QF unveils new vision for higher education to meet Qatar’s future needs

Qatar Foundation has unveiled a new vision for its higher education ecosystem – designed to make it more innovative, collaborative, and equipped to ensure Qatar’s youth have the skills to succeed in the jobs of the future.

The student-focused strategy for higher education developed by Qatar Foundation (QF) represents the next chapter in the story of its globally unique learning environment, which includes its homegrown Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) and seven international partner universities.

It aims to drive a new era of disruptive, transformative education at QF; make the learning experience that students at Education City receive more individually tailored than ever before; and intertwine QF’s higher education institutions with its portfolio of schools and research and innovation centers – maximizing the benefit that students and faculty gain from this ecosystem, and the subsequent benefit they generate for Qatar.

The implementation of the strategy will be steered by QF’s new Office of Higher Education, to be led by global education expert Francisco Marmolejo, who has been appointed as the organization’s President of Higher Education. Previously QF’s Education Advisor, his 30 years of experience in the field of education have seen him work on projects with universities, governments, and international associations in over 90 countries.

“While we are proud of the education ecosystem we have created at QF over the past 25 years, and its success in nurturing the talent that Qatar needs, we recognize that the world does not stand still – and neither can education,” said Her Excellency Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al Thani, Vice Chairperson and CEO of Qatar Foundation.

“Trends, dynamics, and demands are constantly shifting, and the pace of global socioeconomic change has only been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Education faces a choice between remaining static and risking stagnation, or flowing continuously toward the pursuit of knowledge. With our new vision for higher education, QF is choosing the latter.

“We aim to build on everything we have achieved and learned to renew our ecosystem of education, with students at the core of our strategy. I am delighted that this strategy will be spearheaded by Francisco Marmolejo, one of the world’s leading disruptive thinkers on education, whose vast experience will be invaluable in enabling us to realize a vision that is guided by the needs of Qatar and the world today, and in the future.”

QF’s new higher education strategy will open up new pathways for its international partner universities to integrate and collaborate with other elements of its ecosystem, supporting their research activities and capacity to test new educational approaches and ideas; and strengthen HBKU’s position as a hub of innovation in education.

As the strategy is implemented, a series of flagship initiatives will be introduced by QF, pioneering new ways of blending academic and cognitive skills, fostering interdisciplinary learning, and developing skills based on future labor market needs, while also providing more opportunities for Qatari nationals to become university faculty.