The Comenius University leadership welcomes Princess Mona and a delegation from Sultan Qaboos University in Oman
On Thursday 18 May 2017 the Comenius University leadership welcomed a delegation from Sultan Qaboos University in Oman in the Rector’s Hall.
Comenius University Rector, Professor Karol Mičieta, accompanied by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sport of the Slovak Republic, Dr Oľga Nachtmannová; the Comenius University Vice-Rector for Science and Post-Graduate Study, Professor Peter Moczo; the Dean of Comenius University’s Faculty of Medicine, Professor Juraj Šteňo; the Dean of Comenius University’s Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Professor Jozef Masarik; and the director of Comenius University’s Science Park, Professor Ján Turňa, welcomed the Omani delegation from Sultan Qaboos University, which was led by the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Ali bin Saud Al Bimani; and the Omani princess and Assistant Vice-Chancellor for International Cooperation, Dr Mona bint Fahad Al-Said. The other members of the delegation were Dr Aliya Saleh Ali Saleh Alansari from the Department of Biology; Dr Khalid Said Salim Al-Thihli from the Genetics Department of the University Hospital; Professor Khalifa S. Al-Jabri, who is the head of the Department of Design and Architecture; and the head of the Department of International Relations, Mahmood Al Kindi.
Professor Moczo and other members of the Comenius University leadership introduced the university to their guests with an emphasis on its science and research activity, elite scientific teams, and the Comenius University Centres of Excellence. Princess Mona and the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Alim Al Bemanim, presented Sultan Qaboos University, which was founded in 1986; it has nine faculties, a university hospital, and 18,000 students (with female students comprising around one half of the total number). Ninety percent of the study programmes are in English. The university was placed in the 151st–200th ranking band in this year’s ranking of young universities (“Generation Y”) from around the world and in the 2016 World University Ranking it was placed in the 601st to 800th ranking band. Similarly to Comenius University, Sultan Qaboos University is a research-focused university. Cooperation in the area of science and research was the main purpose of the Omani delegation’s visit. Possible joint projects were discussed in the areas of geology, earthquake research, water and soil preservation and landscape management, environmental toxicology, biomedicine, genetics and other medical topics, information technology, and other areas.
The Sultan Qaboos University delegation also informed Comenius University about the Visitor’s Research programme for doctoral students, the possibility of cooperation within an exchange programme for researchers, and a science and research forum which will take place in March 2018 in Oman.
Branislav Slyško