Representing the President of Yarmouk University, Professor Ziyad Zureikat, Assistant President of the University, sponsored the opening of the Learning Difficulties Treatment Unit in the presence of the representative of the Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the diplomatic attaché at the embassy, Abdullah Al-Khashab. The Unit, which was established as a part of a three-stage project titled “Designing Compensatory Programs for Learning Difficulties for Syrian Students”, was implemented by the Refugees, Displaced Persons, and Forced Migration Studies Center in partnership with the International Islamic Charitable Organization in Kuwait, the Islamic Development Bank, the Islamic Solidarity Fund, and the Humanitarian Excellence Society.  

Zureiqat stressed that Yarmouk University, since its inception, has always been involved in all activities and projects that would serve the Jordanian and Arab community, calling for strengthening research partnerships and consolidating relations with institutions and research centers in the region and the world. He also said: “Yarmouk University, through its various units, scientific centers, and research projects, seek primarily to advance society and improve the services. Thus, Yarmouk believes in the necessity of developing the educational system at the local and Arab levels in light of the difficult circumstances of the region.” Zureikat continued: “from this standpoint, Yarmouk University sought to embrace such a major humanitarian project, which aims at diagnosing the learning difficulties of Syrian students in the basic stages, passing through building the necessary tools to address such difficulties, and building the capabilities of male and female teachers to implement all strategies to mitigate learning difficulties.”

Engineer Badr Samit, the Director General of the International Islamic Charitable Organization, gave a speech in which he said that one of the most prominent qualitative educational projects in recent years is the “Project to Design Remedial Programs for Learning Difficulties among Syrian Refugees and Displaced Persons,” where 38 academic and technical teams, including 164 academics, from Kuwaiti, Jordanian, Egyptian, and Lebanese universities participated in developing sustainable solutions for about 15,000 male and female students and about 2,000 male and female teachers. He added, the work teams formulate the project and began laying its foundations and rules mid-2021. He also explained that the project seeks to address the educational loss resulting from conditions of asylum, displacement, or emergency crises, by building compensatory programs and producing educational materials and curricula to address students’ problems, reduce the phenomenon of school dropout, qualify teachers, and support educational institutions in emergency situations.

The Project Director, Dr. Shaker Al-Adwan, reviewed the first three stages of the project explaining that the first stage called “Diagnosis” began by conducting a comprehensive desk survey that included reviewing more than 100 scientific studies to diagnose the learning difficulties theoretically and applying diagnostic tests to more than 1,000 Students in 20 schools inside the Syrian refugee camps at Mafraq, Azraq, and Irbid schools. It also included conducting 100 interviews with male and female teachers to identify the learning difficulties experienced by Syrian students in the first six grades and distributing 500 questionnaires to male and female teachers for the same purpose.

He added that the second phase called “Construction and Composition,” is to identify all learning difficulties experienced by Syrian students in the Arabic language, English language, science, mathematics, and social curricula. Also, it aims at providing an inventory of the psychological and social difficulties challenged by Syrian students. Based on this, guides for addressing learning difficulties got composed and reviewed with the participation of experienced, specialized, and highly trained professors from the Faculty of Education at Yarmouk University. For the third phase, Al-Adwan stated that it represented the “training” aspect of the Project and that it involved forming a team of trainers, facilitators, and coordinators from the project team leaders and team members to provide training services for 300 male and female teachers working in schools at the Syrian refugee camps and evening schools for Syrians.

The technical director of the project, Dr. Ali Al-Jamal, explained that the Project is considered an Arab educational task that addresses an educational problem facing the Ministries of Education as well as refugee education in terms of educational weakness, educational loss, dropout, and psychological and social problems. Moreover, the representative of the Islamic Development Bank, Dr. Ashraf Khaddam, gave a speech in which he stressed that the Bank participated in supporting and financing such educational projects to fill in the gaps and enhance scientific excellence in Education, training, and skill programs, based on its vision of empowering people for a sustainable future.

For his part, the representative of the Islamic Solidarity Fund for Development, Muhammad Al-Jawabra, gave a speech in which he said that the Solidarity Fund is considered the poverty-fighting strategy of the Islamic Development Bank. It is, he said, an endowment fund with a sustainable impact that works on the basis of investing the contributions made to its capital from the member states and the Islamic Development Bank in Islamic Sharia-compliant investment tools for generating revenues that will be used to support various programs and projects to combat poverty in various sectors.

In addition, the member of the Humanitarian Excellence Society, Hamed Al-Rifai, gave a speech in which he reviewed the foundation of the Society and its deep belief that charitable work is an essential tributary for any society that is qualified to carry out its mission in reconstructing the land and instilling and developing a passion of volunteer and humanitarian work. Al-Rifai also reviewed the projects implemented by the Society in this field, pointing out that this Project reflects the Society’s role in human relief.

Noteworthy here is that the President of the University, Professor Islam Massad, had confirmed, during his meeting in his office with representatives of the supporting bodies and partners in implementing the Project, that Yarmouk University is one of the leading regional institutions in conducting studies and international projects concerned with refugee issues. He also said that Yarmouk has always been providing educational services to students and that it is the first Jordanian university to sign a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in an attempt to facilitate refugee students’ access to higher education.

02 November 2023

Stanford University in the United States has listed nine Yarmouk University researchers among the top 2% of the most influential scientists in the world. The list includes Dr. Idris Al-Momani, Dr. Mohammad Al-Rifai, and Dr. Mahmoud Al-Qudah from the Faculty of Science, Dr. Muwaffaq Al-Amoush, Dr. Zaid Muhammad Al-Batayneh, and Dr. Hazem Al-Shakhatra from the Hijjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology, Dr. Alaa Al-Jabali from the Faculty of Pharmacy, Dr. Muawiya Khatatbeh from the Faculty of Medicine, and Dr. Bilal Abdel-Ghani from the Faculty of Information Technology and Computer Science. This classification considers authors’ scientific citations and h-index, which takes into account the scientific production of the researcher, the number of authors in published scientific papers, and the citation of scientific papers.

On the other hand, Yarmouk University ranked fourth among the top ten Arab universities and scientific institutions in terms of the number of citations obtained by its affiliated authors according to the results of the ARCIF Labs report for the year 2023, with 4,778 citations in 1,131 articles. The list of ARCIF includes three faculty members from the Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology in the Faculty of Educational Sciences at Yarmouk, namely Dr. Faisal Al-Rabie, Dr. Muawiyah Abu-Ghazal, and Dr. Ahmed Al-Sharifin.

In the same context, a number of journals issued by the Deanship of Scientific Research and Graduate Studies at Yarmouk University got included in the impact factor and reference citations database of the Arab reference ARCIF for 2023. These journals are the Jordanian Journal of Educational Sciences with an impact factor of 1.0938, the Jordanian Journal of Arts with an impact factor of 0.275, and the Jordanian Journal of Physics.

02 November 2023

Two graduates of Yarmouk University in the field of Health Services Administration, namely Hindiya Al-Maqableh and Sarah Al-Ajlouni, won a grant for the best research project on the digital health sector at the Fourth Forum for Women in Scientific Research, which was organized by the University of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates under the slogan “Power: Towards Sustainable Empowerment of Women”. The prize got granted to Al-Malqableh and Al-Ajlouni in light of their scientific study titled “the Role of Technology Acceptance, Anxiety, and Demographic Factors in Jordanian Healthcare Decision Makers’ Attitudes Toward Artificial Intelligence.” This study, as the researchers stated, aims at understanding the attitudes and behaviors of decision-makers in the field of healthcare in Jordan towards the artificial intelligence by providing results and insights to healthcare institutions and decision-makers regarding the factors that affect the acceptance of smart technology and potential areas of intervention and support. The study also aims at translating the survey tools into Arabic, which contributes to further research on the attitudes of the Arabic-speaking population towards artificial intelligence.

01 November 2023

Yarmouk University’s Vice President for Academic Affairs, Professor Mousa Rababah, received at the University the European Union Ambassador to Jordan, His Excellency Mr. Pierre-Christophe Chatzisavas, and the accompanying delegation, who were visiting the University to meet students and visit some facilities.

At the beginning of the meeting, Rababah pointed out that the history of academic and research cooperation between Yarmouk and the European Union countries is full of scientific achievements, staff and student exchange, and many joint projects and scientific research. He stressed that Yarmouk, based on its vision and philosophy concerning the involvement in the various types of research, scientific, academic, and cultural cooperation with countries of the world, is interested in enhancing the quality of its educational system and graduates by providing opportunities for student and faculty exchange between Yarmouk and universities in European countries, especially through the Erasmus Plus Program.

In his turn, the Vice President of Yarmouk for Planning, Development, Scientific Research, and Quality Affairs, Professor Samer Samarah, confirmed that Yarmouk, in the context of its strategic plan concerning academic development and modernization, offers packages of a group of international languages, namely French, German, Spanish, Chinese, and Turkish, as an optional university requirement for graduation. He explained that such packages are expected to refine and develop the skills of graduates and help them obtain job opportunities that meet their ambitions, aspirations, and competencies.

Ambassador Chatzisavas pointed to the depth of the bilateral relations between Jordan and European Union countries, stressing the interest of the embassy in building bridges of cooperation with Jordan at the economic, cultural, academic, and political levels in a way that meets the ambitions and needs of both sides. He also stressed the importance of cooperation with a prestigious university like Yarmouk acknowledging its contribution to the success and prosperity of Jordanian youth who have proven their worth and excellence in several fields at the international level.

After this, Chatzisavas met with a group of Yarmouk students in the presence of the Dean of Al-Hijjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology, Professor Muwafaq Al-Otoum. Chatzisavas praised the sincere interest of Jordanian universities, especially Yarmouk University, in benefitting from the long- and short-term grants provided by the European Erasmus Plus program. He then answered students’ questions and inquiries about the possibility of increasing the number of scholarships offered to Yarmouk students, the possibility of expanding their horizons to include a greater number of specializations, and the extent of the role of the European Union Embassy in this regard.

The Ambassador and his accompanying delegation also visited the Jordanian Heritage Museum at the Faculty of Archeology and Anthropology, where they were accompanied by the Dean of the Faculty, Professor Mustafa Al-Naddaf. Then they visited the manufacturing laboratory at Al-Hijjawi Faculty for Engineering Technology, where the delegation listened to a detailed explanation of the working mechanisms in the laboratory. After that, they visited the Faculty of Fine Arts, where the Dean of the Faculty, Professor Ali Rabieat, gave a brief summary of the establishment of the Faculty and the specializations it offers in various artistic fields.

Furthermore, the delegation visited the Office of the Royal Film Commission of Jordan in Al-Hussein Bin Talal Library at the university. They got welcomed by the library director, Professor Omar Al-Ghoul, and the commission’s advisor, Mukhles Al-Mufleh. Chatzisavas expressed his pride in the partnership between the European Union Embassy and the Royal Film Commission, acknowledging the support he received from Her Highness Princess Reem Ali and pointing out that the European Film Festival has been organized in Jordan for 35 years. He then mentioned that the cooperation between the Embassy and the Royal Film Commission aims at screening a number of distinguished films due to the importance of their topics, which contributes to spreading the culture of cinema among the various segments of society, including university students.

31 October 2023

During his meeting with the Iraqi cultural advisor, Dr. Khair al-Din al-Amin, at the University’s liaison office in Amman, the President of Yarmouk University, Professor Islam Massad, stated that the University has succeeded, during its nearly 47-year journey, in having its rightful position among other universities locally, regionally, and internationally by proving its noble merit, academic standing, and scientific presence. Acknowledging the efforts of its teaching and administrative staff, students, and graduates, Massad reviewed the establishment of Yarmouk, its development, and the multiplicity of its Faculties, programs, and scientific and research centers. He then pointed at the effective role of the University in terms of community service and constant communication with the different organizations and institutions as evident in implementing a number of activities and events that serve the community.

Moreover, Massad expressed the University’s interest in strengthening cultural and academic relations with Iraqi universities to achieve common goals and aspirations, confirming the University’s readiness to enroll Iraqi students in its various Faculties and programs. He also pointed out the decision of the University’s Board of Trustees regarding the treatment of students in international programs for the undergraduate level, as the Jordanian students in the parallel program. Massad then presented the new academic programs offered by Yarmouk at the beginning of the new academic year 2023-2024, stressing that the University has become a destination for many Arab and international students.

For his part, Al-Amin praised the great status of Yarmouk University and its diversity, multiplicity, and keeping pace with scientific and cognitive developments. He acknowledged the remarkable achievements of the University’s Faculties and academic programs and the interest of its professors in scientific research. Thus, he stressed the aspiration of the Iraqi Cultural Attaché to deepen the cooperation between Yarmouk University and Iraqi universities with regard to the exchange of students, professors, and researchers, scientific publishing, organizing scientific conferences, and discussing university theses, and joint academic programs.

31 October 2023

His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal, Chairman of the Higher Council for Science and Technology (HCST), stressed the need for modern scientific discoveries, applications, and technologies to empower humans and improve their dignity. This came during His Highness’ patronage of the activities of the 10^th season of the Petra School of Physics under the slogan “Quantum Computing: Theory and Applications,” which was organized by the Faculties of Science at the University of Jordan and Yarmouk University in cooperation with the Higher Council for Science and Technology and Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in the Italian city of Trieste.

His Highness stated that the purpose of hosting the School’s activities this year is to activate and stimulate the scientific research in Jordan, to create a broad forum in the Arab world for exchanging views on science and technology and their impact on development, and to emphasize the role of physics in the development process.

His Highness also stressed the importance of adopting analytical thinking, spreading the culture of science, creativity, leadership and innovation, and creating a base for absolute knowledge, noting the importance of partnership in knowledge and the exchange of experiences that would achieve sustainable development.

For his part, the President of the University of Jordan, Professor Nathir Obaidat, called on the universities, industries, and markets to formulate the organizational, educational, and commercial strategies to increase potentials and mitigate the negative impact of quantum computing on them. He then explained that the quantum computer is not just a device for analyzing codes, but a device that carries profound potential in the world of computation, indicating that the transformative power of quantum technologies motivates us to deal with them responsibly.

For his part, the President of Yarmouk University, Professor Islam Massad, stressed that to be a teacher and researcher in science, you must be a student who always searches for renewed knowledge, pointing out that “absolute truths are always relative for tomorrow”. He then stated that the Petra School of Physics, which is being held by the Universities of Jordan and Yarmouk, constitutes a well-established scientific demonstration and a distinguished scientific forum at the international and local levels. He also said that the School complies with the vision of Yarmouk University for leadership and excellence in the fields of education, scientific research, and community service.

Moreover, Dr. Hammam Ghaseeb, the honorary professor at the University of Jordan and the representative of the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), said that quantum computing is developing tremendously and will play an important role in achieving development and its implications for various different sectors of work if it is understood well and harnessed to address the challenges and problems facing the development path.

The head of the School, Dr. Sami Al-Mahmoud, said that the quantum technology is a rapidly developing field and has the potential to cause a scientific revolution from computing and communications to medicine and security, from computation to communications and cryptography, precise sensing, and simulation. He added that the 10^th season of the Petra School of Physics discusses the solutions that quantum computing can provide to a wide range of critical problems in the real world and the various technologies adopted to produce quantum computing devices and components.

It is noteworthy that the Petra School was established in 1980 under the patronage of His Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal after the visit of the Nobel Prize winner in Physics, Dr. Mohammad Abdel-Salam, to Jordan in 1979. Its first conference was launched in 1982 and was held for the purpose of introducing Jordanian and regional students, scientists, and engineers to the latest developments in modern science as the scientific team of physicists at the University of Jordan and Yarmouk University began their joint work and research since the launch of the first conference, which was sponsored by Abdus Salam International Center for Theoretical Physics.

29 October 2023

A delegation from the Libyan Academy for Postgraduate Studies, which included the Director of E-Learning Center, Dr. Omar Saleh Mahmoud, and the Director of Information Technology Department, Dr. Musa Khalifa Fanir, visited Yarmouk University, to discuss activating the terms of the memorandum of understanding signed between the two sides. During the meeting, the Vice President for Academic Affairs, Professor Mousa Rababah, confirmed that Yarmouk University is looking forward to activating the provisions of this memorandum in a way that achieves a qualitative addition and serves the scientific and research process of the two universities, pointing out that Yarmouk University is always keen to strengthen its network of relations with various Arab and international academic institutions and universities and build on such relationships to achieve its aspirations and goals. Regarding e-learning, Rababah pointed out that Yarmouk University has reached an advanced level in this aspect by adopting digital transformation strategies and integrating them into the policies and plans of the e-learning center and open educational resources.

In the same context, both Mahmoud and Fanir stressed the interest of the Libyan Academy in strengthening its relations with Yarmouk University because of the status and academic reputation it represents at the level of Jordanian and Arab universities. They explained that their visit comes to Yarmouk is to confirm the Libyan Academy’s keenness to activate the terms of the memorandum of understanding signed between both sides. They also pointed out the Libyan Academy's aspiration to benefit from the experience of Yarmouk University with regard to e-learning and distance education as well as joint supervision of research and university theses in a way that achieves positive scientific and research interaction for both universities.

On the sidelines of the visit, the delegation of the Libyan Academy for Postgraduate Studies visited the Center of E-Learning and Open Educational Resources, where they listened to an explanation from the Center’s director, Dr. Alaa Al-Makhzoumi, about the Center’s vision, mission, nature of work, and the role assigned to it with regard to the educational process.

29 October 2023

The Vice President of Yarmouk University for Academic Affairs, Professor Mousa Rababah, discussed with a delegation from the Embassy of the Russian Federation in Amman, which included the head of the education department at the embassy, Magomed Gamzatov, and the director of the Russian Cultural Center in Amman, Alexei Bukin, ways of expanding the horizons of scientific and research cooperation between Yarmouk University and its Russian counterparts.

Rababah said, during the meeting, which was attended by Dr. Samer Samarah, Vice President of the University for Planning, Development, Scientific Research and Quality Affairs, that Yarmouk is looking forward to establishing qualitative relations with Russian academic institutions in a way that serves and achieves the University’s future aspirations. He explained: “this academic partnership may have many forms, such as exchanging students and professors, conducting scientific research, discussing university theses, and many others”. Rababah then pointed out that Yarmouk University was the first university in Jordan to include course packages for a number of foreign languages, such as French, Spanish, Turkish, German, and Chinese, in the study plans for undergraduate programs out of its belief in the necessity of qualifying students with skills that will open up additional opportunities for them. Moreover, Rababah revealed that Yarmouk, through its Language Center, intends to offer a summer program for the Arabic language for non-native speakers, stressing that the University welcomes any possible cooperation with the Russian embassy in this regard.

For his part, Gamzatov expressed the readiness of the educational department at the Russian embassy in Amman for constructive academic cooperation with Yarmouk University, indicating that the educational department at the Russian embassy is fully prepared to cooperate with the Faculty of Arts regarding preparing the “Russian corner”, which will include various books on the Russian literature and the modern educational curricula for the Russian language, in addition to computers and technological equipment that may help in learning the Russian language. In the same context, Bukin pointed out the desire of the Russian Cultural Center in Amman to cooperate and coordinate with Yarmouk University to organize a number of cultural activities and events, most notably the Russian Cultural Day, with the aim of introducing the University and the local community to Russian culture, customs, and traditions.

29 October 2023

Based on the vision of Yarmouk University and its strategic plan for attracting the largest possible number of students from various parts of the world to enroll in its multiple, qualitative and innovative programs and to keep pace with the spirit of the times and be in harmony with the needs of the labor market, the Board of Trustees of Yarmouk University, which was held on Thursday, 9/28/2023 , headed by Her Excellency Professor Ruwayda Al-Maaytah, decided to treat the new students of international programs for the bachelor’s level as the Jordanian students of the parallel program in terms of credit hour fees starting from the first semester of the academic year 2023/2024.

In this regard, the President of the University, Professor Islam Massad, said: “this decision stems from the vision of Yarmouk University and its philosophy based on updating its study plans and creating new programs that fulfill the ambitions of students who wish to acquire modern sciences and knowledge to engage in the labor market easily.” Massad added that Yarmouk University is keen to provide an educational and social environment that helps communication between students of different nationalities, highlighting that the University includes more than three thousand students from 48 countries around the world. He then said that Yarmouk seeks to provide the best possible service to international students by integrating them into the academic and social environment of the University, which is known by its quiet, safe, and distinguished geographical location.

19 October 2023