By Mohamed Osman
DOHA: The Doha Institute for Graduate Studies announced the opening of admissions for master's programs at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities and the School of Public Administration and Development Economics for the 2016-2017 academic year.
“The Doha Institute is the result of four consecutive years of continuous and hard work aimed to bring about a renaissance to Qatar and the Arab world,” said Acting President of the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies Professor Yasir Suleiman Malley during a meeting with press.
While Professor Suleiman Malley elaborated on the traits and specialties of the current DI faculty and the agreements fostered with universities in the region to recruit new students, the Vice President for Administration and Finance Dr Hend Al Muftah highlighted the accomplishments of the DI since its inception such as offering degrees in 13 programs of study.
“Earlier this year we received our license as a national institution of higher education by the Supreme Education Council of Qatar…, and we are also hosting our first international conference in March 2016,” said Dr Al Muftah.
The institute, which offers master’s programmes, began its first academic year on October 4 and will soon launch a portal for online admissions.
New programmes will be added in the next academic year and will include studies about settlement of disputes and humanitarian aids, in addition to a PhD programme, which will start after two years.
To attract excellent students from various countries, the institute is signing agreements with some universities to attract hundreds of students, beside online admissions which will be launched early next month.
“The idea of the institute was mooted in 2011, and since then we have had a lot of achievements, including setting up organisational, academic and administrative structures and regulations,” said Dr Al Muftah.
Al Muftah was speaking with Suleiman at a press conference on Thursday at Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies.
Some 40 professors from different nationalities have been roped in to teach at the institute and at least nine academic programmes have been launched for the first batch of 148 students.
The institute has been licensed as an independent academic entity by the Supreme Education Council (SEC) and has received accreditation from Qatar National Research Fund as a research entity based in Doha.
The School of Public Administration and Development Economics has been approved to become a full member of the Network of Schools of Public Policy Affairs and Administration, known as NASPAA Company, for three of its programmes, said Al Muftah. “This is an advanced and encouraging step for academic accreditation which can’t be achieved before at least two to three batches have graduated.”
Dr Abdulrahim Binhada, Associate Professor at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, who was also present at the press conference, said though the institute is new and admission criteria are strict, “we have registered 900 students, of whom 148 were selected to join the institute with full scholarships”. Thanks to local media coverage and visits to nine Arab countries, the institute contacted 150 Arab university presidents and 100 deans of faculties of social sciences.
He said majority of students at the institute are Qataris and the rest are from other countries, including European countries. “We have students from Estonia and Bulgaria as well.”
On upcoming events, Al Muftah disclosed that the institute will host the 15th international conference of the Middle East Economic Association from March 23 to 25, 2016.
It will be attended by over 214 researchers and academics who will discuss the impact of oil price downslide on producers and oil price fluctuations.
The institute signed, a year ago, a memorandum of understanding with Excellence Training Center to implement 148 training programmes for public sector leadership staff. Of these, 85 programmes have been implemented and some 139 government employees benefited, Al Muftah added.
The institute has two faculties — the School of Social Sciences and Humanities and the School of Public Administration and Development Economics, in addition to a language centre. The school offers programmes of study in philosophy, history, sociology and anthropology, politics and international relations, linguistics and Arabic lexicography, comparative literature and media and cultural studies. The institute also offers full scholarships to students, covering tuition fees and taking care of accommodation and transportation expenses. In addition, a student is entitled to receive QR1,500 a month in cash and allowed to make some money through paid work, said Binhada.
The Peninsula
