Regarding the rise in the international rankings, HE QU President Dr. Hassan Rashid Al Derham explained that rankings are not a goal that the university actively seeks, but rather are a byproduct of QU’s plans, programs, and initiatives.
He expressed his pride in QU’s great progress in international rankings, where for the second consecutive year QU ranked second place in the QS Quacquarelli Symonds ranking for Arab universities 2023.
He also pointed out that since 2018, QU has risen in ranking four times, jumping from the 224th place in 2022 to the 208th place in 2023 – a 16 ranks jump.
Al Derham stated that the Shanghai ranking ranked QU among the best 600 universities world-wide, whereas the Times Higher Education (THE) ranks QU among the top 6 universities when it comes to the international Expectations Index for the 7th year in a row.
In a related context, HE Dr. Hassan Al Derham indicated that the university is ranked among the best 25 performance providers globally, according to the U-Multirank index of joint international publications issued in 2021.
His Excellency stressed that these advanced rankings did not come out of a vacuum, rather are a result of QU’s adherence to the various international standards set the issuing institutions, the most prominent of which are academic reputation, the ratio of international students, the ratio of students to faculty members, and the university’s scientific research outputs in all academic disciplines as well as QU’s significant impact on academic citation.
As for facilities and infrastructure, His Excellency explained that QU has built a number of huge buildings in recent years, including the College of Law building, the College of Education building, the Student Activities building, the Sports and Events building, the Ibn Al Bitar building for the College of Pharmacy, the student dorms and the temporary and visiting teaching staff members accommodation, the university club, the College of Engineering building, and the expansion of car parking lots.
He also pointed out that QU established an advanced and strong technological infrastructure that enabled it to adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic through switching to distance learning within a matter of a few days.
HE Dr. Al Derham revealed that QU intends to construct a building for the College of Medicine and a building for administrative services.
Regarding the Qatar University Holding Company launched about a year ago, Dr. Al Derham explained that the company is still in its infancy, yet is a promising beginning containing many opportunities, adding that if something is established upon sound foundations, then results will be satisfactory.
His Excellency indicated that the company’s goal is to make economic development a fundamental pillar for QU, alongside education and academic research, setting the environment for the emergence of small and medium-size companies that embrace ideas and research to turn them into projects.
He said that Qatar University Holding Company stimulates and encourages creativity, promotes positive competition, and assures researchers that their ideas will not remain as just ink on paper.
HE QU President also considered the establishment of the company as the fruit of QU’s current and future strategy towards a historic leap forward for QU, through which it will transition from a traditional or semi-modern learning model to a student-centered learning model based on research, experimentation, and innovation.
He went on to say that the creative ideas of QU students, researchers, and faculty members are embraced and materialized into actual projects in support of Qatar’s leap towards a sustainable knowledge-based economy.
His Excellency highlighted the launch of two spinoff companies under the umbrella of Qatar University Holding Company: Genesis Technologies LLC, an emerging company in the Fintech sector, and ClearExhaust LLC, an emerging company that specializes in designing technologies to reduces diesel engine carbon emissions.
Dr. Al Derham added that this is only the beginning and that a number of other research and innovation-based companies are underway to being establish.
Concluding his speech to QNA, HE QU President affirmed that QU is a source of pride for every Qatari and Arab due to its record of accomplishments.
Source: Qatar News Agency
