ORIC was established in 2011 with the aim of linking university research directly with educational, social and economic priorities of CUI and its broader community. Its slogan is “Creating endless opportunities by transforming research into prosperity.”

The ORIC at CUI operates with the following Terms of Reference:

• Enhancing research culture
• Promoting inter/cross disciplinary research
• Building university – industry linkages
• Inculcating entrepreneurship among researchers
• Generating intellectual property through research, innovation, and commercialization
• Establishing technology/innovation/business parks
• Catalyzing technology transfer through spin off companies and licensing
• Augmenting capacity building of research/corporate community

In order to attract young faculty into the research mainstream, a CUI Research Grant Program (CRGP) is in place to award grants up to Rs. 300,000/- for research proposals of 1-2 years duration. In 2017, under this program, 63 research proposals were approved / released to the awardees. Currently, 62 research proposals are ready to be reviewed in the forthcoming CRGP meeting.

To encourage its faculty and promote quality research, CUI-Research Productivity Awards are an annual feature. A total of 1219 Research Productivity Awards (RPA) were conferred upon CUI scientists and researchers last year.

Around 360 PhD faculty members of CUI have been approved as PhD Supervisors by HEC thus facilitating research initiatives of CUI and its broader educational community.

• As we move towards creating knowledge economy, developing an understanding of Intellectual Property Rights is of paramount importance in order to protect inventor’s rights and produce research that will fuel innovation and commercialization. CUI has developed in-house capacity to provide IP support to its researchers and file patent applications locally and internationally. So far, CUI filed 61 patents based on applied research of its faculty out of which 13 patents have been granted; furthermore two trademarks have been registered as will. CUI also provided trainings on understanding IP Rights and Patenting to researchers from many universities.

• ORIC-Professional Development (PD) is a flagship initiative of ORIC, CUI to cater the need of professional learning and growth for individuals and organizations across Pakistan. ORIC-PD supports faculty members in their ongoing quest for excellence in teaching, research, outreach and leadership. The program aims at developing faculty skills and networking to open up areas of applied research in collaboration with industry and practitioners. ORIC-PD has trained professionals from universities and well reputed organizations all across Pakistan, such as PSO, OGDCL, Fauji Fertilizer, Qarshi Industries, PEL, NTS, LUMS, PAEC, POF Wah, AKU, UET Peshawar, Attock Refinery, AERO, PIEAS, NARC, QAU, Wilson Pharmaceutical, MoST, etc.
• CUI is encouraging start-up networks of young entrepreneurs to provide a positive impetuous to the economic growth of Pakistan. Incubation Centers are proving to be an important source of converting ideas into commercial products/services thus making significant economic and technological contributions to several nations across the globe. CUI has initiated development of a series of business/technology incubators named CUBATORs. So far 32 (thirty two) companies are Graduated from CUBATOR.
• ORIC CUI crossed another success milestone by receiving the
  1st FPCCI Achievement Award (Gold Medal) in the year 2013. The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry, the apex body of trade and industry of Pakistan, launched this award to honor the dedicated and enterprising organizations that that have made sustained and lasting contribution in socio-economic development of the country. CUI also acquired QS Star rating of three out of five.

ORIC Research Management System (RMS)

This is a centralized electronic research database in which all types of data related to Research Projects, Travel Grants, Conferences, Workshops and Post-Doctoral Fellowships is saved. The aim of this software is to have a paperless environment, quick business processing and quick retrieval of data for preparation of different reports. Any faculty member from any CUI campus will have online access to this database and will process their requests for Research Projects, Travel Grants, Conferences, Workshops and Post-Doctoral Fellowships by entering bibliographic data manually and uploading the supporting documents as attachments.

3G RESEARCH EXCELLENCE AWARD

The 2018 Global Good Governance Awards (3G Awards) were given to 25 exceptional individuals and organizations from 15 countries exhibiting highest performance in the areas of innovation, sustainability, transparency, societal impact and social responsibility. The award ceremony was held in Malaysia.

COMSATS University, Islamabad (CUI) was awarded the 2018 - 3G Research Excellence Award for its overall impact in the domains of research and development.

The 3G Awards are a premier awards program that highlight excellence in good governance and commitment to social welfare in three major streams of Government & Politics, Corporate Sector, and Social Sector and Philanthropy. The Awards are adjudicated by Cambridge IFA, a UK-based financial services house that evaluates business data, assess macroeconomic indicators and understands market trends and brand development globally.

Prof. Dr. Raheel Qamar, Rector CUI, in his message read out at the occasion, said that the 3G Research Excellence Award truly goes to the heart of who we are, a research-intensive university. This recognition underscores high-quality research being conducted at COMSATS University and the sheer hard work of our dedicated faculty and researchers who strive for excellence through creation, preservation, dissemination and application of knowledge.

Mr. Muhammad Raza Ahmad Khan, General Manager (Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization), CUI, received the award on behalf of COMSATS University from Mr. Mohammed Nafees Zakaria, Pakistani High Commissioner in Malaysia, in a graceful ceremony organized by Cambridge IFA, UK in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The ceremony was also attended by government functionaries, members of the corporate community, as well as key figures from across the globe.

This award comes at a time when COMSATS University, defunct COMSATS University Islamabad, has been consistently ranked among top 601-800 World Universities in Times Higher Education (THE), World Universities Rankings (WUR) 2016-17 and 2017-18