the HCR(1). To this end, he/she should fill in an online application form.  

N.B.: Incomplete applications or those which do not strictly respect the criteria set by the HCR, as well as applications submitted after the deadline(2), will not be accepted. 

(1)The team of researchers can include researchers from USEK or from other Lebanese and/or foreign universities and institutes. Nevertheless, it is obligatory that the main researcher or project owner who reports to the HCR should be a tenured lecturer at USEK. 
Professors can involve their PhD students in projects, in order to complete field work or a survey. The obtained results can represent an element of their thesis or an annex document to which the student refers. In this case it is obligatory that the PhD student should mention his/her sources, and particularly the research funded by the HCR in which he/she took part. Failure to do so will result in a penalty and/or suspension of the project. The main researcher should inform the PhD student, from the beginning of work, of the conditions of collaboration in the project. 

(2)A deadline is set for each call for applications. It is communicated by e-mail to parties in charge of research within faculties and institutes, and uploaded on the University website. Theoretically, two calls for applications are scheduled every year; the first in October-November and the second in April-May.

Applications received by the HCR are subject to a pre-selection assessment followed by a selection assessment. The experts chosen and consulted by the HCR are not usually recruited from among USEK lecturers. 

The same project can be subject to several assessments. The HCR decision of admissibility or non-admissibility of an application is based on the selection assessment results (duly filled chart and appraisal report). 

The researcher is not informed of the name of the expert. 

The expert is not informed of the name of the researcher. 

The HCR communicates its decision to the lecturer concerned.

The lecturer entitled to a project selected by the HCR signs a research contract with the latter. A typical contract defines and deals with the following points: 

• concerned parties of the project
• title of the project
• financing of the project: allocated amount, conditions, installments and terms of payment
• time allotted to complete the research
• collective nature of the project
• intellectual and commercial property of the project
• insurance
• termination

Two copies of the contract are signed by the President of the HCR and the owner of the project. The first is handed to the researcher and the second is filed in the archives of the HCR. The main researcher or the owner of the project is the signatory of the contract. He/she reports to the HCR regarding the progress of the project and the management of the team that he/she leads.

All projects, the general budget as well as budgetary details related to each project, are then submitted to the University President for approval. The President’s approval is communicated to the HCR, which in turn communicates it to the University’s Financial Administration. The financing procedure can now be activated. 

The HCR presents, by letter to the Financial Administrator of the University, the needs of each project (transfers, equipment purchases, bibliographical references, subscription to databases, etc.), with supporting evidence. The Financial Administrator, following approval, forwards the requests to the Purchasing Department. 


Close collaboration between the HCR, the University’s Financial Administration, the Purchasing Department and the USEK Library is necessary for the successful management of current projects. 

Follow-up of the procedure, and coordination with researchers is maintained by the HCR. 

A semestrial (or annual) report is submitted to the HCR by the owner of the project, to report on the progress of research. 

A request of extension may be presented in exceptional cases. It will be considered by the President of the HCR for approval. 

All records of the research projects are filed at the HCR.

The HCR publishes the lecturers’ research work. A research submitted to the HCR is subject to assessment, in order to take the decision of publication or non-publication. The terms of publication assessment are the same as the terms of selection assessment. 

The HCR publishes researches in the form of books and/or articles in its collections or in its digital magazine.