ABU DHABI // Faculty members and students say they are optimistic about the merger of Khalifa University, Masdar Institute and the Petroleum Institute.
A proposal to unify the three post-secondary institutions “under the umbrella of one single university” was approved by the Abu Dhabi Executive Council last week.
“The merger aims at placing the unified university among the best universities in the world, and at exploiting existing infrastructures and building on the achievements that have been made in all three universities,” the state news agency Wam said.
“It also seeks to reach a high level of operational efficiency that ensures the optimal use of resources. In addition, the new entity will maintain the current strength points of the three universities while building upon the capacities of each of them and improving multidisciplinary academic and research activities, and research achievements in order to preserve their local and global reputation.”
About 4,508 students are enrolled across the three institutions. While they wait for more details to be released about how the merger will proceed and on what timeline, faculty and students welcomed the amalgamation.
“We at Khalifa University definitely view this decision with optimism about the future,” said Khalifa University president Dr Tod A Laursen.
“The university that will result from this merger will have a critical mass that will be greater than the sum of its parts, and I am really enthusiastic about the enhanced opportunities for world-class scholarship and research that will be made available to faculty, staff and students. It will be our honor to work with colleagues from Masdar and the Petroleum Institute to make this happen.”
Dr Laursen praised the government’s “strong commitment” to “continue building a university that will be amongst the world’s elite”.
“This has been our commitment from the beginning at KU, and I know it is a sentiment and approach shared by Petroleum Institute and Masdar Institute. The achievements made to date, including but not limited to KU’s emergence in world rankings of top universities, is good evidence that this goal is achievable and that a great foundation is in place to build upon.”
Petroleum Institute president Dr Thomas Hochstettler said the campus community looked forward to partnering with KU and Masdar.
“For all of us at the Petroleum Institute – faculty, staff, and students alike – the prospect of joining forces with our colleagues at the Masdar Institute and Khalifa University is bright with promise for growth and ever greater collaboration,” said Dr Hochstettler. “I personally am confident that this new concentration of resources under one umbrella will allow Abu Dhabi to create a truly great university with a global reach. At one stroke, the Abu Dhabi Executive Council has established the basis for turning Abu Dhabi into a world-class higher-education destination. This is a vision that the three institutions can embrace with great energy and enthusiasm.”
Mohamed Almessabi, a mechanical engineering student at the Petroleum Institute, said the merger presents a “huge opportunity” for the higher education landscape of Abu Dhabi.
“It will definitely benefit the students academically and socially, and I hope that the success of developing the new university will exceed our expectations in the quality of the education and facilities,” said Mr Almessabi.
“Of course, the merging will be difficult at the beginning because every university follows a specific and special curriculum towards teaching the students, and different ways to facilitate the students with their needs. However, I believe through time the universities will come to an agreement that will benefit us all. And I look forward to seeing what it will become.”
Masdar Institute tweeted: “The synergy between the 3 academic institutes will enhance #MasdarInst continued contribution to #R&D in advanced energy & sustainable tech.”
For the time being, however, Masdar tweeted that “all academic and research activities of the #MasdarInst will continue as usual”.
rpennington@thenational.ae
