UAE: 127 students hailing from 25 countries join MBZUAI’s new batch

A new batch of 127 students hailing from over 25 countries have joined Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI).

The new semester, which got underway this week, saw new students joining from places like Japan, Ethiopia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe, Indonesia, and Iraq.

With the addition of the new joiners, the number of students at the university has now grown to 259.

A total of 3,668 applications were received for the academic seats, with an admission rate of 3.73 per cent for its current offerings across three departments: including master’s and doctoral degree programmes in computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing. New joiners included 22 doctoral students and 105 master’s students.

As many as 23 students come from the top 100 CS-ranked universities, and 32 per cent of the new students are female — in line with the university’s mission to encourage more women to continue their post-graduate education and enter academia or research.

“As a research university, one of our central contributions is in the development of AI talent — growing and sustaining a pipeline of future builders, innovators, thinkers, and leaders in the field,” said MBZUAI president, professor Eric Xing.

Among the newly welcomed students are 30 UAE nationals who, along with their fellow students, will support the development of industrial revolution solutions and the UAE’s National Strategy for AI 2031. Graduates will be equipped with skills and expertise to pursue careers in industries in the UAE and other countries, as well as in leading academic institutions.

“This year’s incoming class is a select group of top students from highly reputable global universities”, Xing added. “They will join us to grow their academic credentials and develop their entrepreneurial aspirations.

Our ambition is that they’ll partake in exceptional research, bolster industrial innovation in the UAE, and contribute to scientific advancements and economic growth for a better world.”

MBZUAI ranks 30th globally in its areas of focus: artificial intelligence, computer vision, machine learning, and natural language processing. The university places ahead of top research universities worldwide such as the University of Michigan, Georgia Tech, and the University of Toronto in North America; Imperial College London, EPFL, and the Max Planck Society in Europe, among others.