MBZUAI ranked among world's top computer science institutions

CSRankings has placed artificial intelligence university in Abu Dhabi as the 127th best globally

An official at the launch of Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial intelligence in Masdar City, Abu Dhabi. AI is central to the UAE's economic growth agenda. Chris Whiteoak / The National

From left, Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Dr Ahmad Al Falasi and Omar Al Olama at the launch of the university. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The university has teamed up with IBM to open a research centre at its Masdar City campus. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Self-driving taxis in Abu Dhabi. The UAE intends to become one of the leading AI nations by 2031. AFP

MBZUAI has developed a curriculum and programmes that support academic research to contribute to tackling real-world challenges. AFP

A robot outside the Dutch pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai. New districts are being built in the UAE, with artificial intelligence at their core. AFP

Ajman's first self-driving bus goes on its first official drive with Sheikh Rashid bin Humaid, director of the Ajman Municipality and Planning Department, and Mr Al Olama onboard.

MBZUAI is the only graduate-level university in the world singularly focused on developing AI tools. Photo: MBZUAI

Through the IBM Skills Academy programme, MBZUAI will have access to lectures, labs, industry use cases and design-thinking sessions. Photo: MBZUAI

Dr Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and chairman of the MBZUAI board of trustees, has in the past emphasised the UAE's plans to use AI as a transformative tool to support its development. Chris Whiteoak / The National

MBZUAI offers an executive programme to equip UAE government and business leaders with practical skills to tap into the benefits of cutting-edge technology. AFP

The Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi has been ranked among the world's top institutions for computer science.

CSRankings rated MBZUAI as the 127th in the world. This ranking places the Abu Dhabi university alongside institutions such as Notre Dame, the University of Liverpool, the Weizmann Institute of Science, Osaka University, Paris's Ecole normale superieure and other prestigious international schools.

In just two years after opening its doors to students, the university has performed well among institutions that conduct research in computer science including AI, systems, theory, and interdisciplinary areas such as robotics, computer graphics, visualisation, and more.

In the areas that MBZUAI currently focuses on — AI, computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing — it has been ranked 30th globally.

For this particular area, it has been placed ahead of several renowned research universities worldwide, such as the University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, and the University of Toronto in North America; Imperial College London, EPFL and the Max Planck Society in Europe; and the University of Tokyo, Seoul National University, and the University of Sydney in the Asia-Pacific region.

MBZUAI can now claim to be the top-ranked CS institution in the Arab world, and in the Middle East and Africa. CSRankings includes Israel as part of Europe.

Carnegie Mellon University; the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Peking University; the University of California, San Diego; Cornell University; the Georgia Institute of Technology; the University of Michigan and Stanford University took the overall top slots.

Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology and Chairman of MBZUAI's Board of Trustees, said: "Today, MBZUAI has achieved a significant milestone as it has been ranked 30th globally by CSRankings in AI, computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing, placing it alongside elite, global research universities.

"This progress would not have been achieved without the vision, guidance and support of the leadership, and the sincere efforts of the MBZUAI team.

"Achieving such recognition is a demonstration of the UAE’s commitment to developing a knowledge-based economy through fostering AI-driven research and innovation, as well as empowering youth to become future leaders in this strategic sector.”

CSRankings says it is entirely metrics-based. Its rankings are designed to identify institutions and faculties actively engaged in computer science research. They take into account the number of research papers and publications by the faculty that have appeared at the most selective conferences in each area of computer science.

MBZUAI was established in October 2019 and is led by Prof Eric Xing who works alongside 33 faculty members that come from organisations that lead the CSRankings list. The university is committed to significant growth in the coming years.

The university is also teaming up with US technology company IBM to open a research centre at its Masdar City campus to develop products.

Graduation ceremony of MBZUAI students in May - in pictures