MBRKA to Be Awarded to Entities Fighting Epidemics
MBRKA to Be Awarded to Entities Fighting Epidemics
Under the directives of HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Award (MBRKA), the MBRKA’s Board of Trustees held a virtual meeting on July 2nd, 2020. Chaired by His Excellency Jamal bin Huwaireb Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees and Secretary General of MBRKA, the meeting was attended by board members representing world leading institutions including the UAE University, Cairo University, University of Oxford, University of Tokyo, and Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University and the Institute of International Education. During the meeting the Board decided that the Award should be given this year to individuals and organizations seeking to enhance knowledge in combating epidemics and infectious diseases.
MBRKA’s Members of the Board of Trustees discussed in the meeting the most prominent aspect that will be highlighted and the individuals and organizations that will be honored as the 2020 Laureates. The Board discussed international efforts to combat infectious diseases and epidemics such as SARS CoV-2 and Covid-19, and how to overcome the problems they brought about. It was decided that nominations will be encouraged from individuals and organizations working to add knowledge in dealing with epidemics. This will serve as a platform for experts to come up with recommendations that highlight the policies and practical methods to help societies combat epidemics and their challenges.
With a monetary prize of a generous $1 million, the award is given to honour contributions of significant influence toward developing knowledge, inspiring others, and creating ways to promote knowledge. The closing date for 2020 nominations is August 27th.
All nominations will be received through MBRKA’s
website: https://mbrf.ae/knowledgeaward/
OMBR Scholarship Enables Two Arab Researchers to Pursue Their Postgraduate Studies
In line with the directives of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Media Council and Chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF), the Foundation announced that two young Arab researchers will benefit from the Oxford - Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Graduate Scholarship (OMBR Scholarship) to enable them to obtain a DPhil degree. Karim El Mestekawy will study for a DPhil Condensed Matter Physics (MPLS) focusing on ‘further advancement and commercialization of perovskite solar cells and to better understand the physics behind them using characterization techniques. Meanwhile Badran Elshenawy is pursuing a DPhil Oncology (MSD) to ‘study key components of the creatine kinase system to understand how they contribute to the pathophysiology of ischaemic heart disease’.
His Excellency Jamal bin Huwaireb, CEO of MBRF, stressed that the scholarship program at the University of Oxford offers an important opportunity for Arab students to benefit from their intellectual capabilities.
For the past 4 years Karim El Mestekawy has been studying physics at Oxford and has just graduated with first class honors. Karim decided to do a DPhil in condensed matter physics researching perovskite solar cells; a type of solar cell with the capability to improve the photovoltaic industry, fundamentally change the energy sector, and tackle the climate crisis.
Both young scholars thanked HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid for giving them the opportunity to study doctorates at Oxford.
MBRF Concludes Four Months Remote Workshop on Short Stories
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) conducted a four-month remote workshop for a group of 11 talented youths on writing.
The training, organized under the Dubai International Program for Writing, was intended to equip the youths with basics of writing creative short stories.
The trainees underwent intensive and in-depth training sessions conducted by Eslam Abo Shkir.
The 11 trainees were representative of a diverse and creative spectrum of interests, characterized by commitment, seriousness, love-based rush, and the aspiration to explore the new and useful techniques in the world of writing.
“The fertile dialogue environment that prevailed in the workshop atmosphere allowed everyone to express his independent creative personality and his own interests,” Abo Shkir, the workshop instructor said.
He added: “What distinguishes this year’s workshop is that it came in an exceptional circumstance, which is the “Coronavirus” epidemic, and the resulting precautionary measures aimed at preserving the safety of the participants, but MBRF was able to overcome this obstacle, by taking advantage of the capabilities offered by modern technology.
Trainee Najwa Al-Awani said: “The workshop created more awareness for me in writing, and added special skills that I had not experienced before.” Trainee Raed Yunus Al-Nabrawi said: “It was one of the best workshops that I attended in the field of writing in general, and the short story in particular, and at the end of it I was able to improve my ability to write short stories.”
MBRF Supports People of Determination with an Audio Library at the Digital Knowledge Hub
The Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) has announced plans to launch an audio library containing a sizeable collection of books, publications, and content for People of Determination, as part of the Foundation’s Digital Knowledge Hub platform.
The Hub is one of the largest Arab content platforms, providing digital content including books, magazines, children’s stories, summaries, audiobooks, and videos.
The recordings include summaries of best-selling books in a variety of fields, namely, education, health, the environment, future foresight, parenting, leadership and entrepreneurship, personal success, Sheikh Zayed’s life, the arts, artificial intelligence (AI), self-development, happiness, and tolerance among others. The digital audio summaries can be streamed or download for free through the Digital Knowledge Hub’s website https://www.mbrf.ae/, which includes features such as UserWay making it more accessible to People of Determination.
MBRF’s CEO His Excellency Jamal bin Huwaireb asserted that providing sources of knowledge for People of Determination is a fundamental objective for the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation.
“When formulating our plans to promote digital knowledge among all members of the community, we made sure to place People of Determination at the top of our priorities. To that end, we created a library that provides them with extensive content, easily accessible with advanced technologies, to introduce them to various knowledge disciplines and its rapid development locally and internationally,” H.E. bin Huwaireb added.
MBRF Supports the ‘Digital Knowledge Hub’ with Book Summaries
The ‘Digital Knowledge Hub’ – a platform launched by the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF) to promote the dissemination and production of knowledge – has devoted a special section to book summaries from MBRF’s ‘Book in Minutes’ initiative.
The Foundation had introduced the initiative more than six years ago to provide summaries of best-selling and influential international books in Arabic, which, in turn, serves to stimulate and promote reading among all segments of the community.
The ‘Book in Minutes’ section allows visitors to access more than 200 short summaries of the most renowned books in various fields. Users can read the digital summaries online or download them for free on the Hub’s website – https:// www.mbrf.ae/qen/#knowledge-hub – in line with MBRF’s ‘#InvestInKnowledge’ campaign.
MBRF’s CEO His Excellency Jamal bin Huwaireb asserted that the ‘Book in Minutes’ initiative has caught the attention of scores of readers over the past few years as it provided an opportunity for them to easily explore the most popular publications in the world. The public has been highly responsive to making the summaries available on the ‘Digital Knowledge Hub’.
Virtual Poetic Evenings Bring Out the Power of Poetry
In observance of the precautionary measures taken to prevent the spread of Coronavirus, House of Poetry in Dubai hosted a series of virtual poetic forums and sessions on patriotism, in furtherance of its mission of enabling poetry and poets to play a more active role in the community.
Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Media Council and Chairman of the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Knowledge Foundation (MBRF), the House of Poetry in Dubai hosted “Poets of the Nation’s Forum” on its online platform, attracting the participation of poets namely, Saeed Marzouq Al-Ahbabi, Salem bin Kaddah Al-Rashidi, Hamed Al-Hashemi, Ali Matar Al-Mazroui, Jassem Al-Obaidli, Mishaal Bin Amr, Mishaal Al-Wahidi and Ibrahim Al-Shami who joined through Zoom, a virtual video communications application. The forum was moderated by poet and journalist Ahmed Al-Majidi Al-Badwawi.
In recognition of the creativity of Emirati women, an evening for “poetesses from the Emirates” was held on June 4 through the Zoom platform, drawing the participation of poetesses Sogha, Salima Al Mazrouei, Hamda Al Murr Al Muhairi, Nayla Al-Ahbabi, Hanadi Al-Mansoori, Hamda Al-Awadi.It was moderated by Rasha Ramadan.
In the same context, the House of Poetry held a virtual traditional evening for poets of “Al-Shila” which had poets: Bakhit Al-Mahri, Hamad bin Naaman Al-Kaabi, Khalid bin Samida Al-Nu’mani and Marshan bin Naaman Al-Kaabi, moderated by celebrated poet and journalist, Hazza Al Shiryani, in the presence of a group of fans of the art of traditional Al-Shila. The two-hour-event had performances of the Al-Shila, plus contributions from the audience.
The key highlight of the evening was a beautiful poem from Khamis Al Mansouri.
Commenting about the poetry evenings, His E xcellency Jamal bin Huwaireb, MBRF’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) stressed the need for concerted efforts for poetry to take its place in society. He underscored the great responsibility poets have in shaping society with their ability to immortalize phrases that remain alive in people’s memory.
He urged the poets to dedicate more effort to their poems, refine their tools, and widen their reading scope since reading increases the poet’s language power.
He noted that poetry reflects the beauty of the soul, shows the depth of human conscience and gives a great national value through which generations grow up on the rich social heritage with the values of good, love and giving, and the role of poets is important in this field to deepen these values and confirm them with words originating from the heart, and settle in the benefit of humans.
