NYU's agreement with the Emirate of Abu Dhabi to create NYU Abu Dhabi is the outcome of a shared understanding of the essential roles and challenges of higher education in the 21st century: a common belief in the value of a liberal arts education, concurrence on the benefits a research university brings to the society that sustains it, a conviction that interaction with new ideas and those who are different is valuable and necessary, and a commitment to educating students who are true citizens of the world. As the first world-class, liberal arts university in the Middle East, NYU Abu Dhabi will be built on the following principles:
- NYUAD is a research university with a fully integrated liberal arts and science college. It draws students from around the world, with special attention to the broad Middle East and South Asia, and prepares them for the challenges and opportunities of our interconnected world.
- NYUAD equips students for leadership in all arenas of human endeavor. It fosters curiosity, creativity, and critical reflection. At NYUAD students extend themselves and the frontiers of knowledge.
- The residential life of students is central to the academic mission. Learning takes place across the campus, not only in classrooms, but also in residential houses, in clubs and sports, in informal campus gatherings, and in the wider community.
- NYUAD stimulates advanced research. The NYUAD Institute is a major research center. Research is integral to the undergraduate experience at NYUAD, and it also drives the university’s graduate programs.
- NYUAD and NYUNY form the backbone of a fully connected Global Network University. As one of the two major hubs in the Global Network, NYUAD creates a unique capacity for faculty and students to access the assets of the entire university system.
- NYUAD advances Abu Dhabi as a magnetic center of ideas and human talent.