Aga Khan University

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The Aga Khan University (AKU) is a coeducational research university spread over three continents. It was granted its charter in 1983 as Pakistan's first private, autonomous university.^[1] AKU was founded by His Highness the Aga Khan, and is part of the Aga Khan Development Network. AKU is an international University with 11 teaching sites spread over 8 countries - Afghanistan, Kenya, Pakistan, Tanzania, Uganda, Syria, Egypt and the United Kingdom. Its principal campus is located in the metropolitan city of Karachi, Pakistan with another major teaching hospital in Kenya. A 450-million dollar campus is also planned for Arusha, in north-eastern Tanzania to be built in the next 15 years.^[2]

According to the Higher Education Commission (HEC) ranking of Universities in Pakistan, The Aga Khan University ranked first in Health Sciences, with a cumulative rank score higher than any other university in Pakistan.^[3] The HEC also ranked the University number one overall in Pakistan based on the global impact of its research.^[4]

AKU's objective is to promote human welfare by disseminating knowledge and providing instruction, training, research and service in the health sciences, education, liberal arts, the sciences and such other branches of learning as the University may determine.^[1]

Scientific Research and Clinical Trials

The Aga Khan University accounts for 70% of all biomedical research in Pakistan while the remaining 30 per cent is shared by all the other institutions.^[5] AKU emphasizes the importance of scientific research and maintains an advanced and organized infrastructure to support this endeavour. AKU publishes more research articles in peer-reviewed, indexed internationally recognised journals than any other university in Pakistan.^[5] Scientific research is an integral part of the academic life at the University; faculty promotions are dependent on publications in indexed journals while most medical students have published by the time they graduate.

The University maintains a separate Research Office to guide and support research conducted at the University.^[6] A University Research Council also funds grants after a competitive review process facilitated by a Grants Review Committee.^[7] Particular emphasis is also placed on community related health sciences research. AKU also organizes several International and National research workshops and seminars. A Health Sciences Research Assembly is also held annually in which faculty and students present their research.^[8] Recent discoveries made at AKU have made headlines in international and local news outlets.

The University is also the site for several NIH clinical trials.^[9]

Campuses and Facilities

The Aga Khan University is an international university, currently operating on campuses in Central and South Asia, East Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Existing campuses and international programmes include:

• Faculty of Health Sciences located on a stunningly gorgeous 84-acre (340,000 m²) campus in the heart of Karachi, Pakistan, built with an estimated cost of 450 plus million US $ in the 1980s^[10]
• Aga Khan University Health Sciences campus in Nairobi, Kenya^[11]
• A USD 500 million campus for the University's Faculty of Arts and Sciences is currently under development in Karachi Pakistan. An area of 1,100 acres (4.5 km²) has been acquired just outside Karachi, and Payette Associates are the project architects. Student enrollment is planned for 2011^[12]
• Institute for Educational Development in the Karimabad area of Karachi, Pakistan and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
• Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations in London, United Kingdom;
• A USD 450 million campus planned for Arusha, in north-eastern Tanzania to be built in the next 15 years.^[2]
• Advanced Nursing Studies (ANS) Programmes at campuses in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda;
• Programmes for capacity development for teachers and nurses in Afghanistan, Egypt and Syria;

Sports and Rehabilitation Centre

The Sports and Rehabilitation Centre is built in a landscaped setting at the AKU Health Sciences campus. The Centre offers facilities of international standard for various indoor, outdoor and water sports. Its Olympic-sized swimming pool is unique in Pakistan. Other features include a sports ground with three cricket pitches and a 480-metre jogging track, four tennis courts, a patients' rehabilitation centre, a children's play area, and a well-equipped gymnasium.

Student Life

Students come from all over Pakistan and several other countries in the world, including the United States, UK, Canada and the Middle East after a highly rigorous admission process that includes a competitive entrance exam and interviews. AKU prides itself on the diversity of its student body. Most choose to live in the hostels on the gorgeous Stadium Road campus although a fair number of students are locally from Karachi. Male and female students have separate hostels located on campus.

Impact of AKU on Society

Since its inception, AKU has had a significant impact on the Pakistani society.

• AKU has brought international-quality medical education and health-sciences education to Pakistan.
• AKU's role in nursing education in Pakistan is unparalleled removing the stigma associated with a nursing profession and instead making it a prestigious and competitive career.The nursing program has helped give women a noble profession, a dignified profession, and given them social standing in a community where women are not generally held in high standing.
• AKU holds regular clinics and teaching sessions at the katchi abadis or slums of Karachi
• AKU played a major role in the relief efforts after the 2005 Pakistan earthquake ^[13]

AKU flood relief cordination centre established medical camps in flood affected areas devastated by fatal flood ever came in Pakistan in fourth quarter of 2010. Besides medcial facilities the university also collected data of flood affectees to provide monthly food items by cordinating with donators.

Role of religion in the University

Although AKU was established by the Imam of the Ismaili Muslims, the University is open to people of all religions and does not discriminate on the basis of religion. The campus has students, faculty and staff of both genders and a variety of religious backgrounds, including Muslims, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Parsis, Sikhs, agnostics, Humanists, and atheists. The fact that the number of Ismailis among the student and faculty body is low, is a testament to the merit-based admissions and hiring process at the university. AKU is probably the only institution in Pakistan where open and contentious academic debate on religion is possible.

Seal

The AKU Seal

The Seal (Logo) of the Aga Khan University is a visual representation of the principles which underlie the founding of the University.^[14] The circular form of the Seal has its visual roots in the rosettes of early Islamic periods. It also symbolizes the world and reflects the internationality of the Aga Khan University. At the centre of the Seal is a star or sun representing light - a universal symbol of the enlightenment that education provides. The light is also symbolic of Nur (Divine light). The star incorporates 49 points to commemorate the University's founding by Prince Karim Aga Khan, the Forty-Ninth Imam of the Ismaili Muslims.

The outer ring circumscribes a Quranic Ayat (3:103) rendered in classic thuluth script and reads as follows:

وَاعْتَصِمُوا بِحَبْلِ اللَّهِ جَمِيعًا وَلَا تَفَرَّقُوا وَاذْكُرُوا نِعْمَتََ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ اِذْ كُنْتُمْ اعْدَاءً فَالَّفَ بَيْنَ قُلُوبِكُمْ فَاصْبَحْتُمْ بِنِعْمَتِهِ اِخْوَنًا وَكُنْتُمْ عَلَى شَفَا حُفْرَةٍ مِنْ النَّارِ فَانْقَذَكُمْ مِنْهَا كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ ءايَتِهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَهْتَدُونَ

The English translation reads:

Notable alumni, professors and staff

A list of notable alumni, professors and staff affiliated with the Aga Khan University can be found here.

Aga Khan University in popular culture

In international news

• BBC News: AKU, Leading the Y2K campaign^[15]
• BBC News: The remains of a Persian Princess found in Pakistan were X-rayed at AKU. Dr. Jeffrey Rees of AKU was interviewed by the BBC,^[16] however, CAT scans done at AKU confirmed the mummy to be forged.

In popular television dramas

• The popular Pakistan Television Drama serial from the 1980s, tanhaiyan, arguably one of the greatest plays ever aired on PTV^{[weasel words]}, featured the picturesque lakes on the AKU Medical campus and the inside of AKU Hospital wards.

• The famous director Jamil Dehalvi also filmed one of his films, "Immaculate Conception", on the hospital premises.

See also

• Aga Khan University Hospital
• Aga Khan Development Network

References

External links

• Aga Khan University (website)
• Aga Khan University Alumni Association (website)
• Video: AKU President Firoz Rasul speaks on next 25 years of the Aga Khan University

Coordinates: 24°53′34″N 67°04′29″E / 24.8928°N 67.0747°E / 24.8928; 67.0747