Deputy Amir graces QU graduation ceremony
Since its inception in the 1970s, it has become the country’s premier institution providing education to more than 40,000 students and is the fastest growing research centre in the region
Held under the patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and in the presence of His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani, Qatar University (QU) marked the graduation of its 41st batch of male students yesterday.
Certificates were handed over to 808 graduates in various disciplines at the ceremony held at the new Sports & Events Complex at QU, QNA said.
A total of 2,562 female students will graduate today for the academic year of Fall 2017 and Winter, Spring and Summer 2018.
The ceremony was attended by HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani and a number of their excellencies Sheikhs and ministers, along with members of the university’s administration and faculty and students’ parents.
His Highness the Deputy Amir presented the certificates to some of the meritorious students while Dr Hassan bin Rashid al-Derham, president of QU, gave certificates to other graduates.
Dr al-Derham congratulated the graduates and addressed the gathering that included students, parents and friends of the graduates as well as a large number of invited guests. He highlighted the achievements of QU in the recent years as well as the improvement in international rankings of the university as well as the number of international accreditations for various departments of the university.
“As we celebrate today this batch of distinguished graduates, we are witnessing an important milestone in the history of our beloved homeland. The people of Qatar and its residents have shown a unique loyalty and show of solidarity to our wise leadership, who led the country amid the unjust siege that sought to hijack the prosperity of our country,” said Dr al-Derham.
He said QU is working in partnership with various sectors to bring about a qualitative leap in the education standards. “Qatar University is a national university in which Qatari society is witnessing a revitalisation. This shift coincides with the international trends and the Qatar National Vision 2030. In recent years, the university has achieved a high place in the list of the best universities in the world. QU continues to be ranked first in the International Outlook indicator in the overall Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings list for the fourth time in a row,” he noted.
“We, at Qatar University are working on developing social and human sciences in our academic programmes, in our study plans, as well as in the development of scientific research methods and research centres. We are making these efforts so that the University can address the issues of the Qatari society and the challenges it faces due to the rapid economic and social developments. The University also strives to promote values of work, competence, excellence, values of belonging and identity, with intellectual openness and innovation,” explained the president.
Qatar University this week is graduating 3,370 students, increasing the total number of graduates since its establishment in the 1970s to 43,000, 30,000 of which are Qataris. The decree of establishing QU was issued on June 8, 1977, under Law No 2. In 1974, the name suggested for the university before it was established was the Green Book of the Gulf University; the book includes a thorough study of higher education, its plans and stages in Qatar.
The commencement of study at the College of Education was advertised in the academic year 1973-1974; two school buildings were made ready for students, the first building was for the Teacher Training College (males) while the second was the Teacher Training College (females).
The college started offering various scientific majors such as Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Biology, Geology; students were granted a bachelor degree in science and education. These programmes were the basis on which the College of Sciences was established later on.
Non-Scientific majors were also introduced beginning with Geography, History, English and Arabic Languages, Sociology and Community Service.
Students were granted a bachelor degree in Arts and Education; similarly, these majors turned to be the basis of the subsequent College of Humanities in addition to the Islamic Studies major, which was the basis for establishing the College of Shari’a and Islamic Studies.
After the issuance of the University Establishment Law in December 1977, there appeared what was known as a “Blue Book”, which is a study of the QU history outlining the QU plans until the end of the 1990s. Then, planning to have permanent buildings began with the forming of the Foundational Committee whose designs and studies were finalised in 1977 and construction works began since then until they were completed in 1985.
Since its launch it has become Qatar’s premier higher education institution, providing quality education and is the fastest growing research centre in the region. QU has been the pulse of the community, centre for enlightenment and has contributed providing the society with qualified alumnus, who hold senior positions and are elite scientists, consultants and researchers from all disciplines.
Throughout the years, the university has been interacting with the community and contributing to its development using its academic and research expertise. It has been expanding its colleges, departments and academic programmes to meet the needs of achieving Qatar National Vision 2030.
Today, QU comprises nine colleges: Arts and Sciences; Business and Economics; Education; Engineering; Health Sciences; Law; Medicine; Pharmacy; and Shari’a and Islamic Studies. Over the years, the University has continually expanded its wide range of new programmes ensuring they are aligned with the growing needs of the labour market and the aspirations of the society it serves.
QU is committed to providing quality education in nearly 84 undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, including 41 graduate programmes, eight PhD programmes, four diploma programmes, 27 master’s programmes and a pharmacy degree under the name of Doctor of Pharmacy. Recently, the university has shifted from the development phase to a transformational phase, as per its new five-year strategy (2018-2022), a shift based on a clear vision that reflects the orientations of the wise leadership of Qatar and the Board of Trustees of the University.
The vision of QU is to be regionally recognised for distinctive excellence in education and research, an institution of choice for students and scholars and a catalyst for the sustainable socio-economic development of Qatar.
This transformation promotes what can be defined as the QU model, which works to portray the university as a national university, distinct from the rest of the educational institutions and has a leading role in the quality of education, and strengthen its path as a community partner catalyst in national development. The university aims to provide academic programmes and research projects based on international and international standards, whilst taking into account elements of Arab and Islamic culture and identity, and preparing a generation of distinctive national leaders.
QU has developed seven core strategies which are Teaching and Learning Strategy, Student Experience Strategy, Research and Knowledge Advancement Strategy, Institutional Excellence Strategy, Engagement Strategy, Digital Transformation strategy and Entrepreneurship and Innovation Strategy. These strategies have resulted in 34 objectives, causing 122 strategic initiatives undertaken by the university is committed to implement throughout 2022.
In its quest to excel internationally and under the management of national cadres, Qatar University has set as its priority the preparation and construction of a second row of leaders, Qatari academics as well as, who are set to continue the march in the future, especially after it has become a well established foundation. In this context, Qatar University has recruited more than 130 new Qatari faculty members over the past four years and currently has more than 100 Qatari youth of both sexes who have been carefully selected and sent to the world’s best universities to return back equipped with new and diverse scientific experiences. In the area of scientific research, which is a central part of the process of international assessment of universities, Qatar University began to define its research objectives, which consists of three main elements namely building research capacity; ensuring quality in research projects and being able to compete and influence the global scientific research movement and to contribute to building a knowledge economy.
The University of Qatar’s scientific research is experiencing a remarkable boom, with the total funding received by the university from the National Priorities Programme for Scientific Research has reached $207.3mn in addition to a grant of $4.5mn in the special proposals category.
In the academic year (20172018), the University received 80 research projects funded by Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF). QU also has research partnerships with 332 local and international institutions. Qatar University has also succeeded in increasing the number of research papers by 422% between 2010 and 2017.
Researchers at the university have been able to publish more than 1,400 research papers in 2017. The university currently has 13 patents, registered during the period 2013-2018.
Qatar University’s scientific research sector has made many achievements over the past years, including that when the University’s scientists and researchers developed a modern open-air cooling technology to successfully be used in Khalifa International Stadium. The technology is expected to be used in agricultural greenhouses. Researchers from Qatar University have also succeeded in converting 200 strains of micro-algae extracted from the local environment into useful products, such as ecofriendly biofuels, supplements, and organic fertiliser additives.
In addition, the University has recorded a major international success after a number of its scientists, together with scientists from international universities, have developed live artificial heart valves that can function as natural heart valves and grow after implantation into the human heart.
On the level of international ranking, the University has been keenly concerned with what is known as the international ranking of universities. It has also endeavoured to achieve the academic accreditation for many of its faculties and programmes in order to guarantee the quality of the education provided. The University climbed 17 positions in the QS Universities ranking from the previous ranking to reach the 332 position globally and seventh position among Arab universities.
With regard to the classification of universities in the emerging economies (BRICS), Qatar University ranked 35th in the ranking of Times Higher Education (THE), which is a significant progress from the result of the previous year.
At the level of academic departments, the department of electrical engineering came in the category of 176-200 at the level of the world’s universities according to THE, which is another achievement added to the achievements of Qatar University.
With regard to academic accreditation, which is the second element of academic quality measurement, a number of Qatar University’s colleges and programmes have been accredited by international accreditation institutions, covering a large proportion of the programmes and disciplines at the university.
In terms of infrastructure, Qatar University is developing its infrastructure, according to its Master Plan, to the highest standards, and establishing new buildings for students, colleges, research centres, administrative services and parking.
This year, the 22,000sq m College of Pharmacy building is expected to be inaugurated. The 26,600sq m sports and event building will be also inaugurated in addition to the building of a dynamic wind research centre, as well as the medical biomedical laboratory of the third level of safety. With regard to car parks, the current parking area is currently being developed near to the male student activities building, increasing its area to accommodate 504 cars instead of the previous (168 cars only).
The university plan includes a number of buildings to be operational this year (2018-2019), including the administrative office building project and the establishment of a water distribution network. There are many new buildings to be built in the coming years, including the buildings of College of Medicine and Health Sciences, College of Shari’a and Islamic Studies, the students testing centre, and the chemical warehouses.
The university is progressing in a balanced way. Its academic success is matched by research success which contributed to the rise of the university’s ranks among international universities, in addition to the significant infrastructure progress that responds to expansion plans in the scientific, research and academic fields.
The university also seeks to attract the most qualified scientists, academics and researchers from Qatar and other countries in order to form a true success story in the process of higher education in Qatar.