Doha, Qatar: On Tuesday, 15 August 2023, the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies welcomed the new students admitted to its PhD and master's programs for the academic year 2023-2024 for a meeting to mark the beginning of its orientation week for over 300 students from different countries.
Some 300 students were accepted into the master’s programs, while 10 students joined the doctoral program, in addition to 7 students in the Doha Fellowship Program in the Arabic language.
Through this orientation program, which continues until Saturday, 19 August, the DI seeks to integrate new students into university life and create a comfortable atmosphere conducive to open communication and interaction.
The activities are designed to introduce new students to the facilities available to them and the different departments of the DI.
The program familiarizes students to the university environment in general, the regulations and rules governing the various faculties, the services they are entitled to use during their educational journey and informs them how to register for specific courses.
DI President, Dr Abd al-Wahhab El-Affendi, congratulated the new students on their admission to the Institute, noting that the only 6.5% of applicants for the master’s programs and less than 1.7% of doctoral applicants had been accepted this year.
El-Affendi warned that studying at the Institute would be no walk in the park; achieving the highest international levels of achievement requires diligence in research, interaction in the classroom, and a serious attitude to preparing assignments.
He called on students to exploit every possibility available at the Institute, to engage in international events and research efforts, and to actively participate in academic events organized on campus.
He expressed his high expectations of the students and invited them to seize this opportunity to join the international scholarly community.
He mentioned that just as the DI provides education, facilities and technology that meet the highest international standards, the DI expects student performance to reflect this standard, promising that the professors and all departments will provide every support in terms of guidance, learning, and training, in addition to that provided by the library and its resources.
For his part, Dean of Student Affairs, Dr Ibrahim Fraihat, emphasized that the process of accepting the new cohort was highly competitive and transparent, indicating that the institute, since its inception in 2015, has been working to create a serious, attractive, and enjoyable educational environment characterized by multiculturalism and diversity, to enrich the student experience.
The diversity of students will enhance their research through the exchange of intellectual and life experiences. Fraihat called on the students to show initiative and professional commitment to perpetuate a culture of respect for rights and duties, and to be responsible and committed.
Freihat noted that the Office of Student Affairs adopts a set of principles that guide their work, the most prominent of which are partnership, transparency, and justice for all.
He encouraged the students to acquaint themselves with the different departments of the DI devoted to student success, urging them to benefit from the activities and many publications of the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, and the Doha Historical Dictionary of the Arabic Language.
For his part, Mohammed el-Nawawy, Chairman of the Doctoral Studies Board, welcomed the students accepted into the program, wishing them success in their academic careers.
El-Nawawi pointed out that the students will be learning from the best professors and researchers in the social sciences, administration, and humanities in the Arab world, adding that the DI environment is characterized by intellectual independence and openness, which contributes to promoting rigorous academic dialogue.
El-Nawawi expressed his hopes that the students would contribute to the production of new and original research production and undertake innovative applications of theoretical approaches to new research frameworks.
Of the 317 successful applicants this year, 97 are Qatari citizens, making up 32% of the master’s and 33% of the doctoral cohorts.
The rest of the students come from 32 different countries, distributed across the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, the School of Economics, Administration and Public Policy and the Language Center. This year’s intake represents the second doctoral cohort, the 9th master’s cohort and the 10th Arabic Language Fellowship cohort.
So far, the DI has graduated 1,218 students out of more than 61,000 applicants from 50 countries around the world.
The study for the academic year 2023-2024 will start on Sunday, 20 August 2023, while admissions for the academic year 2024-2025 will open this September.
