Quaid-i-Azam University

The Quaid-i-Azam University (Urdu: جامعہ قائداعظم‬‎; simply QAU) is a public research university in Islamabad, Pakistan.[3]

Founded as the University of Islamabad in 1967, it was initially dedicated to the study of postgraduate education but expanded through the 1980s to an interdisciplinarity university offering under- and post-graduate education.[2] The university has, as of 2015, grown into the largest varsity in Islamabad with a total enrollment exceeding 13,000 students.[2] The university is on a 1700 acres (or 6.9 km²) campus on the foothills of the Margalla.[4]

Divided into four faculties and nine affiliated research institutes, QAU is among Pakistan's largest and highest ranked public universities.[5][6] Globally, it has been consistently ranked among the top 700 varsity's in the world by the QS World University Rankings[7] while its regional publications ranked QAU among 120 in Asia in 2013.[8] The Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked it between 501-600 globally and top 120 in Asia in 2014.[9][10]

The university is nationally known for its research, technological advancement, and intellectual interaction with international institutes, including the United Nations, University of Tokyo and the ICTP.[2][11] It is one of the most popular universities in the country and counts several public figures and intellectuals among its current and former faculty, researchers, or alumni since its establishment. They include Maleeha Lodhi, Pervez Hoodbhoy, Nasim Zehra, Shamshad Akhtar, Suhail Zubairy, Farzana Aslam, Tasneem Zehra and Salma Zahid. The university is currently led by Dr. Javed Ashraf.

The university was renamed in honor of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan.

History

Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad (once named University of Islamabad) was established on July 22, 1967 under the Act of National Assembly and started teaching and research programmes for PhD and MPhil degrees. It later decided to offer Master’s, graduate, and now undergraduate programmes.

Quaid-i-Azam University has four faculties and 38 departments, institutes, schools and centers.

Faculties and departments

Quaid-i-Azam University consists of four faculties. The following departments, institutes/schools work under these faculties:

Faculty of Natural Sciences

Department of Chemistry
Department of Computer Science
Department of Earth Sciences
Department of Electronics
Institute of Information Technology
Department of Mathematics
Department of Physics
Department of Statistics

Faculty of Social Sciences

Quaid-i-Azam School of Management Sciences (QASMS)
Department of Anthropology
Department of Sociology
Department of Linguistics
Department of Defence & Strategic Studies
School of Economics
Department of History
School of Politics and International Relations
School of Law[12]
Taxila Institute of Asian Civilizations
Faculty of Biological Sciences Edit
National Center for Bioinformatics
Department of Animal Sciences
Department of Biochemistry
Department of Microbiology
Department of Plant Sciences
Department of Environmental Sciences
QAU School of Medicine
Department of Pharmacy
Department of Biotechnology

Faculty of Medical Science

Al-Shifa Eye Trust Hospital Rawalpindi
Army Forces Post Graduate Medical Institute
Health Services Academy, Islamabad
Federal Medical & Dental College
Quaid e Azam Postgraduate Medical College, PIMS
Shifa College of Medicine, Islamabad

Institutes

National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research (NIHCR) Center for Excellence
Saulat Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Research
Center of Excellence in Gender Studies
National Institute of Psychology
National Institute of Pakistan Studies
Area Study Centre for Africa, North & South America[13]
Chairs
Quaid-i-Azam Chair
Benzair Bhutto Chair
Rumi Chair (in pipeline)

Rankings and reputation

Quaid-i-Azam University was ranked 651-700 in the world by the QS World University Rankings of 2018[14] and 133 in Asia.[15]

For QS Top 10 Asian universities, QAU was ranked 6th in the natural science category in 2010.[16] The university was overall ranked between 100-200 among the QS world top universities in 2007 and 2009.[17] According to the latest 2012 ranking of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam University is ranked first in the general category.[18] As per rankings of OIC universities, QAU stood first in ranking among Muslim countries universities. More than 80% of the professors hold doctoral degrees and have overseas experience.[19]