Britain’s Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts MP starts his Qatar visit from today as part of his regional tour to Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia. He will be in the country today and tomorrow.
During his stay in Qatar, Willetts will be meeting senior officials and will discuss the UK’s commitment to partnerships and collaborations in education, research and skills. He will also highlight the UK’s deepening engagement on science and innovation and support existing higher education institutional partnerships with Qatar.
Willetts also will hold a round-table discussion with senior representatives of Qatari higher education institutions, including Qatar University, to encourage collaborations between Qatar and UK.
He will visit the Qatar Foundation, branch international campuses at Education City, Qatar-UK research and innovation partnerships at the Qatar Science and Technology Park ( QSTP) and the Qatar UK Biobank project at Hamad Medical City. During his stay in Qatar he will also meet Qatari alumni of UK universities to gather views on their experiences and to seek their advice on ways to strengthen Qatar, UK links.
While the UK remains a destination of choice for Qatari students seeking quality higher education and research opportunities, more than 40 UK institutions are participating with Qatari partners in joint research under the Qatar National Priorities Research Programme.
There are also UK links to the Qatar Cardiovascular Research Centre (QCRC) and Sidra Research and Medical Center.
The Imperial College London has launched a Carbonates and Carbon Storage Research Centre and Biobank Qatar project in Qatar along with the Qatari partners.
Furthermore, QSTP hosts collaborations with UK companies and institutions including Imperial College London, Williams F1, Virgin Health Bank, Transport Research Laboratory, The Princes Trust and Rolls-Royce.
The British Library has signed a Gulf –archive project with the Qatar National Library to research, digitalise and catalogue British Library records of the region.
