Quaid-i-Azam University

Quaid-i-Azam University

جامعہ قائداعظم
Former names	University of Islamabad
Motto	وَمَن يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِيَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا
Motto in English	'And he to whom wisdom is granted receiveth indeed a benefit overflowing'[1]
Type	Public National University
Established	22 July 1967; 57 years ago (1967-07-22)
Academic affiliations	Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC)
Chancellor	President of Pakistan
Vice-Chancellor	Niaz Ahmad Akhtar
Students	13000[2]
Undergraduates	6500+
Postgraduates	3500+
Doctoral students	3000+
Location	Islamabad , 45320 , Pakistan 33°44′50″N 73°08′20″E
Campus	Urban 1700 acres
Colours	Blue and white
Nickname	QAU
Website	www.qau.edu.pk

Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad (Urdu: جامعہ قائداعظم; commonly referred to as QAU), founded as University of Islamabad, is a public research university in Islamabad, Pakistan.^[3][4]

Founded as the University of Islamabad in 1967, it was initially dedicated to the study of postgraduate education, but later expanded to an interdisciplinary university offering undergraduate and postgraduate education, and established as Quaid-i-Azam University in 1976.^[2][5]

Overview

As of 2015^[update], QAU has grown into the largest university 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.^[6] Divided into four faculties and nine affiliated research institutes, QAU is among Pakistan's largest and highest-ranked public universities.^[7]

In the QS ranking 2024: QAU is ranked 315th globally. The Physics department is ranked 201-250. The Mathematics department is ranked 150-200. The Agriculture department is ranked 201-250. In Emerging Economics, QAU is ranked 401-450. QAU is ranked 86th in Asia.

The university has intellectual interaction with international institutes, including the United Nations, University of Tokyo and the ICTP.^[2][8] It counts several public figures and intellectuals among its current and former faculty, researchers, or alumni since its establishment. They include Maleeha Lodhi, Nasim Zehra, Shamshad Akhtar, Suhail Zubairy, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, Farzana Aslam, Tasneem Zehra and Salma Zahid. The university is currently led by Dr. Niaz Ahmed Akhtar.

History

The University of Islamabad was established on 22 July 1967 by the Government of Pakistan. It was renamed as Quaid-i-Azam University in honor of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan in 1976 - which was the year of his birth centenary. However, the spelling of the university's name were kept different i.e. "i" was used instead of "e" for Ezāfe that links the two words in Jinnah's title Quaid-e-Azam.

The university offered teaching and research programs for PhD and MPhil degrees in the beginning and later offered Masters programs. The university now offers undergraduate programs in both evening and morning shifts batches.

Quaid-i-Azam University has four different 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

The university was renamed in honor of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1876-1948), founder of Pakistan.

• Department of Chemistry
• Department of Computer Science (Ranked 201st Worldwide)
• Department of Earth Sciences
• Department of Electronics
• Institute of Information Technology (Ranked 201st Worldwide)
• Department of Mathematics (Ranked 225th Worldwide)
• Department of Physics (Ranked 225th Worldwide)
• Department of Statistics

Dr. Raziuddin Siddiqui Memorial Library (Main Library) at Quaid-i-Azam University

Faculty of Social Sciences

• School of Law
• Quaid-i-Azam School of Management Sciences (QASMS)
• Department of Anthropology
• School of Sociology
• Department of Linguistics
• Department of Defence & Strategic Studies
• School of Economics
• Department of History
• School of Politics and International Relations
• Taxila institute of Asian civilizations
• Department of Psychology

Faculty of Biological Sciences

• National Center for Bioinformatics
• Department of Animal Sciences
• Department of Biochemistry
• Department of Microbiology
• Department of Plant Sciences (Ranked 125th Worldwide)
• 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

Institutes

• Institute of Information & Technology
• 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

Chairs

• Quaid-i-Azam Chair
• Benzair Bhutto Chair
• Rumi Chair

Central Library

The university has central library (CL), named as DR. Raziuddin Siddiqi memorial library situated at the centre of the university campus and having total covered area is approximately 102,500 sq. ft. On 06-02-1999, the Central Library (CL) was renamed the Dr. Raziuddin Siddiqi Mermorial (DRSM) Library in honour of Dr. Raziuddin Siddiqi's illustrious and meritorious achievements as the founding Vice Chancellor of Quaid-i-Azam University. University offers DRSM Library services for faculty and students of the university.

OPAC

Provides bibliographic information of print books available in main and seminar libraries of the university

E-Resources

Access E-books, E-Journals and open access material related to course oriented and research.

Seminar libraries

The main library has its six sub libraries in various departments of the university.

Electronic thesis/ D-Space

The link consists of Electronic version of all thesis produced in the QAU by students of Master, M.Phil. and Ph.D. The resource on this link is under development phase.

Ask librarian

Ask your question from Chief Librarian via e-mail.

HEC digital library

Access to E-books, E-Journals and open access material related to course oriented, research and many many more.

E-library

The E-library is the sub office of DRSM. which provides various services to faculty and students.

E-library quick links

The section consists of Useful links for Plagiarism, Research Articles and E-Books.

Rankings and reputation

University rankings
Global – Overall
ARWU World[9]	900–1000
QS World[10]	378
QS Employability[10]	19.8
THE World[10]	401–500
USNWR Global[11]	451
Regional – Overall
QS Asia[10]	91
THE Asia[10]	79
National – Overall
HEC National[12]	1

Quaid-i-Azam University was ranked 378 in the world by the QS World University Rankings of 2022^[10] and 91 in Asia.^[10]

For QS Top 10 Asian universities, QAU was ranked 6th in the natural science category in 2010.^[13] The university was overall ranked between 100 and 200 among the QS world top universities in 2007 and 2009.^[13] According to the 2019 ranking of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam University is ranked first in the general category.^[14] According to Times Higher Education Latest Rankings 2023, QAU is ranked among the world top 401 to 500 universities.

Notable alumni and faculty

1. Sajad Haider
2. Abdul Rashid Ghazi
3. Aasim Sajjad Akhtar
4. Abrar ul Haq^[15]
5. Hamza Ali Abbasi
6. Ahmed Hassan Dani
7. Akbar S. Ahmed
8. Alamgir Hashmi
9. Ansar Pervaiz
10. Arshad Sharif
11. Asghar Qadir^[16]
12. Fayyazuddin
13. Ismat Beg
14. Irshad Hussain
15. Hareem Farooq
16. Ilhan Niaz
17. Khadija Mushtaq
18. Maliha Lodhi
19. Marriyum Aurangzeb^[17]
20. Mazhar Mahmood Qurashi
21. Muhammad Sharif
22. Muhammad Suhail Zubairy
23. Muhammad Imran Qadir
24. Nasim Zehra
25. Nargis Sethi
26. Nisar Ali Khan
27. Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema^[18]
28. Pervez Hoodbhoy
29. Qaiser Mushtaq
30. Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry
31. Rana Mubashir
32. Zafarullah Khan
33. Raziuddin Siddiqui
34. Shamshad Akhtar
35. Shireen Mazari
36. Tahir Amin
37. Tasneem M. Shah^[16]
38. Zia Mian
39. Brigadier Anis Ahmed

• Notable Alumni
• 
  Abrar-ul-Haq is a Pakistani musician and politician.
• 
  General Khalid Shameem Wynne was a retired Pakistani four-star general and former Chief of the General Staff.
• 
  Sajad Haider is a former Pakistan Air Force officer
• 
  Muhammad Zakaullah former Chief of Naval Staff
• 
  Sartaj Aziz was a Pakistani economist and a strategist who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
• 
  Ismat Beg mathematician, known for his work on Multiple-criteria decision analysis, and fixed point (mathematics)
• 
  Muhammad Imran Qadir is a Pakistani pharmaceutical scientist.
• 
  Shamshad Akhtar served as the vice president of the World Bank.
• 
  Dr. Maliha Lodhi is a leading Pakistani diplomat.
• 
  Asghar Qadir is a Pakistani mathematician and a prominent cosmologist.
• 
  Naela Chohan is a Pakistani diplomat and women rights activist.
• 
  Nasim Zehra is a leading journalist.
• 
  Salma Zahid as a Member of Parliament of Canada.
• 
  Irshad Hussain is a Pakistani chemist and Nanomaterials scientist.
• 
  Ayesha Siddiqa is a Pakistani military scientist.

See also

• List of Islamic educational institutions
• Niaz Ahmad Akhtar

References

1. "Al-Baqara - سورة البقرة - ( The Cow ) - Read Quran القران الكريم in English translation by Yusuf Ali".
2. "QAU Introduction". QAU Press. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
3. "Promotion of S&T stressed". Dawn. 20 February 2002. Retrieved 9 February 2020.
4. "QAU Location Address". Google Maps website. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
5. "Quaid-i-Azam University". HEC Pakistan.
6. Yusuf, Suhail (23 February 2012). "Quaid-e-Azam University declared as top university of Pakistan". Dawn. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
7. "HEC announces university rankings". The Express Tribune (newspaper). 23 February 2016. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
8. "International collaboration: Moot on plasma physics next week - The Express Tribune". The Express Tribune. 5 November 2013. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
9. "Shanghai Ranking Universities".
10. "The World University Rankings: Quaid i Azam University". 1 October 2018. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
11. US News & World Report's rankings of Best Global Universities: Quaid-i-Azam University Retrieved 1 September 2020
12. "HEC Universities Ranking 2015". Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
13. "Overview of Quaid-i-Azam University". TopUniversities.com website. 13 February 2011. Archived from the original on 11 February 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
14. "Ranking of Higher Education Commission of Pakistan (HEC) Recognized Universities in Pakistan". Archived from the original on 27 June 2015. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
15. Profile of Abrar ul Haq on Forum Pakistan website Archived 17 May 2019 at the Wayback Machine Published 26 February 2010, Retrieved 12 February 2020
16. "Profile of Asghar Qadir on Computational Complexities Innovations & Solutions website". 6 November 2009. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 12 February 2020.
17. Maryam Aurangzeb to take oath as State Minister for Information today The News International (newspaper), Published 1 November 2016, Retrieved 2 September 2020
18. Renowned academic Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema passes away The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 16 February 2019, Retrieved 13 February 2020

External links

• Official website