AS PART OF its recent branding exercise, Ahlia University in Bahrain created a statement that sought to capture what the university stands for. “Your Global Future Begins Here”—the key word of which is “global”— epitomises the university’s mission. That’s because, since its inception in 2001, internationalisation has been at the heart of the university’s strategy. Early on, the university established an alliance with Brunel University in
the UK, allowing students to spend half of their four-year course in Bahrain and half at Brunel, either at the College of Business Arts and Social Sciences or at the College of Engineering and Technology. “This was the first real instance of collaboration and cooperation
between a Western research university and a university in the Middle East,” says Professor Abdulla Yousif Al-Hawaj, President.
COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH It’s a collaboration that has gone from strength to strength—its most recent development being a non-residence PhD delivered by Brunel but based in Bahrain. “Relations have grown with Brunel, as has their confidence with the standard of our university,” he says. “This led to a further agreement to launch our first PhD programme. It’s a Brunel PhD without residence, which is very attractive to our students.” Indeed, research is a key element of Bahrain’s 2030 vision, in which the university plays a key part by strengthening the country’s research culture. Ahlia University also has an affiliation with The George Washington
University in Washington DC, offering its master’s programme in Engineering Management. “This is one of the largest engineering master’s programmes in the world,” says Professor Al-Hawaj. “We took this opportunity so that Bahrain can become a hub in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, and a hub in the Middle East to implant important technology. This will help
change the research culture in the Kingdom of Bahrain and begin to give it more value. It’s crucial for our economic prosperity in the future.” Founded in 2001, the university is located in the capital city of Manama and houses some 2,500 students. Plans are afoot to build a new purpose- built campus in a prime location, representing a multimillion-Bahraini dinar investment that will include a teaching hospital alongside state-of- the-art teaching and research facilities. It will extend the university’s reach to 10,000 students. “There is a great demand for investment in education as part of the future vision of the country,” says the professor.
INVENTING THE FUTURE The new campus will also host a society to support Bahraini inventors. The idea was instigated by the success of alumna Amina Alhawaj, a physiotherapy graduate and Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine who, in 2013, became the British Inventors Society’s first ambassador for inventors in the Arab world. Her devices, which assist physiotherapy patients with the movement of their lower limbs, have won multiple prizes worldwide. “This gave us the eagerness to push forward with the society,” says
Professor Al-Hawaj. “We have the full support of the government of Bahrain, even the king is supporting this idea. It’s important for inventors and young scientists that we look after them and give them the right environment. Sometimes the idea is there but they need support. “The very important thing about Ahlia University,” he continues, “is that,
as a private enterprise, we believed in global collaboration from the beginning. We want to implant research and technology into our university, using the expertise from the West. It’s a real collaboration between western research and a young, forward-thinking Middle Eastern university.”
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