By Wan Eizzul Wan Zulkifli
GOMBAK, 12 October 2015: An executive programme involving several international PhD students from a number of Muslim countries is currently being hosted by IIUM Centre for Human Development and Applied Social Sciences (CERDAS) to develop relations with foreign students. Â The students are from countries such as United Arab Emirates (UAE), Jordan, Egypt and Bangladesh who have been specially chosen to participate in this initiative.
This is the first of its kind where a large number of students at PhD level were brought to the International Islamic University of Malaysia (IIUM) from various foreign countries.
These foreign students have had wide experience in their specialised fields of study as well as holding key positions in their respective countries.
“Alhamdulillah this will be the first time we host such a programme where we have invited such a large number of PhD level students. Before this we conducted similar programmes with masters and undergraduate students,” Head of CERDAS, Dr. SM Abdul Quddus said.
The PhD students met with Prof. Dr. Torla Hassan from the Office of the Deputy Rector (Academic and Planning) as well as the Dean of Kulliyyah of Islamic Revealed Knowledge and Human Sciences (KIRKHS), Prof. Dr. Ibrahim Mohamed Zein, and were briefly told on what they were to expect in the upcoming months.
The students will be attending six workshops until the end of October to adjust themselves to the system of education in IIUM and will then be assigned their supervising committee. The expected duration of their studies will be a period of three years but will be granted additional time, however, to complete their studies should the need arises.
When asked about their expectations of the programme, the students were all very excited to start their programme and expected to gain a lot in terms of knowledge. At the same time they were grateful for the opportunity to be involved in this programme.
“It is a unique programme and I think IIUM is like paradise for us. We are very happy and proud to be here. We expect to gain a lot of knowledge that is different from that of our country as well as the different lifestyles and perspectives in IIUM which we want to learn,” said Ibraheem Al Yaarobi, an officer in the UAE Armed Forces in charge of moral guidance and Islamic studies in media.***
