In Qatar’s capital city of Doha is an exciting vision come true for the small but ambitious country. Ivy League universities and elite research and technology institutions have sprouted from the desert to form an oasis of knowledge and innovation called Education City.

The flagship project of the Qatar Foundation is Education City, a strategic investment in the long-term vision to establish Qatar as a leading international hub for education, research, and health care.

 “I imagine Qatar as a small lab finding solutions for the rest of the world, ” said Her Highness Sheikha Mozah Bint Nasser Al Missned, Chairperson of the Qatar Foundation.

Qatar spends 2.8 percent of its GDP (US$1.5 billion) a year on research purposes.

The 1,000-hectare (2,500-acre) sprawl is a unique enclave of world-class institutions. Education
City includes: six of the best American universities–Virginia Commonwealth, Weill Cornell Medical, Texas A&M, Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown and Northwestern; the Sidra Medical and Research Centre; MD Anderson Cancer Research Centre; and Qatar Science and Technology Park. The new Qatar National Convention Centre is also in Education City.

The focus of activities in Education City is on bringing cutting-edge technology to Qatar. The industries set for development include energy intensive production technologies, the solar power industry, business incubation services, gene therapy, neurogenetic studies, embryonic stem cell biology and vaccine development.

Sidra Medical and Research Centre, due to open in late 2012, together with Weill Cornell Medical College, will form the first academic medical centre of its kind in the region for clinical care, medical education and biomedical research. Qatar Foundation set up a US$7.9billion endowment fund to finance Sidra Medical and Research Centre, the largest endowment of a medical centre anywhere
in the world.

More than US$800 million has been invested in the Qatar Science and Technology Park by Qatar Foundation and its 21 corporate partners including the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company, Exxon Mobil, General Electric, Microsoft, Shell and Total. The Park is an international hub for technology-based companies and an incubator of start-up enterprises.