Abu Dhabi has announced that it has established the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) the first graduate level, research-based artificial intelligence university in the world.
MBZUAI will enable graduate students, businesses, and governments to advance in the AI field, and will introduce a new model of academia and research to the field of AI. This will provide students and faculty access to some of the world’s most advanced AI systems to unleash its potential for economic and societal development, it said.
Dr Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Minister of State, who has been appointed Chair of the MBZUAI Board of Trustees and is spearheading the establishment of the University, said the university aligns with the vision of the UAE leadership and is based on sustainable development and finding practical solutions based on innovation and state-of-the-art technology.
The University will offer Master of Science, MSc, and PhD level programmes in key areas of AI – Machine Learning, Computer Vision, and Natural Language Processing – while also engaging policymakers and businesses around the world so that AI is harnessed responsibly as a force for positive transformation.
MBZUAI has partnered with the Abu Dhabi-based Inception Institute of Artificial Intelligence (IIAI), a global force in excellence and leadership of AI research, for the supervision of PhD students and curriculum development. IIAI will also serve as a principal partner for collaborative research. The University will work with leading local and global companies to secure internships, and also assist students in finding employment opportunities.
It will provide all admitted students with a full scholarship, plus benefits such as a monthly allowance, health insurance, and accommodation.
Al Jaber added: “As such, the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence is an open invitation from Abu Dhabi to the world to unleash AI’s full potential.
“AI is already changing the world, but we can achieve so much more if we allow the limitless imagination of the human mind to fully explore it. The University will bring the discipline of AI into the forefront, moulding and empowering creative pioneers who can lead us to a new AI empowered era.”
“The launch of the Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence is a clear demonstration of the UAE’s commitment to encouraging innovation and empowering younger generations in the UAE and around the world,” he concluded.
Graduate students can now apply to MBZUAI via the University’s website with registration set to open in August 2020. The first class of graduate students will commence coursework at MBZUAI’s Masdar City campus in September 2020.