Monday, 10 March, 2014

The University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) has hosted a senior delegation of Swedish higher education officials as part of a recent fact-finding mission to the UAE.The board of directors of the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (Stint) visited UOWD during their stay in the UAE, which was aimed at exploring educational partnership opportunities between the two countries.Representing the interests of all universities across Sweden, the Stint delegation met with Faculty Deans, Professor Valerie Lindsay and Professor Mohamed Salem; Director of Planning and Performance, Dr Daniel Kratochvil; and Director of Marketing and Student Recruitment, Mr Peter Hawke, to discuss a number of strategic areas for transnational collaboration.Impressed by the rapid growth of the higher education sector across the country, the delegation also visited seven other prestigious institutions within the UAE, including NYU Abu Dhabi, Paris-Sorbonne University, and the Masdar Institute. With a mandate to internationalise Swedish higher education and research, the focus of the board’s visit was to lay the foundations for future cooperation with tertiary institutions across the Emirates.Following a presentation on UOWD by Mr Peter Hawke and on the UAE Higher education landscape by Dr Daniel Kratochvil, discussions centred on the university’s research capabilities, particularly in the area of new technologies, and the potential for collaboration in future research projects. The dialogue also touched on educational mobility, and opportunities for overseas study and student transfer programs.Professor Mohamed Salem, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Information Sciences at UOWD said, “Stint is an organisation with strong research credentials, and as UOWD continues to grow its research profile in the UAE, we are keen to explore opportunities for collaboration on an international platform. There is great potential for partnership in this and other areas of transnational cooperation, and we look forward to continuing our discussion and exploring these opportunities further.”