Dr. Ahmed Ali Murad, Vice Dean of the College of Sciences at the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU), recently became a member of the Arab-German Youth Academy of Sciences and Humanities (AGYA): the first Emirati to be admitted to membership of this prestigious academy.

Dr. Al Murad was chosen from more than 350 applicants from 22 countries, even when whittled down to a shortlist of only 50 candidates: this election is testament to his academic merit and research profile.

Dr. Al Murad received the membership certificate during a ceremony held in Berlin in the presence of Dr. Verena Lepper, the president of the academy, and Deputy Professor Alaa El Sadek. Also present were members of the academy’s advisory board and other academics who were selected as members of the academy.

Dr. Murad stressed the importance of this achievement for academic research in the UAE and was proud to have represented the UAE at this academic level. This, he said, reflected the advanced state of scientific research in the UAE and helps enable other UAE academics to engage in cutting edge research, all of which enables Emirati researchers to contribute to state-of-the-art research.

The academy was established in 2013 in Berlin and was initially known as the Brandenburg Academy of Sciences and Humanities. It is a joint venture with the Arabian Gulf University in Bahrain: the first of its kind in the world. The main objective of the academy is scientific enhancement and the encouragement of academic exchange between young researchers from Germany and Arab countries. As well as the fact that the academy aims to build a community of distinguished Arab and German scholars in the early stages of their academic careers, it also seeks to support innovative projects in various fields of scientific research and in other scientific and humanities based disciplines.