DI President Dr. Abdelwahab El-Affendi, faculty, staff, and students at the orientation session.
Doha, Qatar: The Doha Institute for Graduate Studies (DI) held an orientation session yesterday, to welcome admitted students to DI’s doctoral and master’s programmes for the academic year 2025-2026. The event brought together around 301 new students across 18 master’s programmes and eight doctoral programmes offered by the DI.
204 students are enrolled in the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, 97 in the School of Economics, Administration and Public Policy, and six in the doctoral studies programme.
The orientation featured a keynote address by the DI’s President, Dr. Abdelwahab El-Affendi, who welcomed what he described as the largest cohort in the Institute’s history, and the first of its second decade since its establishment. He noted that the students were admitted at the beginning of the Institute’s eleventh academic year.
Dr. El-Affendi highlighted that the majority of this year’s admitted students come from Arab countries, with Qatari universities and residents in Qatar forming the largest share. He considered this a remarkable success for the Institute’s mission, pointing out that no other university teaching exclusively in Arabic has been able to attract this proportion of students in a region that hosts some of the world’s most prestigious universities.
Dr. El-Affendi emphasised that joining the DI provides students with an opportunity for maximum academic and intellectual growth, stressing that the DI is “an ambitious institution that welcomes ambitious students,” and does not settle for minimal achievement or mere passage. He added that the Institute was established to elevate the study of the humanities and social sciences to a global standard—and beyond—by contributing to human knowledge, not simply imitating the West or the East. Achieving this goal, he explained, requires engaging with the latest global intellectual production, building on it, and addressing its shortcomings.
Dean of Student Affairs, Dr. Ibrahim Freihat also welcomed the new students, congratulating them on their choice to join this academic institution.
Dr. Freihat emphasised that the student experience at the DI is built on active participation and engagement within a diverse academic community that strives for excellence and innovation.
Student Services Manager at the DI, AlReem AlHaider welcomed the new students, stressing that knowledge is the true sustenance of a person, and that the efforts, long hours, and being away from family and homeland that accompany this journey ultimately yield lasting value and impact.
The orientation programme runs over three days. Classes for the 2025–2026 academic year will start on August 24. Admissions for the 2026–2027 academic year are scheduled to open on September 1.
