Overview

The College of Graduate Studies (CGS) is an administrative unit in the Division of Academic Affairs. The Dean and the staff of the College work collaboratively with all academic and administrative units of the University to serve the needs of the graduate community at UAEU. Although the CGS is a relatively new organizational unit in the University, UAEU has a legacy of offering quality graduate education since 1991. Over the last decade, our menu of graduate programs has expanded significantly to over 35 graduate degree programs at the Master s and Doctorate levels with different orientations (professional and academic), which are offered by the nine different academic colleges. Our growing list of professional programs respond to the market needs of the nation and the region, and some of them are conveniently offered at the main campus in the city of Al Ain as well as in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. Our students are served by a world-class and highly diverse faculty. Full-time students have access to an array of competitive scholarships, fellowships, and assistantships sponsored by the University and industry partners. They also benefit from specialized professional development activities tailored to their educational and research needs.

Our high academic standards, nationally and internationally accredited programs and engaging partnerships provide many opportunities to students of all walks of life to learn, develop and flourish for their own good and the goods of the nation and the society at large.

The mission of the College of Graduate Studies is to serve as an advocate for graduate education and research and foster an intellectual and professional environment that values and supports creative, scholarly and scientific inquiry while serving the nation s need for a well-educated and professionally-trained workforce through programs and services that meet best practices and international standards.

Accordingly, the College has the following overarching goals:

• To promote the development of and provide support to graduate programs that respond to the strategic and workforce needs of the nation.
• To improve access to graduate studies through recruitment and financial support.
• To improve doctoral education quality and outcome.
• To enhance the overall graduate student experience at UAEU.
• To enhance the external image and reputation of graduate education at UAEU.

Furthermore, UAEU offers three types of graduate programs as follows:

Master s Programs

Master s degree programs in many discipline areas are offered by the academic departments in the colleges. There are two types of Master s programs: Professional and Academic (i.e., research-based). All programs require a minimum of 30 credits and the completion of a research thesis or a major project. Enrollment in Master s programs may be on full-time or part-time basis. However, some restrictions might apply in some programs.

Professional Doctorate Programs

A professional Doctorate program is advanced studies beyond the Master s degree. It requires coursework and independent research. The emphasis of the professional Doctorate degree is on research skills and advanced professional knowledge in an applied field of specialization. Students generally pursue professional Doctorate programs on full-time basis. However, some programs might permit part-time enrollment.

The Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) Program

According to the Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA), of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research of the UAE, the PhD program is an academic doctorate degree program that requires coursework beyond the Master s degree and academic research. The PhD degree is awarded in recognition of high quality academic research that represents original contribution to human knowledge that is represented in a research dissertation of a publishable standard. The PhD program requires a residency period of full-time enrollment for a minimum of three years.

UAEU graduate student enrollment has reached 1,850 students in the Fall of 2023 semester, which is 17% higher of what it was last year (i.e., in Fall 2022).  While over 42% of our students are UAE Nationals, the graduate student population enjoy a rich diversity of backgrounds and cultures-- 69 different nationalities.  Furthermore, 53 % of our students enroll on full-time basis and most of them are supported by scholarships, fellowships or research assistantships, and are engaged in viable research projects relevant to the country's strategic sectors, namely, health, education, renewable energy, water, transportation, technology, and space.  Our Doctorate programs enrolls over 623 students in 9 different colleges (PhD 603 + DBA 20) and has graduated 321 alumni (PhD 249 + DBA 72) who have published over 1700 refereed research papers.