UAE President orders establishment of new university for humanities

Mohamed bin Zayed University for Humanities will offer programmes in social studies, humanities and philosophy

United Arab Emirates University in Al Ain has a strong standing in research and offers one of the country's main medicine degrees. Randi Sokoloff / The National

Khalifa University has rapidly climbed the global rankings in recent years but was knocked off the UAE top spot this year by UAEU. It boasts a nuclear engineering school staffed by top nuclear scientists, many of them from South Korea. Chris Whiteoak / The National

With its its striking architecture, American University of Sharjah offers about two dozen major degrees including humanities, engineering and business to about 5,000 students. It often scores strongly in global rankings and is particularly popular with Arab expat students. Alamy Photo

University of Sharjah was established in 1997 and is one of the country's largest, with about 14,000 students enroled. It also has campuses in the town of Dhaid and in Kalba, in Sharjah's east coast enclave. Wikicommons

President Sheikh Khalifa on Monday issued a law to set up the Mohamed bin Zayed University for Humanities.

The university will offer bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees in social studies, humanities and philosophy.

It will have cultural and academic ties and student exchange programmes with local and international institutes, state news agency Wam reported.

The university will also sponsor academic research and training programmes for graduates.

Public seminars, conferences and training courses will be organised to support innovation and entrepreneurship in the country.

A board of trustees will approve and oversee the university’s general policy and plans.

These will be evaluated against the foundation goals. The trustees will also approve the budget, programmes, curricula and educational and training programmes.

They will also set up endowment funds.

On Monday, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, issued a resolution to establish the university's board, chaired by Dr Hamdan Al Mazrouei.

Other board members include Vice Chair Sara Musallam, who is also chairwoman of Abu Dhabi Department of Education Knowledge, and Maryam AlMheiri, vice chairwoman of TwoFour54, among others.

"We aim to make MBZUH a leader in humanities and an embodiment of distinction and brilliance to be deserving of the name it carries - Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed," said Dr Al Mazrouei.

He said the establishment of the university was a reflection of the emirate's vision for education to advance knowledge and academic progress, especially in the fields of philosophy and ethics.

A director will also be appointed to run the university and be responsible for academic, financial and administrative affairs.