A new Space Science Track will be introduced at the United Arab Emirates University’s, UAEU, Physics Department in September, with the beginning of the new academic year 2018-2019.
AL AIN, (Pakistan Point News - 05th Jul, 2018) A new Space Science Track will be introduced at the United Arab Emirates University’s, UAEU, Physics Department in September, with the beginning of the new academic year 2018-2019.
The track, which will be made available for undergraduates, was created in response to the new UAE’s initiative and vision to be a pioneer in space science.
"This will help graduates from this programme to participate in different activities related to space science," said Professor Ahmed Murad, Dean of the College of Science. "We have the Mars Scientific City 2117, which is a long plan and needs graduates in science and engineering. This is the first step towards that plan."
The second step will take place at the beginning of the semester when the College of Science will work to prepare another proposal in Space Science as a Minor. Open to all undergraduate students at the university, the Minor is considered a diluted version of the Space Science Track in the Physics Department. Its aim is to increase the number of students that have interest and ideas about space science and the future direction of the UAE.
"A total of 18 credit hours will be designed and we will have six new courses in this minor programme," Dr. Murad said. "They will include an introduction to the concepts of space science and will hopefully end with a small project that students can handle."
So far, three new faculty members were hired in space science, adding to a current member at the university.
Another plan the university has in the pipeline is to establish an interdisciplinary Master programme between the College of Science, Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences and Information Technology in space science in the future.
"The proposal is 30 per cent ready and we will take feedback from the different entities concerned in the country before starting the process of approval, which could probably take one year from now," he said. "We have already received an approval for the Space Science Track and we will start accepting students by September."
