KV announces Dubai Knowledge Universities

The initiative will provide a vibrant educational ecosystem for a culturally-diverse academic community to flourish. It will be located in the heart of "Academic City" being developed close to Emirates Road.

The announcement is consistent with the Dubai Executive Council's proposal approved by HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence Minister in early November, 2004 to develop Dubai as an educational centre that will attract international universities to meet the region's human capital needs.

Several international universities from all over world will be based in Dubai Knowledge Universities, providing students from the region access to a wide range of degrees and programmes, all from one location.

Set amidst an exquisitely landscaped area, the new mega campus will have an ambience that matches the best academic environments in the US, Europe and Australia. It will offer students a campus lifestyle comparable to that offered by the world's leading universities.

"We seek to create an environment that will make the mega campus a magnet for academic, research and creative vitality," said Dr. Abdulla Al Karam, CEO of Dubai Knowledge Village. "It will provide a rich intellectual and social experience for students. The infrastructure is being specially designed to provide creatively stimulating and welcoming spaces for students and teachers to interact formally and informally," he added.

To be developed with an investment of AED 200 million, the initiative will allow international universities to build their regional campuses as well as establish facilities in pre-built offices. The mega campus will broadly maintain the Andalusian references in KV's present architecture. However, some of the buildings will have a blend of contemporary and traditional influences.

The first components of the mega campus will be complete by July this year enabling four universities to set up their initial operations. The entire infrastructure for Dubai Knowledge Universities will be completed by July 2006. It will offer a total built-up area of 24.8 million square feet.

Dubai Knowledge Universities will provide a quality of student life and services that is international, culturally diverse and dynamic. The mega campus will have two wings - a west campus for undergraduates and an east campus for graduates. Both campuses will be served by a central core of shared facilities and a comprehensive research and development (R&D) centre. The R&D facility is being established as part of KV's strategy to instill a spirit of innovation and academic inquiry among the student community.

Physically connecting the two wings of Dubai Knowledge Universities will be a student activity zone located along a winding boulevard that will form the spine of the mega campus. The boulevard will be flanked by a Student Centre, a recreation zone and a retail area. The Student Centre will house a Students Union that will provide administrative and student services, and a Visitors' Centre catering to the needs of international universities. It will also accommodate a food and retail area, including bookstores, an office for student organisations and meeting spaces.

Complementing all this will be a recreation zone offering facilities such as a cinema theatre and a large sports stadium. Dubai Knowledge Universities will also have off-campus residential facilities adjoining it. Both the campus and the off-campus zones will be served by a transportation system.

There will also be facilities such as an Auditorium for Performing Arts, Business Centres, a Health Clinic, Hotel & Conference Facilities and a Co-operative Store.

Dr. Al Karam said that Dubai Knowledge Universities is being developed in response to the tremendous interest and academic activity generated by the current KV campus that has 15 international universities. "Universities in KV have grown quickly and substantially since joining KV and many of them are keen to expand their capacity. Encouraged by the overwhelming response from students, these universities also want to offer a wider range of residential programmes as well as dedicated facilities like laboratories, testing units and libraries," he said.

KV, which recently completed the second phase of its development, is currently home to the regional branches of renowned international universities from nine countries: Australia, UK, India, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, Belgium, Ireland, and Canada. These universities are among the top ranked learning institutions in their home countries.

"Students are travelling to KV to study from all over the region, from places such as Middle East, North Africa, the Asian Subcontinent, Iran, CIS, China and occasionally Europe and Australia," said Dr. Al Karam. "As our student population grows and diversifies it is our duty to introduce more value-added services," he added.

The new initiative will lead to the growth of the KV student community into an even bigger multi-cultural microcosm, where diverse nationalities can interact and build cultural bridges. The number of universities in KV is expected to increase from 15 to about 30 while the transnational student community is set to increase from 6,000 to over 40,000 by 2010. KV's student community consists almost completely of transnational students or students who study in off-campus universities.

Dubai Knowledge Universities will facilitate KV's strategy of promoting linkages between the academic community and the industry. Bolstering this objective is the close proximity of a dedicated Research and Development facility and Dubai Outsource Zone, which will tap industry-academic synergies. Dubai Outsource Zone (DOZ), the first 'free zone' in the world dedicated to the outsourcing industry. DOZ will offer several opportunities for students to gain professional experience.

"Industry-academic linkages constitute a major driver of talent in the knowledge economy. Dubai Knowledge Universities will enable us to enhance interaction between the industry and the academic community, especially for post-graduate and science and technology programmes," said Dr. Al Karam.

The announcement of Dubai Knowledge Universities leads the way for the development of KV's exclusive campuses for other sectors that complete its vast learning community. As it grows, Dubai Knowledge Village is slowly gaining greater profile around the world as a regional destination for education. The coming phases of expansion are set to see KV emerge as an even bigger player in the region's learning sector.

Dubai Knowledge Village will continue reaching out to the global educational community through several programmes. It will participate in many international educational events in Australia, UK and US with the objective of fostering interaction and collaboration with these countries. KV will also be launching joint campaigns with its Business Partners in key target regions like India, North Africa, the CIS region, Australia, Europe and North America to attract both new institutions and students to its community.