About Us

Strategic Partnerships

Khalifa University is actively involved in establishing long term partnerships with a variety of organizations.  The University currently enjoys strong relationships with over 20 national and international partners including industry leaders, multinational entities, government agencies, universities and other institutions.

By partnering with these entities, the University seeks to emphasize its commitment to research and development, as well as providing its students and faculty the opportunity to solve applied problems and gain real world experience.

The university is closely aligned with Abu Dhabi’s 2030 vision to expand the knowledge economy and diversify into strategic high technology sectors. Some of the relevant sectors identified in the vision include: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Aerospace, Transport and Logistics, Energy and the Environment, Healthcare and Security. In response to the vision the University has undertaken several broad university research initiatives and partnerships focused on the following areas:

  • Aerospace
  • Biomedical and Healthcare
  • National Security
  • Telecommunications and Information Technology
  • Nuclear Energy

These partnerships will provide Khalifa University students with ample sponsorship and research opportunities that will benefit both parties. Sponsorships will provide partners with highly qualified recruits, the vast majority of whom are UAE nationals, which are among the nation’s top academic performers.  For our students, active sponsorships with key industry contacts ensure that the nation’s top talent is directly engaged with its leading employers, within sectors that are expected to diversify and lead the UAE’s economy.  Research partnerships will allow the university to work closely with its partners to develop regionally relevant innovation to address pressing national challenges.

Some of the University’s partners include:


The University also runs two active research centers. The sponsored activities include Emirates Advanced Network for Research and Education (Ankabut). Khalifa University is taking a leading role in establishing the UAE’s National Research and Education Network. Ankabut interconnects academic and research institutions in the UAE with other universities around the world, as well as offering next-generation connectivity solutions to other networks around the world.

The other initiative is Etisalat-BT Innovation Center (EBTIC), which is a jointly owned venture between Etisalat, British Telecom and Khalifa University housed on the university’s campus. The center is created to enable innovation in the UAE by combining research and development with innovative applications and services of direct relevance to the region.  Other areas of research include ICT, Visual Signal Analysis and Processing, Aerospace, Semiconductors, Robotics, Biomedical, Nuclear and Information Security.

These partnerships help Khalifa University provide the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, the UAE, the region and the world with highly qualified engineers, technologists and scientists, capable of making major contributions to the UAE as leaders and innovators of industry and society.