ABU DHABI — Artificial intelligence and other future-focused majors are emerging as top priorities for Emirati scholarship students studying overseas, as the UAE expands an international education program spanning more than 200 universities across 25 countries.
The story of Salem Al Buraiki, an Emirati student in Australia, has circulated widely on social media in recent months as an example of cultural exchange among scholarship students. Videos shared online showed an Australian host family wearing traditional Emirati attire during last Ramadan, in a gesture portrayed as respectful and reflective of close, human-centered ties.
Al Buraiki is one of 503 Emirati students currently distributed across more than 200 universities worldwide. Over the past five years, the total number of scholarship recipients reached 1,891 male and female students at different academic levels, according to the UAE Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. The ministry added that a group of these students are enrolled in more than 60 universities ranked among the world’s leading institutions.
Interest in Australia has grown sharply. The website ASPI Strategist reported that the number of Emirati students in Australia tripled across 2023 and 2024.
Future specializations
The ministry said the scholarship program is designed around majors directly aligned with domestic priorities and labor-market needs, including artificial intelligence and data science, advanced engineering, renewable energy, and medical and health sciences. It also includes business administration, economics, and social sciences, aimed at supporting the development of a knowledge-based society.
Officials say the program does more than fund overseas study: it channels students into disciplines expected to drive economic and social transformation in the coming decades, while strengthening the UAE’s role in the knowledge economy, climate neutrality, and digital transformation. The program is also presented as a platform for cultural exchange between Emirati students and peers from around the world.
The ministry views the scholarship track as a direct lever for workforce development and said it has signed strategic partnerships with leading national institutions across key sectors including energy, aviation, heavy industry, and human resources. Under these arrangements, graduates may receive direct job offers or structured training pathways aligned with national plans, including “We the UAE 2031” and the UAE Centennial 2071.
Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Al Mualla, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, said the selection of scholarship students for 2025 followed strict standards focused on academic competence and personal excellence. He added that fewer than 10% of applicants—estimated at 2,500 to 3,000 students per year—are accepted, describing successful candidates as “the elite of the elite.”
“Insurance against extremism”
The report also highlights concerns about extremist recruitment targeting young people in educational institutions worldwide, from primary schools to universities. In response, it said the UAE applies measures intended to protect its scholarship students abroad from extremist ideologies, including withholding scholarships for study in countries whose universities and national authorities are described as lacking effective counterterrorism measures.
As an example, Indiatimes cited official UK data indicating that during the 2023–2024 academic year, 70 university students in Britain were referred to the government’s “Prevent” counter-extremism program over possible involvement, after signs of what was described as “Islamist extremism.” The figure was said to be nearly double the number recorded the previous year, out of an estimated higher-education population of roughly three million students.
The Indian outlet added that while one British academic downplayed the scale of Islamist activity on campus, the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza contributed to heightened tensions and protests at universities.
Investigative journalist David Collier, writing on X, called for studying the UAE’s decision to reduce funding for students seeking to study in the UK, citing fears of exposure to extremist influences in British universities.
A report by the Trends Research & Advisory Center argued that the UK has long been viewed as a safe haven for the Muslim Brotherhood, with room to operate without fear of prosecution. The report said the failure of then-Prime Minister David Cameron’s government to designate the group as a terrorist organization in 2014 enabled its growth in Britain, though it noted what it described as a shift in official tolerance. It pointed to a March 2024 announcement by Communities Secretary Michael Gove that five groups would be assessed under a new government definition of extremism, including the Muslim Association of Britain, which the report described as a Brotherhood-linked body.
The center warned that despite actions taken by various European governments, the lack of a unified European designation of the Muslim Brotherhood as a terrorist organization complicates the group’s status. It concluded that European security services view the Brotherhood negatively across the continent, even as formal designation remains debated.
