Hamad Bin Khalifa University

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU; Arabic: جامعة حمد بن خليفة) is a public university located within Education City in Doha, the capital city of Qatar. The university, a member of Qatar Foundation, was founded in 2010. The university began graduating students in 2014. It was named after Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, former Emir of Qatar.

In 2026 Times Higher Education described it as the top-ranked university in the Arab world.

Academics

Hamad Bin Khalifa University and its programs were recognized by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education in Qatar under decree number 34 for year 2017. The university's graduate program focuses include information and computing technologies, life sciences, sustainable development, Islamic studies, Islamic finance, middle eastern studies, translation studies, and law.

HBKU is organized into the following colleges:

• College of Islamic Studies (CIS)
• College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS)
• College of Science and Engineering (CSE)
• College of Law (CL)
• College of Health and Life Sciences (CHLS)
• College of Public Policy (CPP)

Each college offers several degree programs. For example, The College of Islamic Studies offers specialized graduate degrees including an MA in Counseling Psychology, an MA in Applied Islamic Ethics, an MS in Islamic Finance, and a PhD in Islamic Studies. It also offers a Graduate Certificate in Islamic Psychology and Psychotherapy.

Rankings

In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027, Hamad Bin Khalifa University was placed 126th globally; Times Higher Education described it as the top-ranked university in the Arab world. It was ranked 213th in the QS World University Rankings 2027 and 487th in the U.S. News & World Report Best Global Universities 2026–2027.

Research

HBKU has the following three national research institutes:

Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI)

Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI)

Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI).

It also hosts the Global Institute for Strategic Research.

HBKU Press

Hamad Bin Khalifa University Press (HBKU Press) is the university publishing house, and offers educational books for schools, academic books for universities and researchers, and information and reference titles that can be accessed online.

HBKU Press has published more than 90 books and houses QScience, an online research and academic platform.

Student body

HBKU currently has over 700 students from over 57 nationalities. 38% of the students are Qatari.

Education City

Located in Education City, these institutions include Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar; Georgetown University Qatar; HEC Paris in Qatar; Northwestern University in Qatar; Texas A&M University at Qatar; Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar; and Weill Cornell Medical – Qatar.

Buildings

• College of Islamic Studies building
• Education City Mosque
• Liberal Arts & Sciences building
• HBKU Research Complex
• HBKU Headquarters
• HBKU Housing and Residence Halls

Notable alumni

Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned (Class of 2015)

Notable faculty

• Amal Al-Malki, first Qatari dean at an Education City university
• Aisha Yousef al-Mannai, one of Qatar's first female parliamentarians
• Damilola Sunday Olawuyi, UNESCO Chair on Environmental Law and Sustainable Development

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)