Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad ( ur, ; commonly referred to as QAU), founded as University of Islamabad, is a ranked 1 public research university in

Islamabad Islamabad (; ur, , ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's ninth-most populous city, with a population of over 1.2 million people, and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capita ...

, Pakistan. Founded as the University of Islamabad in 1967, it was initially dedicated to the study of

postgraduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

but expanded and established as Qaid e Azam university in 1973 to an

interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

university offering undergraduate and postgraduate education.

Overview

The university has, as of 2015, grown into the largest varsity in

with a total enrollment exceeding 13,000 students. The university is on a 1700 acres (or 6.9 km²) campus on the foothills of the Margalla. Divided into four faculties and nine affiliated research institutes, QAU is among Pakistan's largest and highest ranked public universities. In 2020, it is ranked between 510 and 520 overall whilst in Physics, Mathematics and agriculture departments ranked 225th, 225th and 125th respectively worldwide, in emerging economics it's ranked below 100 which is probably a prestige, and also ranked 111th in Asia by the '' QS World University Rankings'' while its regional publications ranked QAU among 120 in Asia in 2013. The '' Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' ranked QAU between 401 and 500 globally and top 75 in Asia in its 2020 lists. The university has intellectual interaction with international institutes, including the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

, University of Tokyo and the ICTP. It is one of the most popular universities in the country and counts several public figures and intellectuals among its current and former faculty, researchers, or alumni since its establishment. They include

Maleeha Lodhi Maleeha Lodhi ( ur, ; born 15 November 1952) is a Pakistani diplomat, political scientist, and a former Pakistan's Representative to the United Nations. She was the first woman to hold the position. Previously, she served as Pakistan's envo ...

, Nasim Zehra, Shamshad Akhtar, Suhail Zubairy, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, Farzana Aslam, Tasneem Zehra and Salma Zahid. The university is currently led by Vice Chancellor Muhammad Ali.

History

The University of Islamabad was established on 22 July 1967 by the Government of Pakistan. It was renamed as Quaid-i-Azam University in honor of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan in 1976 - which was the year of his birth centenary. However, the spelling of the university's name were kept different i.e. "i" was used instead of "e" for Ezāfe that links the two words in Jinnah's title Quaid-e-Azam. The university offered teaching and research programs for

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

and

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

degrees in the beginning and later offered Masters programs. The university now offers undergraduate programs as well. Quaid-i-Azam University has four different faculties and 38 departments, institutes, schools and centers.

Faculties and departments

Quaid-i-Azam University consists of four faculties. The following departments, institutes/schools work under these faculties:

Faculty of Natural Sciences

* Department of Chemistry * Department of

Computer Science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to practical disciplines (includin ...

(Ranked 201st Worldwide) * Department of

Earth Sciences Earth science or geoscience includes all fields of natural science related to the planet Earth. This is a branch of science dealing with the physical, chemical, and biological complex constitutions and synergistic linkages of Earth's four spher ...

* Department of

Electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

* Institute of

Information Technology Information technology (IT) is the use of computers to create, process, store, retrieve, and exchange all kinds of data . and information. IT forms part of information and communications technology (ICT). An information technology system ...

(Ranked 201st Worldwide) * Department of Mathematics (Ranked 225th Worldwide) * Department of

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...

(Ranked 225th Worldwide) * Department of Statistics

Faculty of Social Sciences

* School of Law * Quaid-i-Azam School of Management Sciences (QASMS) * Department of

Anthropology Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...

* Department of Sociology * Department of

Linguistics Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It is called a scientific study because it entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. Lingu ...

* Department of Defence & Strategic Studies * School of

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analy ...

* Department of

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

* School of Politics and International Relations (SPIR) * Taxila institute of Asian civilizations * Department of

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

Department of Education

Faculty of Biological Sciences

* National Center for

Bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combin ...

* Department of Animal Sciences * Department of

Biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology ...

* Department of

Microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, ...

* Department of Plant Sciences (Ranked 125th Worldwide) * Department of

Environmental Sciences Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physics, biology, and geography (including ecology, chemistry, plant science, zoology, mineralogy, oceanography, limnology, soil science, geology and physical geog ...

* QAU School of

Medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, and Health promotion ...

* Department of

Pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

* Department of

Biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

Faculty of Medical Science

* Al-Shifa Eye Trust Hospital Rawalpindi * Army Forces Post Graduate Medical Institute * Health Services Academy, Islamabad * Federal Medical & Dental College * Quaid e Azam Postgraduate Medical College, PIMS

Institutes

* National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research (NIHCR) Center for Excellence * Saulat Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Research * Center of Excellence in Gender Studies * National Institute of Psychology * National Institute of

Pakistan Studies Pakistan studies curriculum (Urdu: ') is the name of a curriculum of academic research and study that encompasses the culture, demographics, geography, history, International Relations and politics of Pakistan. The subject is widely research ...

* Area Study Centre for Africa, North and South America ; Chairs * Quaid-i-Azam Chair * Benzair Bhutto Chair * Rumi Chair

Central library

The university has central library (CL), named as DR. Raziuddin Siddiqi memorial library situated at the centre of the university campus and having total covered area is approximately 102,500 sq. ft. On 6 February 1999, the Central Library (CL) was renamed the Dr. Raziuddin Siddiqi Mermorial (DRSM) Library in honour of Dr. Raziuddin Siddiqi's illustrious and meritorious achievements as the founding Vice Chancellor of Quaid-i-Azam University. University offers DRSM Library services for faculty and students of the university.

Rankings and reputation

Quaid-i-Azam University was ranked 363 in the world by the '' QS World University Rankings'' of 2022-2023 and 91st in Asia.url=https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2022 , date= 10 August 2022 In the 2010 edition of QS's Asian University Rankings for Natural Sciences, QAU ranked 46th. According to the 2015 ranking of the

Higher Education Commission of Pakistan The Higher Education Commission (colloquially known as HEC) is a statutory body formed by the Government of Pakistan which was established in 2002 under the Chairmanship of Atta-ur-Rahman. Its main functions are funding, overseeing, regulati ...

, Quaid-i-Azam University is ranked third in the general category.

Notable alumni and faculty

# Abdul Rashid Ghazi # Aasim Sajjad Akhtar # Abrar ul Haq #

Mian Muhammad Aslam Iqbal Mian Muhammad Aslam Iqbal is a Pakistani politician who had been the Provincial Minister of Punjab for Information and Culture from 19 July 2019 to 2 December 2019. He also had been the Provincial Minister of Punjab for Industries, commerce ...

Hamza Ali Abbasi Hamza Ali Abbasi (Urdu/ pa, ; born 23 June 1984) is a Pakistani film and television actor and director. He is known for his roles as Afzal in the drama serial '' Pyarey Afzal'', and as Salahuddin in the drama serial '' Mann Mayal''. In 2 ...

# Ahmed Hassan Dani # Akbar S. Ahmed # Alamgir Hashmi #

Ansar Pervaiz Ansar Pervaiz, also spelled as (Ansar Parvez), HI, is a Pakistani scientist and a nuclear engineer who was the former chairman of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), and former chairman of the Board of Governors of International Atom ...

# Arshad Sharif # Asghar Qadir # Fayyazuddin # Ismat Beg #

Irshad Hussain Irshad Hussain ( ur, ) is a Pakistani Scientist in the field of chemistry and among the few pioneers to initiate nanomaterials research in Pakistan. He is among the founding faculty members of SBA School of Science & Engineering and played a k ...

Hareem Farooq Hareem Farooq ( ur, ; born 26 May 1992) is a Pakistani theatre, film and television actress and a film producer, known for her work in the serial '' Diyar-e-Dil'' and ''Pawnay 14 August''. She co-produced '' Janaan'' followed by her 2018 film ...

Ilhan Niaz Ilhan Niaz (born 10 October 1980) is a professor of history from Pakistan. He is winner of the first Karachi Literature Festival (KLF) Award for best non fiction in English in 2011 and the winner of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan's (HE ...

# Khadija Mushtaq # Maliha Lodhi # Marriyum Aurangzeb # Mazhar Mahmood Qurashi #

Muhammad Sharif Mian Muhammad Sharif (Punjabi, ur, ;18 November 1919 – 19 October 2004) was a Pakistani businessman who is known as the co-founder of Ittefaq Group and founder of Sharif Group. Two of his three sons, Nawaz and Shehbaz became Prime Mini ...

Muhammad Suhail Zubairy Muhammad Suhail Zubairy, HI, SI, FPAS (born 19 October 1952), is a University Distinguished Professor as of 2014 in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the Texas A&M University and is the inaugural holder of the Munnerlyn-Heep Chair ...

# Muhammad Imran Qadir # Nasim Zehra # Nargis Sethi #

Nisar Ali Khan Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan ( ur, ; born 31 July 1954) is a Pakistani politician who served as the Interior Minister from 2013 to 2017. He is currently an independent member-of the Provincial Assembly of Punjab - elected to represent PP-10 (Rawa ...

Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema (1940 – 16 February 2019) was a Pakistani political scientist, cricketer, and a professor of International Relations and was last working as Dean, Faculty of Contemporary Studies, National Defence University, Islamabad - ...

Renowned academic Dr Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema passes away
The Express Tribune (newspaper), Published 16 February 2019, Retrieved 13 February 2020 # Pervez Hoodbhoy # Qaiser Mushtaq # Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry # Rana Mubashir # Zafarullah Khan #

Raziuddin Siddiqui __NOTOC__ Muhammad Raziuddin Siddiqui (January 8, 1908 – January 8, 1998) was a Pakistan-born American physicist. Biography Life and education Siddiqui was born on 8 January 1908 in the Princely State of Hyderabad Deccan to Mohammed Muz ...

# Shamshad Akhtar # Shireen Mazari #

Tahir Amin Tahir Amin ( ur, , born 13 March 1952 – 5 April, 2019) was a Pakistani political scientist who served as the vice chancellor of Bahauddin Zakariya University, in Multan, Pakistan. Amin also held additional charge of the vice chancellor of ...

# Tasneem M. Shah # Zia Mian #

Anis Ahmed Muhammad Anis Ahmed (born 10 December 1973, in Gojra) is a field hockey player and former member of the Pakistan National Hockey Team. He played for Pakistan's national team in the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 1998 Asian Games The 1998 Asian ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Qadir_in_2019.jpg Muhammad Imran Qadir, Pakistani

pharmaceutical scientist A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and rel ...

File:Shamshad Akhtar - World Economic Forum on the Middle East 2010.jpg, Shamshad Akhtar, served as the vice president of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

. File:NewestPic.jpg, Ismat Beg mathematician, known for his work on

Multiple-criteria decision analysis Multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) or multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) is a sub-discipline of operations research that explicitly evaluates multiple conflicting criteria in decision making (both in daily life and in settings s ...

, and

fixed point (mathematics) A fixed point (sometimes shortened to fixpoint, also known as an invariant point) is a value that does not change under a given transformation. Specifically, in mathematics, a fixed point of a function is an element that is mapped to itself by t ...

File:Maleeha Lodhi, Pakistan-US talks 2001.jpg, Dr. Maliha Lodhi, leading Pakistani diplomat. File:Dr a qadir.JPG, Asghar Qadir, Pakistani mathematician and a prominent cosmologist File:US Navy 090720-N-8053S-068 French Rear Adm. Alain Hinden, left, shakes hands with Pakistan Navy Rear Adm. Muhammad Zakaullah at the Combined Task Force (CTF) 150 change of command ceremony.jpg, Muhammad Zakaullah, former Chief of Naval Staff File:Naelachohan1982.jpg, Naela Chohan, Pakistani diplomat and women rights activist File:Sartaj Aziz (cropped).jpg,

Sartaj Aziz Sartaj Aziz ( ur, ; born 7 February 1929) is a Pakistani economist and a strategist, having previously served as the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission of Pakistan, member of the federal cabinet as the ''de facto'' Minister for Fo ...

, Pakistani economist and a strategist who serves as the Minister for Foreign Affairs File:Abrar-ul-Haq 2014-05-10.jpg, Abrar-ul-Haq, Pakistani musician and politician File:Khalid Wynne (close-up).jpg, General Khalid Shameem Wynne, retired Pakistani four-star general officer File:Nasim Zehera interviewing Mike Mullen in 2010 (cropped).jpg, Nasim Zehra, leading journalist File:Zahid headshot.jpg, Salma Zahid, as a Member of Parliament of Canada File:Dr.Hussain.png,

, a Pakistani chemist and manomaterials scientist File:Ayesha Siddiqa (cropped).jpg, Ayesha Siddiqa, a Pakistani military scientist

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quaid-I-Azam University Universities and colleges in Islamabad Public universities and colleges in Pakistan 1967 establishments in Pakistan Educational institutions established in 1967 Islamabad Capital Territory Memorials to Muhammad Ali Jinnah