The University of Edinburgh, the University of Cambridge, and HRH Prince Alwaleed bin Albdulaziz Alsaud, Chairman of Kingdom Foundation have announced plans to create two new research centres for Islamic studies.
Funded by a £16million endowment by Prince Alwaleed which will be shared equally by the two universities, the new centres will aim to carry out both research and public engagement designed to enhance understanding between the Muslim world and the West.
The agreement was formalised at a signing ceremony at Buckingham Palace, on Wednesday 7 May 2008, attended by both Prince Alwaleed and HRH Prince Philip, who is Chancellor of both universities.
Edinburgh based centre
The Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre for the Study of Islam in the Modern World, based at Edinburgh aims to improve public knowledge and awareness of Islamic civilisation and of Muslims in Britain. It will do so partly through educational outreach to policy-makers, students and the public.
Professor Carole Hillenbrand, Head of the Department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies, at the University of Edinburgh said: “The Centre will ensure Edinburgh’s place as a world-class resource for expertise on Islam in the modern world, with the twin emphases of its programme on both the past and the present, and on how they reinforce and illuminate each other.”
