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Academic Enrichment
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Academic Enrichment at Carnegie Mellon
Carnegie Mellon Qatar provides an extensive slate of academic enrichment opportunities for students in every discipline. These opportunities add an important dimension to the undergraduate experience, enhancing classroom work and challenging students to deepen their practical skills and theoretical understanding.
Undergraduate Research
Meeting of the Minds
Meeting of the Minds is an annual symposium at CMU where students present their research and project work to a wide audience. A judging panel of industry experts and faculty members from other universities review the presentations, with awards given for the best projects and posters.
Phage Genomics Lab Experience
The year-long course for first-years involves purifying a virus from a soil sample, characterizing it by electron microscopy and analyzing its genetic material. This early experience in the laboratory introduces students to important concepts like designing experiments and analyzing results, which are the foundation of their scientific studies.
Summer Research Institute
Biological Sciences students can apply to the Summer Research Institute, a program for researching molecular biology and biochemistry at the Carnegie Mellon main campus in Pittsburgh. Research projects involve recombinant DNA techniques and biochemical methods directed toward the functional analysis of proteins and enzymes.
QSIURP
The Qatar Student Initiated Undergraduate Research Program awards funding to undergraduates at CMU-Q for summer research in any field of study. It is modeled on a similar program on the main campus.
Experiential Learning
Campus Exchange
Carnegie Mellon students in both Qatar and Pittsburgh can experience life on the other campus through the exchange program. Exchange students register for a semester at the other CMU campus, take courses that apply to their degrees and experience Carnegie Mellon from another perspective. Learn more
Study Abroad
Study abroad is an opportunity for students to expand their academic horizons and experience a different culture. There are programs around the world that introduce students to new cultures, languages and educational approaches. Learn more
Academic trips
Carnegie Mellon Qatar students may choose to enhance their education with academic travel. Throughout the year, CMU-Q faculty members organize trips that enrich the curriculum and provided invaluable learning experiences.
In the 2015-16 academic year, students travelled to Silicon Valley and Sweden to meet with innovation entrepreneurs; New York to visit the New York Stock Exchange; the Andalucía region of Spain to see Arabic cultural influences; London to meet with socially responsible businesses; and Pittsburgh for the annual information systems research conference. Learn more
Internships
Internships are an excellent way for students to gain experience in the workplace, as well as develop job search skills like resume writing, networking and interviewing. CMU-Q’s Career Development Office works closely with employers to create meaningful, challenging internship experiences for students.
Competitions
Hackathon
Hackathon is an annual programming competition for university students, where teams compete in a 24-hour race to build mobile applications, web applications or games. The event is organized by CarnegieApps, a student-led club at Carnegie Mellon Qatar.
Internal Case Competitions
Internal Case Competitions are held each year for business-minded students from Qatar and Pittsburgh. The cases are realistic problems that students might face in consulting, and provide experience in teamwork, problem-solving, business analysis and professional presentation.
Quick Start-Up
Quick Start-Up is a national business competition hosted by CMU-Q. During the weekend-long event, university students from around Qatar develop an idea into a business plan. Quick Start-Up participants receive mentoring and guidance through the development process.
Trading Hackathon
Teams compete to create the most profitable algorithmic trading strategy, which is run over three live trading days of the New York Stock Exchange.
Local, regional and international competitions
CMU-Q information systems students participate in a variety of competitions in Qatar and the region.
Recent competition successes:
First place, Microsoft Imagine Cup, 2016: Yasser El-Sayed, Musab Popatia, Mohammed Fituri, and Yousuf Akhlaq
First place, Al Ruwad Case Competition, 2016: Yousuf Akhlaq, Sampriti Jain, Nawal Mir and Osama Qureshi
Second place, Gulf Programming Contest, 2016: Daun Chung, Mahmoud Al-Ismail and Yusuf Musleh
First place, SAP InnoJam Germany, 2015: Ibrahim Soltan
Third place, SAP DemoJam Barcelona, 2015: Ibrahim Soltan
Third place, Yale Hackathon, 2015: Maher Khan, Musab Ahmed Popatia and Qasim Nadeem
Third place, Enterprise Challenge Qatar, 2015: Awais Shamim, Faran Farooq, Mounir Sheikh, Sherif Rizk and Ibrahim Soltan
Awards and honors
Dean’s List
The Dean’s List is comprised of students from any discipline who, in the previous semester, have earned a 3.5 or higher QPA while completing at least 45 units of graded work, or a 3.75 QPA for at least 36 units of graded work.
College Honors and University Honors
Students who complete their college’s specific honors requirements, including an undergraduate thesis, receive College Honors upon graduation.
Students who have a cumulative QPA of 3.5 or higher after seven or eight semesters receive University Honors upon graduation.
Qatar Campus Scholars
The Qatar Campus Scholar Awards recognize graduating seniors who demonstrate strong leadership and academic excellence. These are individuals who have excelled in many facets of student life, including volunteerism, involvement in student organizations, or participation in sports or the arts.
Andrew Carnegie Society Scholar
Each year one of the Qatar Campus Scholars is selected as the Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar representative to the Andrew Carnegie Scholars Program. Throughout Carnegie Mellon University, Andrew Carnegie Scholars are selected to represent their class in service and leadership. These graduating seniors embody Carnegie Mellon’s high standards of academic excellence, volunteerism, leadership, or involvement in student organizations. Since its inception in 1975, the program has recognized nearly 1,000 students.
Senior Student Leadership Award
Graduating students are acknowledged for extraordinary leadership and making substantial contributions to the community during their time at CMU-Q.
Outstanding Academic Achievement Awards
The Outstanding Academic Achievement Awards recognize one graduating student in each program who has demonstrated exceptional academic performance.