Students from one of the most fabled cities of the ancient world will soon be completing their degrees and boosting their qualifications in Yorkshire as part of a new agreement in Huddersfield.
The University of Babylon, in modern Iraq, was founded in 1991, close to the site of a city that was one of the earliest in human history, established more than 2,000 years BC.
Today’s university is ambitious to raise its international reputation for teaching and research and part of its strategy is to form close links with UK universities – including the University of Huddersfield.
Now, an agreement has been signed that will result in cohorts of undergraduates from Babylon relocating to the University of Huddersfield for the final year of their degrees in subject areas that will include automotive engineering, railway technology and forensic science.
Some students will also take taught Master’s courses.
The link with Babylon began when Dr Mosttafa Alghadhi, who is Project Delivery and Support Officer in the University of Huddersfield’s Research and Enterprise Department, paid visits to the Iraqi university.
Then came a fact-finding visit to the Huddersfield campus by a party made up of dignitaries and professionals from Iraq.
Welcomed by Professor Dave Taylor, the University of Huddersfield’s Pro Vice-Chancellor, International, the Babylonian party were shown round several departments and research facilities, including the Schools of Computing and Engineering and Applied Sciences, and the Institute of Railway Research.
A Memorandum of Understanding between the universities of Huddersfield and Babylon was then drawn up and signed.
Subsequently, Babylon’s Dr Aljebory paid a second visit to Huddersfield to finalise details of the subject areas that will be studied for top-up degrees by Iraqi undergraduates and for Master’s courses.
It is anticipated that the first students from Babylon will arrive in 2017 and that eventually there will be up to ten on each of the agreed subject areas.
