HRH Prince El-Hassan bin Talal President of The Higher Council for Science and Technology, and HRH Princess Sarvath El-Hassan

The El-Hassan Bin Talal Award for Scientific Excellence was established in 1995 for the encouragement of academic, scientific, and technological activities in all institutions involved in education and training.

The Award is granted to national institutions that have contributed - through academic, scientific or technological achievements - to the development of education and training according to the following criteria:

1. Scientific excellence making a significant contribution and, or, benefiting economic, social and cultural life.
2. Development of successful and significant programs (curricular and extra-curricular).

For the purpose of the award, institutions are classified into three categories:

• Category (1): 
  Institutions of General Education
  (excluding and vocational).
• Category (2):
  Institutions of Higher Education
  (excluding technical).
• Category (3):
  Institutions of vocational & Technical Education.

The Award is granted to each of the three categories in sequence within a three year cycle.

The Award Committee, presided over by HRH Princess Sarvath, is composed of six members chosen for their expertise.

The Committee appoints a panel of experts to study the applications and examine scientific achievements in accordance with the criteria set by the Committee.
The Award Committee annually allocates JD 5,000, JD 3,000 and JD 2,000 for the first, second and third prizes, respectively.

The winners are granted trophies on which the names of their institutions will be engraved.

All three winners are also granted medals and certificates of acknowledgment.

Pending the approval of the Award Committee, the winning institutions can grant 50% of the financial award to the individual(s) who made the most effective contribution to the achievement for which the Award was granted.

Applications should be made to the Award Bureau at the HCST General Secretariat before the 31st of January, with supporting documents. Winners are announced by the 20th of March and the award is granted during an official ceremony in April.

Prizes may be withheld if the Committee deems that the work presented is beneath the standard worthy of the award.

No duplication of the Award may be made for the same achievement; however it may be granted to the same institution for separate achievements more than once, providing that the work submitted has not been granted any prior award from another organization.

• The 1996 Award was dedicated to General Education Foundations.
• The first Award was conferred on the Baccalaureate School for its Activity, Service and Creation Program.
• The second Award was withheld.
• The third was granted to Abdul Hameed Shoman Foundation for the translation of The Norman Child

• The 1997 Award was dedicated to institutions of Higher Education.
• The first Award was withheld.
• The second was granted to the University of Jordan for its program communicating with Industry.
• The third Award was shared between the UNRWA Educational Science College in Amman for the Mathematic Questions Bank, and the University of Yarmouk/Islamic Numismatics Department for valuable information concerning numismatics published in the Yarmouk Magazine for Numismatics.

• The 1998 Award was granted to Vocational and Technical Foundations:
• The first was withheld.
• The second was granted to the Vocational Training Corporation for their project on Developing Support Services For Small and Medium Scale Enterprises
• The third Award was granted to the Ministry of Education for their project on Assembly of an Electronic Trainer.

• The 1999 Award was dedicated to Institutions of General Education:
• The first award was conferred on the Learning Resources Center/General Education Directorate, Irbid for its School Laboratories Project.
• The Second Award was conferred on the General Directorate of Curricula/ Ministry of Education for the Inclusion of the Population Education Concepts in the Curricula and Textbooks in Basic Education.
• The third Award was withheld.

• Award Granted for 2000 was granted to the Institutional of Higher Education.
• The first was withheld.
• The second was conferred on Mu’tah University for their project on social productivity of Training program.
• The Third was with held.
  The committee also hailed the University of Jordan “Community Service” project, and the Princess Sumaya University College for Technology “Early Learning System for Children at Home” project for their novel and inspiring ideas.

But in both cases, the committee agreed that since these projects had not yet been fully tested, they did not meet the full award criteria. The committee recommended that both projects be tested for their feasibility in order to compete in the future. Toward that end, the Higher Council for Science and Technology General Secretariat decided to grant each of the two projects JD 1,000 to help them conduct the feasibility studies.

• Award Granted for 2001 was granted to Institutions of Vocational and Technical Education.
• The first was with held.
• The second was shared between the Vocational and Training Corporation for the project “VTC Experiment in Designing Training Programs with CBE Method, Occupational Health and safety, with cooperation from the Private Sector” and the Prince Faisal Technical College for the project “Vocational Training Programme”
• The third was conferred upon “AL-Balqa Applied University” for the project “The Engineering Curricula for the Associate Degree Technical Education”.

• The Award for 2002 was granted to Institutions of Higher Education.
• The First one was conferred on the Ahliyyah School for girls, for their project on “The Ahliyyah School for Girls as a Learning Institution.”
• The second was conferred on the Islamic Education College, for their project on “Reference Material for the Library Educational Curriculum.”
• The third was shared between the Fuheis Latin secondary school for the project “Training and Advice the Local community on optimal Domestic use of water”, and the Amman Baptist school on the project “Be an Inventor”

• The Award for 2003 was granted to institutions of Higher Education.
• The first one was with held.
• The second was shared between the University of Jordan for the project “Development and production of Rubidium Lamps and cells”, and the Jordan University for Science and Technology for the project “Nutritious Baby Cereal food production in Jordan”.
• The Third was shared between the Al-Balqa’ Applied University for the project “Technology Transfer and Implementation of Injection and Blow Molding Techniques”, and Princess Sumaya University for Technology for the project “Development of E-learning Solutions for Engineering and Scientific Fields”.

• The Award for 2004 was granted to Institutions of Vocational & Technical Education.
• The First one was conferred on the Princess Sarvath Community College for its project entitled “Learning difficulties project”.
• The Second was shared between the Al-Hussun College for its project entitled “The role of the college in the development of the local community and in the advancement of vocational and technical education in Jordan”, and the Vocational Training Corporation for the project entitled “The role of the (VTC) in controlling and eliminating poverty and unemployment”.
• The third one was shared between  the Lab rotary Center/ Ministry of Education for “The manufacture of a robot capable of moving photocells and thermal collectors to make use of solar energy”, and the Institute of Banking Studies for “The Development of the training and academic programs of the Institute”.

• Award Granted for 2005 was granted to Institutions of  General Education.

  • The first one was conferred on the Centre of Educational Excellence and Jubilee School for the project entitled “King Hussein Science Garden”.
  • The Second was shared between Jubeihah High School for Girls- Ministry of Education for the project entitled “At-Risk Children- Children between dropout and beggars” and Al-Dur Al-Manthour for the project entitled “The School that we want” .
  • "The third was also shared between Islamic Scientific College for the project “Student’s Curriculum for Success and Excellence”, and Baqa’a High School for Girls for the project “Book Binding & School Garden.”.

• The Award for the year 2006 was allocated to Institutions of Higher Education  as follows :

•  Faculty For Factory (FFF)” project of University of Jordan, and   “Research and Development Unit in e-learning and e-business (MEDFORIST)” project of Princess Sumaya University for Technology.

• Splitting the Second Award between two institutions; Yarmouk University for the project “Education diploma in Information and Communication Technology”, and Jordan Academy of Music for the project “Music curricula, grades from sixth until tenth”.

• Splitting the Third Award between two institutions; Jordan University of Science and Technology for the project “Princess Haya Biotechnology Centre” and University of Jordan for the project “The Doctor of Philosophy program in nursing”.

In Support of Science in Jordan, and in full appreciation thereto, the Higher Council for Science and Technology, pursuant to the provisions of Article VI-G of Law No. 30 for 1987, the Law of the Higher Council for Science and Technology, resolved the following:

Article I
An award, referred to as the "El- Hassan Bin Talal Award for Academic Excellence" shall be founded with a view to furthering educational, scientific, and technological activities in institutions concerned with education and training.

Article II
The Award shall be granted to national institutions (not to individuals) that have contributed, through academic, scientific, and technological achievements, to the development of education and training on the basis of their respective participation in the cultural, economic, and social aspects of life; and/or in the development of beneficial and viable curricular and extracurricular programs.

Article III
A. For purposes related to the grant of the Award, institutions shall be classified into three categories:

Category 1:  General Education institutions, with the exception of vocational and technical institutions.
Category 2:  Higher Education institutions, with the exception of vocational and technical institutions.
Category 3: Vocational and technical institutions

B. The Award shall be granted annually to one of the three categories mentioned in (A) above alternately.

Article IV
A.  A committee, referred to as the Award Committee, shall be formed under the chairmanship of Her Royal Highness Princess Sarvath El-Hassan, and shall include membership of six persons of recognized expertise and competence appointed by the Chairperson.
B.  The Committee shall take charge of the following functions:
- Supervising the affairs of the Award.
- Naming members of the Committee of Referees.
- Adopting the recommendations of the Committee of Referees.
C. The Committee shall convene in response to an invitation by its Chairperson. A meeting shall constitute a quorum in the event of an absolute majority of its members being present, including the Chairperson. Decisions shall be taken unanimously, or by majority vote of members present. In the event of a tie, the Chairperson shall have a casting vote.

Article V
A. The Award Committee shall annually form a Committee of Referees, comprising five members, for the purpose of appraising the projects presented by institutions, and recommending the winning projects.
B. In appraising the projects presented, the Committee of Referees shall take the following criteria into consideration:
1. Excellence
- That the achievement shall comprise new, or developed concepts, to be deemed of a higher standard over and above the common and conventional ones.
- That the concepts have actually been put to the test and proven fruitful.
- That the concepts shall aim at developing students and teachers alike.
2. Community Service
That the concerned institution, and other sections in the community, shall benefit from the achievement presented.

3. Other Aspects
- That the achievement presented shall be a specified project.
- That the achievement shall be presented as a teamwork and institutional effort.

Article VI
A. The Higher Council for Science and Technology shall allocate annually the sum of JD (15,000) fifteen thousand from its budget as follows:
- The sum of JD 5,000 (five thousand) is granted to the first award.
- The sum of JD 3,000 (three thousand) is granted to the second award.
-  The sum of JD 2,000 (two thousand) is granted to the third award.

The balance shall be allocated to cover the Award's expenses.

B. The winning institutions shall be granted special certificates of appreciation and medals.
Article VII
A winning institution may grant half the amount of its Award, as a maximum, to the group of persons that actively contributed to the attainment of the successful achievement.

Article VIII
Applications shall be forwarded to the Award's Bureau at the Secretariat-General of the Higher Council for Science and Technology no later than 31st January. The application shall enclose all relevant documents. Announcement of the winners shall be made on 20th March and awards are granted in a public ceremony.

Article IX
Grant of any of the awards may be withheld in the event of the work presented for the Award falling short of meeting the specified requirements.

Article X
A. An institution that has previously won the Award may not submit an application with a view to attaining the Award for the same achievement.
B. A work presented for the purpose of winning the Award shall not be one that has won, or has been presented with a view to winning, an award from any other party.

Article XI
The Award Committee and the Secretariat- General of the Higher Council for Science and Technology are hereby charged with the task of implementing the provisions of these Regulations.

For more information, please contact Ms Sahar Fakhoury sahar@hcst.gov.jo