Dubai, March 22, 2020: Canadian University Dubai (CUD) and University of Lyon (Université de Lyon) have entered into a partnership to launch joint academic and research activities, following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Dubai recently.

The MOU was signed by Prof. Karim Chelli, President of Canadian University Dubai and Prof. Khaled Bouabdallah, President of University of Lyon, in the presence of Mr. Buti Saeed Al Ghandi, Chancellor of CUD, Mr. Jacques Comby, President of Jean Moulin Lyon 3 University, Mr. Alain Galliano, Vice President of metropolitan Lyon, and senior officials and academics of CUD.

The MoU envisages a host of collaborative activities, including exploring the launch of new programs, development of a diploma training program with member institutions of University of Lyon, and exchange of academics and students. It also covers exchange of publications and research materials, conducting joint projects related to research, teaching and faculty development and developing artistic and cultural initiatives for stronger community engagement.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Prof. Karim Chelli commented: “This partnership is a great opportunity for Canadian University Dubai and its students, as it will allow us to launch new programs, and enable our teaching researchers to benefit from the expertise of the University of Lyon to develop joint research programs, to launch Francophone, bilingual (French and English) and possibly trilingual programs (French, English and Arabic). Research, creativity and entrepreneurship are at the heart of the new partnership which seeks to create an education triangle between Europe, Canada and the Middle East.”

Prof. Khaled Bouabdallah, President of University of Lyon, said: “We are very pleased to launch this partnership. We believe this is the beginning of many joint projects and initiatives between us. Our goal is to share training and degrees, and to have students from CUD on our campus and our students on Canadian University Dubai campus. Together, we can develop common projects of international dimensions.”

Mr. Jacques Comby, President of University of Moulin – Lyon 3, remarked:  “This collaboration we are creating with Canadian University Dubai will allow us to take our relationship to another level and I hope that in the very near future Dubai will be a member of the University of Lyon alliance.”

Alain Galliano, Vice President of Metropolitan Lyon, commented: “Lyon is a thriving business hub and a centre of academic excellence. We have been recording high growth over the past few years. We are delighted that several seeds of cooperation have been sown between Lyon and Dubai in the fields of trade, transportation and tourism; and today in the field of university education. We see great prospects for further cooperation in the coming years.”

University of Lyon, located in Lyon and Saint-Étienne, France, is a renowned center of higher education and research consisting of 12 member institutions and 25 associated institutions. It hosts over 140,000 students, of which 20,000 are international students. It has 17 doctoral schools and 5,400 PhD students.

Canadian University Dubai, established in 2006, offers academic programs based on the Canadian curriculum, and serves as a gateway for students to pursue higher education, research and employment opportunities in Canada. With a wide range of programs across disciplines in Architecture & Interior Design, Communication, Arts & Sciences, Engineering, and Management, students benefit from an education ranked 41st overall in the region and  8th in the UAE, according to the 2019 QS Rankings for the Arab Region.