Alzahra University (, ''Dāneshgāh-e Alzahrā'') is a female-only public university in the

Vanak Vanak () is a neighbourhood in the northern part of Tehran, capital of Iran and there is a square and a street named after it. The word Vanak means "Small (ash) Tree" in Persian. The name derives from the original older village of Vanak (''Deh-e ...

neighborhood of

Tehran Tehran (; , ''Tehrân'') is the capital and largest city of Iran. It is the capital of Tehran province, and the administrative center for Tehran County and its Central District (Tehran County), Central District. With a population of around 9. ...

, Iran. Alzahra University is the only comprehensive women's university in Iran and the Middle East. Acceptance to the university is competitive and entrance to undergraduate and graduate programs requires scoring among the top 1% of students in the Nationwide University Entrance Exams. Alzahra University is ranked second in Iran and 201–300 in the world, according to University Impact Rankings 2019, Times Higher Education (THE). Alzahra University ranked 17th in Iran and number 801+ worldwide, according to the physical sciences subject ranking, World University Rankings 2019 by

Times Higher Education ''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The THES''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education. Ownership TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...

History and profile

The university, founded by Queen

Farah Pahlavi Farah Pahlavi (; []; born 14 October 1938) is the former Queen and last Empress () of Pahlavi Iran and is the third wife and widow of the last List of monarchs of Iran, Shah of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. She was born into a prosperous Ira ...

in 1964, began as a private institution under the title of the Higher Educational Institute For Girls with 90 students. After the

Iranian revolution The Iranian Revolution (, ), also known as the 1979 Revolution, or the Islamic Revolution of 1979 (, ) was a series of events that culminated in the overthrow of the Pahlavi dynasty in 1979. The revolution led to the replacement of the Impe ...

, the university attained public status, and was renamed Mahboubeh Mottahedin after an Iranian Revolutionary who was killed prior to the 1979 revolution. In 1983 the university was renamed Alzahra University. The university offers 51 undergraduate, 83 graduate, and 31 post-graduate programs to 10,000 students. The university has ten faculties and a research center for women's studies, as well as a branch in the city of

Urmia Urmia (; ) is the largest city in West Azerbaijan Province of Iran. In the Central District of Urmia County, it is capital of the province, the county, and the district. The city is situated near the borders of Iran with Turkey and Iraq. ...

(the capital of

West Azerbaijan West Azerbaijan province () is one of the 31 provinces of Iran, provinces of Iran, whose capital and largest city is Urmia. It is in the Azerbaijan (Iran), northwest of the country, bordered by Turkey (Ağrı Province, Ağrı, Hakkâri Pr ...

province) and two self-supporting campuses. The faculties of Alzahra University are Art, Biological Sciences, Education and Psychology, Engineering and Technology, Literature and Languages, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Education, Physics and Chemistry, Social and Economic Sciences, and Theology. The university initiated its graduate studies program in 1990, under the supervision of Vice Chancellery for Academic Affairs, by establishing an Educational Psychology master's degree program and admitting 11 students. It then established five fields and admission of 36 students in 1993. In 1994 the Graduate Studies Affairs was established and commenced its mission with 158 students in eight master's degree fields. The first PhD examination was administered in the major of

Islamic History The history of Islam is believed, by most historians, to have originated with Muhammad's mission in Mecca and Medina at the start of the 7th century CE, although Muslims regard this time as a return to the original faith passed down by the Abra ...

in the same year. The university offers doctoral programs in history (Islamic history and history of Islamic Iran), psychology, economics, research in art, chemistry, physics, and applied mathematics.

Faculty members

The academic faculty of the university is a community of some 350 tenured scholars teaching and conducting research. The professors work in collaboration with visiting colleagues from other Iranian universities.

Collaborations with other universities

Alzahra University is a member of the

International Association of Universities The International Association of Universities (IAU) is a membership-led non-governmental organization working in the field of global higher education. It has more than 600 members in over 130 countries, including institutions, organizations, aff ...

(IAU) and the Federation of Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW), and has established close ties and signed more than 45 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) for academic-research collaborations with accredited universities and research centers worldwide from a variety of countries, such as Pakistan, Iraq, Germany, Uganda, France, Russia, India, Kyrgyzstan, China, the Philippines, Indonesia, Syria, Libya, Belarus, among others.

Facilities

Alzahra University has central and faculty libraries with 77,000 hard copies of books (33,000 of which are in English), and 930 Persian and

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

academic journals. Among other facilities offered at Alzahra University are electronic libraries, professional laboratories, language labs, computer labs, an art gallery, an educational center, business incubators, pool and sports facilities, food centers and a traditional Iranian restaurant, whose building is over 120 years old. A post office, bank, travel agency office, cellphone services office, grocery store, bookstore and photocopy kiosk are on campus.

Department and research centers

*Department of physical education and sport sciences *Department of literature, language and history *Department of physics and chemistry *Department of biological sciences *

Department of mathematics Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

*Department of social sciences and economics *Department of engineering *Department of psychology *Department of theology *Department of art *Women research center

Campuses

*Alborz campus *International campus *

branch

Research and publications

Eighteen academic journals are published by the university, such as Journal of Applied Biology, Journal of Brand Management, Women's Sociological and Psychological Studies, Women and Family Studies, Applied Physics, Historical Perspective & Historiography, History of Islam and Iran, Language Research, and many more. 6,000 theses and dissertations reside in the Central Library of the university.

International students

The university offers its undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate programs to international students. Around 128 international students study at Alzahra University, from

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

Tajikistan Tajikistan, officially the Republic of Tajikistan, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Dushanbe is the capital city, capital and most populous city. Tajikistan borders Afghanistan to the Afghanistan–Tajikistan border, south, Uzbekistan to ...

, and

Tanzania Tanzania, officially the United Republic of Tanzania, is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It is bordered by Uganda to the northwest; Kenya to the northeast; the Indian Ocean to the east; Mozambique and Malawi to t ...

. Some of the facilities for international students are: * Offering

Persian language Persian ( ), also known by its endonym and exonym, endonym Farsi (, Fārsī ), is a Western Iranian languages, Western Iranian language belonging to the Iranian languages, Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian subdivision ...

courses at the university Persian Language Center * Offering some courses in English upon popular demand * Insurance * On-campus dormitory * Access to all amenities of the university and dormitory, equaling the access of Iranian students. These include, among others: * Swimming pool * Sports complex * Computer labs and free Wi-Fi access * Student clubs * General and professional libraries * Counseling services * Participation and membership in sport competitions, socio-cultural gatherings, and productive, entertaining, and cultivating student events

Alzahra University in Ranks

Ranked 601–800 for Engineering and Technology in Times Higher Education Ranking 2020 Ranked 557 for Natural Sciences and 371 for Technical Sciences in Round University Ranking 2019 Ranked 201 in Times Higher Education University Impact Ranking 2019 Ranked 68 in UI Green Metric 2018

Notable people

Poopak Niktalab Poopak NikTalab (, ; born 19 May 1970), also and a lot , is an Iranian education theorist, author and literary researcher in children's literature. Life She was born in 1970 in Tehran in a cultural and literary family.Payame Zan Magazine, Augu ...

, graduated in mathematics, author and literary researcher *

Yadollah Ordokhani Yadollah Ordokhani is an Iranian mathematician and Professor of Mathematics at Alzahra University. He is among the most-cited Iranian researchers and is known for his works on fractional wavelet, optimal control problem, numerical analysis, inte ...

, Iranian mathematician *

Rashin Kheirieh Rason (formerly Rajin-Sŏnbong; ) is a North Korean special city and ice-free port in the Sea of Japan in the North Pacific Ocean on the northeast tip of North Korea. It is in the Kwanbuk region and location of the Rason Special Economic Zone. ...

, Iranian Illusttator *

Bijan Jenab Bijan Jenab (, born January 2, 1952, in Tehran, Iran) is an Iranian graphic designer and professor at the School of Fine Arts at Tehran University, Al Zahra University and at Islamic Free University Radio/Television. He is one of the founding m ...

, Iranian graphic designer and professor

References

External links

Official website of Alzahra University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alzahra University 1964 establishments in Iran Universities and colleges established in 1964 Women's universities and colleges Women's education in Iran