- MBZUAI and Sorbonne Abu Dhabi sign MoU to advance AI research, ethics, and interdisciplinary education.
- Partnership to jointly supervise PhDs, develop AI courses, and collaborate on real-world sectoral AI applications.
- MoU supports UAE’s AI strategy by uniting top institutions to drive responsible innovation and global AI leadership.
Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) and Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi (SUAD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a strategic academic collaboration that will drive enhanced cooperation in AI research, education, and ethics. The signing took place at the MBZUAI campus by MBZUAI President and University Professor Professor Eric Xing and SUAD Chancellor and University Professor Professor Nathalie Martial-Braz, in the company of top leaders from both institutions.
The partnership supports MBZUAI’s vision to serve as a global epicenter for AI innovation and research, expanding through its Institute of Foundation Models labs in France and Silicon Valley, and positioning Abu Dhabi as a leader in advancing ethical, inclusive, and high-impact technologies. It also aligns with the Abu Dhabi and Paris campus of SUAD’s Center for Artificial Intelligence’s (SCAI) vision to drive interdisciplinary AI excellence as a catalyst in Abu Dhabi’s transformative innovation ecosystem. Led by Professor Gérard Biau, SCAI is a key contributor to Europe and the UAE's AI advancement and reinforces SUAD’s commitment to global collaborative research and AI leadership.
The agreement, which is part of the UAE's national strategy in AI and education, identifies a range of collaborative research projects on AI and its uses in major sectors of healthcare, energy, climate research, transport, and digital humanities. The universities will jointly supervise Ph.D. students and postdoctoral researchers to aid the growth of high-level academic skills.
Exchanges between faculty and researchers will enrich the learning experience and encourage interdisciplinarity and knowledge sharing. The collaboration is also aimed at upskilling working professionals and young people through the collaborative design and delivery of courses, workshops, and summer schools on AI basics, generative AI, and AI ethics.
This collaboration with Sorbonne Abu Dhabi demonstrates our mutual confidence in the potential of AI to transform the world and our sense of responsibility as educational institutions to see its development contribute positively to society", said Professor Eric Xing, MBZUAI President and University Professor. "By bringing together MBZUAI's top-notch research and technical capabilities in AI with SUAD's interdisciplinary capabilities, we hope to continue developing the knowledge and technology flows between France and the UAE with special emphasis on the application of this technology to preserve, enrich, and promote culture in significant and innovative terms".
Professor Nathalie Martial-Braz, Chancellor of SUAD, stated "Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi has enjoyed close collaboration with MBZUAI for several years, and we are delighted to now make this arrangement official. This partnership strengthens the UAE's AI ecosystem by connecting two top research hubs, with a collective vision of driving innovation and creating meaningful impact on the country's economy and industrial sector".
The two universities will collaborate with private and public sector partners to deploy AI solutions to pressing issues in the real world, while working together to advance ethical guidelines and data governance principles. The MoU provides for the production of white papers, best practices, and policy studies to inform regional and global strategies on the use of responsible AI.
The signing was attended by MBZUAI’s Professor Sami Haddadin, Vice President for Research; Dekyi Liang, Vice President and Chief of Staff; and Joni Cholwich, Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff. From SUAD, attendees included Dr. Majed Al Khemeiri, Deputy Vice Chancellor for Administrative and Financial Affairs; Dr. Clio Chaveneau, Head of the SAFIR Research Institute, and Manon Al Hakim, Chief of Staff.
The MoU represents a landmark in the coming together of two of the UAE's premier AI institutions to integrate capabilities, empower talent, and establish the UAE as a world hub for AI innovation and transformation.
