Qatar Foundation signs partnership with UK's Imperial College London and University of Oxford

A centre for robotic surgery will be established with Imperial College London at the recently opened Qatar Science & Technology Park, where commercially-oriented research and development is being conducted alongside branches of six leading US universities.

The Foundation has also endowed a chair of Islamic Studies at the University of Oxford. The appointee will work closely with Qatar Foundation's Faculty of Islamic Studies and with the Qatar Museums Authority.

The announcements coincided with a visit to the Foundation's flagship Education City campus by British Prime Minister The Rt Hon Gordon Brown MP.

Qatar Foundation hosts a community of elite international partners dedicated to education, research and community development at the spectacular campus on the outskirts of the Qatari capital, Doha. Future plans include the Sidra Academic Medical Centre, funded by a 7.9 billion US-dollar endowment, with a threefold mission of clinical care, medical education and biomedical research.

The Qatar Robotic Surgery Centre will demonstrate medical robotic technology, train students and surgeons from Qatar and the region, and participate in further development of the technology which enables operations to be conducted to a degree of precision far beyond the capabilities of the human hand.

The endowment of the His Highness Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani Chair in Contemporary Islamic Studies at Oxford University will include conferences, lecture series, seminars and joint publications. The post-holder will be a member of the Faculty of Oriental Studies and a fellow of St Antony's College, where the Middle East Centre is based.

The Rt Hon Gordon Brown said: "I welcome the increasingly close educational and research links between top British universities and Qatar Foundation. These two announcements form exciting new strands to our shared pursuit of technological and academic excellence. I congratulate Qatar Foundation, Imperial College London and Oxford University."

Qatar Foundation President Dr Mohammed Fathy Saoud said:

"Qatar Foundation is creating one of the world's most exciting educational and research clusters because it knows the Middle East region's future lies in the development of human capital and the application of knowledge. We are partnering with elite universities that are leaders in select areas of education and research. Oxford University and Imperial College will make the UK's first substantial contribution to the creation of a knowledge-based society in the heart of the Middle East."

Sir Roy Anderson, Rector of Imperial College London, said: "Imperial College looks to translate research advances into innovations that improve quality of life, and we are thrilled that Qatar Foundation's appetite for innovation matches our own. The use of robotic devices in medicine is a field that holds a great deal of promise, and this is a wonderful opportunity for Imperial College to help make tangible contributions to Qatar's scientific and medical development."

Dr John Hood, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford, said:

"The establishment of the new chair in contemporary Islamic studies opens an exciting new era of exchange and cooperation between Oxford and the Middle East, through the Qatar Faculty of Islamic Studies. Given the importance of Islam today, both in European society and in world affairs generally, there could be no subject of greater importance for Oxford's Middle East studies community to address. We look forward to working with our colleagues in this excellent new centre, to promote a new generation of thinkers in Europe and the Muslim world committed to innovative scholarship and mutual understanding."