Khalifa university starts first academic year after merger
Khalifa University, Masdar Institute and Petroleum Institute were merged last year
The Khalifa University of Science and Technology, which was established after merging three institutions, has started its first academic year, with 3,500 students enrolled across its undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for the new term.
The decree, which was passed in October last year, announced that Khalifa University, Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, and the Petroleum Institute would all be consolidated into one major university. The objective of the merger was to pool all of the universities’ resources and capabilities with the goal of creating one of the best universities in the world.
The classes at the university began in the last week of August.
“It’s a really exciting time with a plenty of things happening at once, not just with the merger but also with the physical expansion of the university happening at the same time. It’s always busy around this time of the year with the new academic term starting, but even more so now given the changes,” said Dr Tod Laursen, interim president, Khalifa University of Science and Technology.
Dr Laursen said that the university received over 6,000 applications from prospective students for the new academic year, with 500 of them being accepted. “In terms of the total number of students attending the university, it will be larger than before. We had over 6,000 applications from students and only accepted 500 new students; this is part of our mandate to be very selective.
“It’s good news for the students who have been accepted with us because they really went through a he added.
Dr Laursen acknowledged that the merger was a challenge for the heads and faculty of the three institutions, but that the process went well, and that he was confident about the continued growth and success coming out of the merger.
“It’s a very big job to get this done, that’s for sure, and there were challenges that we had to go through. Each campus had its own culture and way of doing things, the things that rigorous process,” might sound boring but are actually very important, like how things are approved — for example, if a student wants to drop a class,” he said.
Dr Laursen said the merger would also present several advantages for both students and faculty, primarily in the areas of research. “The good thing for our students is they have access to all three campuses now. Previously, while not impossible, it was more difficult for a student to access the laboratories and facilities of another institution.”