# Quaid-i-Azam University

Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad (Urdu: جامعہ قائداعظم; commonly referred to as QAU), founded as University of Islamabad, is a public research university in Islamabad, Pakistan.
Founded as the University of Islamabad in 1967, it was initially dedicated to the study of postgraduate education, but later expanded to an interdisciplinary university offering undergraduate and postgraduate education, and established as Quaid-i-Azam University in 1976.

## Overview

As of 2015, QAU has grown into the largest university in Islamabad with a total enrollment exceeding 13,000 students. The university is on a 1700 acres (or 6.9 km$^2$) campus on the foothills of the Margalla. Divided into four faculties and nine affiliated research institutes, QAU is among Pakistan's largest and highest-ranked public universities.
In the QS ranking 2024: QAU is ranked 315th globally. The Physics department is ranked 201-250. The Mathematics department is ranked 150-200. The Agriculture department is ranked 201-250. In Emerging Economics, QAU is ranked 401-450. QAU is ranked 86th in Asia.
The university has intellectual interaction with international institutes, including the United Nations, University of Tokyo and the ICTP. It counts several public figures and intellectuals among its current and former faculty, researchers, or alumni since its establishment. They include Maleeha Lodhi, Nasim Zehra, Shamshad Akhtar, Suhail Zubairy, Abdul Rashid Ghazi, Farzana Aslam, Tasneem Zehra and Salma Zahid. The university is currently led by Dr. Niaz Ahmed Akhtar.

## History

The University of Islamabad was established on 22 July 1967 by the Government of Pakistan. It was renamed as Quaid-i-Azam University in honor of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, founder of Pakistan in 1976 - which was the year of his birth centenary. However, the spelling of the university's name were kept different i.e. "i" was used instead of "e" for Ezāfe that links the two words in Jinnah's title Quaid-e-Azam.
The university offered teaching and research programs for PhD and MPhil degrees in the beginning and later offered Masters programs. The university now offers undergraduate programs in both evening and morning shifts batches.
Quaid-i-Azam University has four different faculties and 38 departments, institutes, schools and centers.

## Faculties and departments

Quaid-i-Azam University consists of four faculties. The following departments, institutes/schools work under these faculties:

### Faculty of Natural Sciences

* Department of Chemistry
* Department of Computer Science (Ranked 201st Worldwide)
* Department of Earth Sciences
* Department of Electronics
* Institute of Information Technology (Ranked 201st Worldwide)
* Department of Mathematics (Ranked 225th Worldwide)
* Department of Physics (Ranked 225th Worldwide)
* Department of Statistics

### Faculty of Social Sciences

* School of Law
* Quaid-i-Azam School of Management Sciences (QASMS)
* Department of Anthropology
* School of Sociology
* Department of Linguistics
* Department of Defence & Strategic Studies
* School of Economics
* Department of History
* School of Politics and International Relations
* Taxila institute of Asian civilizations
* Department of Psychology

### Faculty of Biological Sciences

* National Center for Bioinformatics
* Department of Animal Sciences
* Department of Biochemistry
* Department of Microbiology
* Department of Plant Sciences (Ranked 125th Worldwide)
* Department of Environmental Sciences
* QAU School of Medicine
* Department of Pharmacy
* Department of Biotechnology

### Faculty of Medical Science

* Al-Shifa Eye Trust Hospital Rawalpindi
* Army Forces Post Graduate Medical Institute
* Health Services Academy, Islamabad
* Federal Medical & Dental College
* Quaid e Azam Postgraduate Medical College, PIMS

### Institutes

* Institute of Information & Technology
* National Institute of Historical and Cultural Research (NIHCR) Center for Excellence
* Saulat Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Drug Research
* Center of Excellence in Gender Studies
* National Institute of Psychology
* National Institute of Pakistan Studies
* Area Study Centre for Africa, North & South America

#### Chairs

* Quaid-i-Azam Chair
* Benzair Bhutto Chair
* Rumi Chair

## Central Library

The university has central library (CL), named as DR. Raziuddin Siddiqi memorial library situated at the centre of the university campus and having total covered area is approximately 102,500 sq. ft. On 06-02-1999, the Central Library (CL) was renamed the Dr. Raziuddin Siddiqi Mermorial (DRSM) Library in honour of Dr. Raziuddin Siddiqi's illustrious and meritorious achievements as the founding Vice Chancellor of Quaid-i-Azam University. University offers DRSM Library services for faculty and students of the university.

### OPAC

Provides bibliographic information of print books available in main and seminar libraries of the university

### E-Resources

Access E-books, E-Journals and open access material related to course oriented and research.

### Seminar libraries

The main library has its six sub libraries in various departments of the university.

### Electronic thesis/ D-Space

The link consists of Electronic version of all thesis produced in the QAU by students of Master, M.Phil. and Ph.D. The resource on this link is under development phase.

### Ask librarian

Ask your question from Chief Librarian via e-mail.

### HEC digital library

Access to E-books, E-Journals and open access material related to course oriented, research and many many more.

### E-library

The E-library is the sub office of DRSM. which provides various services to faculty and students.

### E-library quick links

The section consists of Useful links for Plagiarism, Research Articles and E-Books.

## Rankings and reputation

Quaid-i-Azam University was ranked 378 in the world by the QS World University Rankings of 2022 and 91 in Asia.
For QS Top 10 Asian universities, QAU was ranked 6th in the natural science category in 2010. The university was overall ranked between 100 and 200 among the QS world top universities in 2007 and 2009. According to the 2019 ranking of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, Quaid-i-Azam University is ranked first in the general category. According to Times Higher Education Latest Rankings 2023, QAU is ranked among the world top 401 to 500 universities.

## Notable alumni and faculty

* Sajad Haider
* Abdul Rashid Ghazi
* Aasim Sajjad Akhtar
* Abrar ul Haq
* Hamza Ali Abbasi
* Ahmed Hassan Dani
* Akbar S. Ahmed
* Alamgir Hashmi
* Ansar Pervaiz
* Arshad Sharif
* Asghar Qadir
* Fayyazuddin
* Ismat Beg
* Irshad Hussain
* Hareem Farooq
* Ilhan Niaz
* Khadija Mushtaq
* Maliha Lodhi
* Marriyum Aurangzeb
* Mazhar Mahmood Qurashi
* Muhammad Sharif
* Muhammad Suhail Zubairy
* Muhammad Imran Qadir
* Nasim Zehra
* Nargis Sethi
* Nisar Ali Khan
* Pervaiz Iqbal Cheema
* Pervez Hoodbhoy
* Qaiser Mushtaq
* Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry
* Rana Mubashir
* Zafarullah Khan
* Raziuddin Siddiqui
* Shamshad Akhtar
* Shireen Mazari
* Tahir Amin
* Tasneem M. Shah
* Zia Mian
* Brigadier Anis Ahmed
* Notable Alumni
* Abrar-ul-Haq is a Pakistani musician and politician.
* General Khalid Shameem Wynne was a retired Pakistani four-star general and former Chief of the General Staff.
* Sajad Haider is a former Pakistan Air Force officer
* Muhammad Zakaullah former Chief of Naval Staff
* Sartaj Aziz was a Pakistani economist and a strategist who served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
* Ismat Beg mathematician, known for his work on Multiple-criteria decision analysis, and fixed point (mathematics)
* Muhammad Imran Qadir is a Pakistani pharmaceutical scientist.
* Shamshad Akhtar served as the vice president of the World Bank.
* Dr. Maliha Lodhi is a leading Pakistani diplomat.
* Asghar Qadir is a Pakistani mathematician and a prominent cosmologist.
* Naela Chohan is a Pakistani diplomat and women rights activist.
* Nasim Zehra is a leading journalist.
* Salma Zahid as a Member of Parliament of Canada.
* Irshad Hussain is a Pakistani chemist and Nanomaterials scientist.
* Ayesha Siddiqa is a Pakistani military scientist.