The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology was a graduate level, research-oriented university focused on alternative energies, sustainability, and environmental research. In 2017 it merged with two other institutions in Abu Dhabi to create Khalifa University, and its previous structure now hosts the research backbone of the new university, referred as the "Masdar City campus". It was located in Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Masdar Institute was an integral part of the non-profit side of the Masdar Initiative and was the first institution to occupy Masdar City. The Technology and Development Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology provided scholarly assessment and advice to Masdar Institute., the collaborative agreement between the two institutions is still in place and currently hosts several exchange students from the legacy cohorts.
History
Masdar Institute was established on February 25, 2007., the Institute employed 85 faculty members and had an enrollment of 456 students. The establishment of Masdar Institute was part of a resource diversification policy for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Abu Dhabi's leadership views research and education in alternative energy as a keystone for the future development of the emirate and expressed their commitment through the establishment of Masdar Initiative, Masdar City and the Zayed Future Energy Prize. The Institute's interim provost, Behjat Al Yousuf, was appointed in May 2015. She previously served as the Dean of Students at Masdar. In 2017, Masdar Institute was merged with two other institutions to form Khalifa University.
Masdar Institute emphasized interdisciplinary collaboration and an early decision was made to establish programs rather than departments. The programs that were implemented in the institution are:
Masdar Institute admitted 92 students from 22 countries in the first year of its operation and planned to have a steady state population of about 800 students. Qualified students from around the world are offered a full tuition scholarship, monthly stipend, travel reimbursement, personal laptop, textbooks, and accommodation once accepted to any of Masdar Institute's programs. By 2017, 456 students were enrolled and the Institute had more than 550 alumni.
Faculty and research
Masdar Institute commenced teaching in September 2009. Its academics conducted research individually and in collaboration with several top ranked universities, notably MIT, on topics including water environment and health, advanced energy systems and microsystems, and advanced materials. By 2018, through the MI-MIT collaboration, 8 projects were completed and 11 one-to-one research and 3 flagship projects were being executed. The collaboration had a scientific outreach that included 201 scientific peer reviewed journal and book publications and 217 conference papers and presentations by April 2018.
