Dubai International Academic City (DIAC), the region's centre for international higher education and a member of Tecom Investments, and its five partner universities will collaborate with the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation on its ‘Pioneers’ scholarship programme.
The British University in Dubai, Herriot Watt University, Michigan State University Dubai, Middlesex University, and the University of Wollongong are among the 13 universities in the region identified by the foundation to take forward its newly announced scholarship initiative. Its remaining partner universities are based in Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco.
The ‘Pioneers’ initiative offers 100 scholarships annually to underprivileged students across the Arab world aspiring to pursue their postgraduate studies. Any Arab student residing in an Arab country where a partner university is located will be eligible to apply for the scholarship.
Postgraduate students beginning their academic year in autumn this year will be the programme’s first set of beneficiaries. The grant will cover financial costs, including tuition fees and other related educational expenses for the entire duration of study.
“We acknowledge the gesture from our partner universities to be part of this important initiative, which seeks to encourage excellence among students and young professionals in the Arab region. As we work towards building a knowledge-based economy, we shall continue to spearhead and support activities that will further strengthen our educational system, in line with the objectives of Dubai Strategy 2015,” said executive director, Dubai Knowledge Village and Dubai International Academic City, Dr Ayoub Kazim.
The Pioneer Programme, part of the foundation’s commitment to invest in the region's knowledge development and capacity building, is aimed at harnessing the potential of promising Arab students.
Launched in May 2007 with an endowment of $10 billion, the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation seeks to invest in a series of programmes to provide the necessary infrastructure and set the appropriate environment for knowledge creation in the Arab world.
DIAC provides facilities to accommodate higher education institutions as well as the opportunity for top-tier global universities to create their own identity by establishing their campus in Dubai.
Currently, the Tecom Investments’ knowledge clusters host over 20 reputed international universities from the US, the UK, Belgium, Iran, Russia, Australia, France and the Indian Subcontinent. – TradeArabia News Service