Accession Day: Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid launches Dh100m 'Great Arab Minds' fund
The fund to support 1000 leading Arab thinkers in various fields
Dubai: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Tuesday launched a major pan-Arab programme seeking 1000 brilliant Arab minds in the fields of physics, mathematics, coding, research and economics.
The announcement comes on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of Sheikh Mohammed’s Accession Day which falls on January 4. Sheikh Mohammed announces a special project every year on to mark his Accession Day.
The programme named ‘Great Arab Minds’ aims to enable brilliant Arabs to play their positive and cultural role in the Arab region and revive the cultural role Arabs played in human civilisation in pursuing the future of the Arab world.
The initiative will be driven by and headquartered at the Museum of the Future, the Emirates’ new global scientific landmark.
Largest movement
Great Arab Minds is the Arab world’s largest movement designed to search for exceptional talents among Arab scientists, thinkers, and innovators across key fields, aiming to highlight and celebrate leading thinkers in the region and inspire young people with their example. It will work with regional and global partners to develop and maximise the positive impact of their ideas and work. The five-year initiative will focus on fields including physics and mathematics, software and data science, economics and higher education and research.
Dh100m fund
The initiative is backed by an Dh100 million fund and will be administered from the Museum of the Future, with a committee of four Emirati Ministers who will develop a system to identify and highlight the extraordinary thinkers and talents that the initiative will support. The fund will be headquartered at the Museum of the Future, the Emirates’ new global scientific landmark, and will support local and global partnerships in fostering research, development and innovation.
16th anniversary of Accession Day
In a series of tweets on the 16th anniversary of his accession, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said: “ Today we launch a new project to search for 1,000 Great Arab Minds in the fields of physics and mathematics, software and data science, economics and higher education and research. Great minds built Arab civilization - today I believe we have the talent to build a better world.”
His Highness said: “ We will accelerate the Emirates’ role as an incubator for fostering Arab and global talent. We built the Museum of the Future as a global hub for scientists, thinkers and innovators - it is the ideal headquarters for a fund to develop the potential of our region’s finest minds.”
The Committee members
The Committee leading Great Arab Minds is Chaired by Mohammad Al Gergawi, President of the Museum of the Future, Minister if Cabinet Affairs, and Sarah Al Amiri, Minister of State for Advanced Technology and Chairwoman of the UAE Space Agency; Omar Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, Digital Economy and Remote Work Applications; and Shamma Al Mazrui, Minister of Youth.
Creative talent
Great Arab Minds aims to search for leading Arab minds and creative talents, shed light on their achievements, and invest in their capabilities and ideas. It aims to celebrate their work and inspire young people with their example.
The fields of focus of Great Arab minds are selected based on the potential for future development in key areas of innovation to drive development and economic growth .
More details about the Great Arab Minds project will be announced over coming weeks, including information about each of the paths as well as processes for nomination and registration.