Held under the patronage of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and in the presence of His Highness the Deputy Amir Sheikh Abdullah bin Hamad al-Thani, Qatar University (QU) marked the graduation of its 41st batch of male students on Sunday.
Certificates were handed over to 808 graduates in various disciplines at the ceremony held at the new Sports & Events Complex at QU, QNA said.
A total of 2,562 female students will graduate Monday for the academic year of Fall 2017 and Winter, Spring and Summer 2018.
The ceremony was attended by HE the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani and a number of Their Excellencies Sheikhs and ministers, along with members of the university's administration and faculty and students' parents.
His Highness the Deputy Amir presented the certificates to some of the meritorious students while Dr Hassan bin Rashid al-Derham, president of QU, gave certificates to other graduates.
Dr al-Derham congratulated the graduates and addressed the gathering that included students, parents and friends of the graduates as well as a large number of invited guests. He highlighted the achievements of QU in the recent years as well as the improvement in international rankings of the university as well as the number of international accreditations for various departments of the university.
QU president Dr Hassan bin Rashid al-Derham addressing the gathering.
QU president Dr Hassan bin Rashid al-Derham presents the certificate to a graduate.
“As we celebrate today this batch of distinguished graduates, we are witnessing an important milestone in the history of our beloved homeland. The people of Qatar and its residents have shown a unique loyalty and show of solidarity to our wise leadership, who led the country amid the unjust siege that sought to hijack the prosperity of our country,” said Dr al- Derham.
He said QU is working in partnership with various sectors to bring about a qualitative leap in the education standards. “Qatar University is a national university in which Qatari society is witnessing a revitalisation. This shift coincides with the international trends and the Qatar National Vision 2030. In recent years, the university has achieved a high place in the list of the best universities in the world. QU continues to be ranked first in the International Outlook indicator in the overall Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings list for the fourth time in a row,” he noted.
“We, at Qatar University are working on developing social and human sciences in our academic programmes, in our study plans, as well as in the development of scientific research methods and research centres. We are making these efforts so that the University can address the issues of the Qatari society and the challenges it faces due to the rapid economic and social developments. The University also strives to promote values of work, competence, excellence, values of belonging and identity, with intellectual openness and innovation,"explained the president.
Deans of the Colleges at QU
A section of the graduates
According to him, QU is working on developing applied science programmes in various disciplines. “Our researchers have also been able to interact with the challenges of Qatari society. For example, our scientists have developed a modern technique to cool open sport arenas. This technology was successfully used at Khalifa International Stadium and is being developed for use in the cooling of agricultural greenhouses in support of our food security,” he said.
Dr al-Derham added that researchers from QU in collaboration with other universities, have made a leap forward in developing engineered living heart valves.
