CAIRO: The American University in Cairo’s Board of Trustees has approved moving forward and implementing the university’s first PhD program in the School of Sciences and Engineering. “This is an important milestone for AUC,†said Lisa Anderson, provost. “It took five years of hard work and research to set up the criteria for this program. We investigated every single detail to make sure everything would go well – faculty, facilities, accreditation, library, and external funding. It is a long path and wasn’t really easy.†The program will offer PhD degrees in applied sciences with specializations in nanotechnology, biotechnology and computer science; and in engineering with specializations in mechanical, construction, electronics and environmental engineering. It is designed to take an interdisciplinary approach to examine and resolve issues of fundamental scientific importance. The approach applies processes from the natural and life sciences as well as the theoretical and computational methods of analysis from the disciplines of engineering, mathematics and computer sciences. “The PhD program has been on our radar screen since we embarked on a very ambitious strategic plan to achieve a world-class status for the School,†said Medhat Haroun, dean of the School of Sciences and Engineering (SSE). “Surveys conducted by the university showed that there is strong interest from well- qualified students to pursue PhD degrees at AUC,†he added. “In fact, there is a real shortage in the number of highly-qualified scientists at the doctoral level in fields as biotechnology, bioinformatics, nanotechnology, information technology and cutting-edge engineering applications. AUC has opportunities to build human capacity in these disciplines and to address shortage in highly-qualified faculty members in the region,†Haroun explained. In his remarks at the PhD launch, Haroun noted that there are several factors that prompted the introduction of the PhD program, including the strength of existing SSE master’s programs and the recent introduction of new innovative graduate programs in biotechnology, nanotechnology, and food chemistry. Another factor contributing to the decision to move forward with the PhD program was to complement the strong foundation of SSE undergraduate studies and the international accreditation SSE received from ABET (formerly known as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology), a recognized US accrediting body for college and university programs in applied science, computing, engineering, and technology. Haroun also credited the SSE faculty and its combined excellence in, and contributions to, important ongoing research. “Most SSE faculty are engaged in research and have been successful in attracting research grants and contracts. This resulted in publications in high-quality journals, research honors and prizes,†he said. “In a quick assessment of the efforts of SSE faculty supervising PhD dissertations since 2003, it has been found that they are either currently supervising or have supervised to completion 60 doctoral students at national and international institutions,†he added. Advanced experimental and computational facilities at AUC have been developed in recent years at the departmental laboratories to pave the way for the PhD program. “The facilities of the Yousef Jameel Science and Technology Research Center (YJ-STRC) have expanded, especially in the fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology, and material science and engineering. Moreover, we have excellent library resources for researchers,†said Amr Shaarawi, associate dean for graduate studies and research. According to Shaarawi, the program is open for students with MS degrees from recognized schools. “We anticipate PhD students to receive their degrees in four years,†he said, explaining that the program will start with 10 students in the first year, 5 added new students per year, until reaching sustained enrollment of 25 students. “We are selecting a small number of students on purpose. We want to guarantee quality and it is important for us to do it well with great deal of professionalism,†Shaarawi said. AUC
