QU president Sheikha Abdulla al-Misnad, and Stephane Michel, Total managing director, exchange documents after signing the memorandum of understanding
Qatar University (QU), in partnership with Total Qatar, is taking further steps to strengthen its links between education and industry with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by Sheikha Abdulla al-Misnad, QU president and Stephane Michel, Total managing director and Group Representative in Qatar in the presence of Jean-Christophe Peaucelle, Ambassador of France to Qatar, and Mazen Hasna, QU Dean College of Engineering (CENG).
The partnership is academic-based, where the main focus is the development of engineering students’ abilities, faculty support, and research.
This initiative will enhance the educational content that will link the oil and gas and energy industry with research and higher education.
Academic support will be in the form of courses organised and sponsored by Total Professors Associates (TPA), an expert association involved in oil and gas. The first session of lectures will start in February next year until May.
Internships will also be offered to QU students, whereby QU and Total Qatar will work together to identify the areas of study that would benefit from internships and give more opportunities for the students to be involved in a practical working and learning environment. 
In addition, Total will provide sponsorships and scholarships  to talented students, where they will be supported financially to study in Qatar or in France.  Total Summer School is also one of the opportunities that will be offered to QU undergraduate and graduate students.  It is a one-week intensive programme in Paris which attracts over 100 students from 30 different countries and engages them in in-depth discovery of the global challenges faced by the energy industry.
QU students will also be afforded the opportunity to conduct research in chemical engineering, chemistry, petrochemicals, and the environment at the laboratories of Total Research Centre Qatar (TRCQ) located at Qatar Science Technology Park (QSTP).
Faculty will also be supported by being invited to participate in an annual international seminar to discuss the challenges of the energy industry and their impact on education. 
Commenting on the MoU, al-Misnad said: “It is important that our students will benefit from this partnership as we place great emphasis on closing the gap between what they learn in the classroom and practical involvement on-site, in the field, in laboratories, and in the workplace.  We are also pleased that our faculty will also be provided support so that they can keep up-to-date with new and emerging trends and translate this knowledge to the students.  This partnership will be of considerable benefit to all parties concerned and ultimately to the wider community”. 
Stephane Michel said: “Over the years, we have come to appreciate how productive it is to work with QU. Our HR division is very much involved with the students through internships, scholarships, career days and other events. Today we are initiating a completely new dimension to this collaboration.  For us, this is a key step forward to achieve successful Qatarisation, which means recruiting more Qatari nationals as well as offering our support to the Qatari community at large”.
CENG Dean Mazen Hasna noted that the agreement is one aspect of the co-operation activities between Qatar University and Total in the area of energy and will contribute to the National Qatarisation Strategy for the energy and industry sector. “This agreement will have a positive impact on  the students’ learning experience, and will provide new research opportunities for faculty members and graduate students”, he said.
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