The College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS) appointed a new Advisory Board Chair and four new members to its Advisory Board in June. Members serve a staggered term of three years, with meetings held at least once every other academic year. The Board’s role is to support and advise the College’s leadership.

The CHSS Advisory Board chair is Dr. Khalid Al-Ali, Acting Undersecretary for Higher Education, and Director of Higher Education Institutional Affairs at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education.

The debate over intellectual property rights (IPRs), particularly patents, and access to medicine is not new. IPRs are considered to drive innovation by protecting the results of investment-intensive R&D, yet arguably also foster inequitable access to affordable medicines. 

In a global public health emergency such as the COVID-19 pandemic, where countries face acute shortages of life-saving vaccines, should public health be prioritized over economic gain and the international trade rules designed to protect IPRs? 

The College of Public Policy (CPP) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) showcased its efforts to support evidence-driven policy development in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region during the 5th International Conference on Public Policy (ICPP5) held July 5-9. One of the most important global conferences on policy research, ICPP5 was jointly organized by the International Public Policy Association (IPPA) with the Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals in a hybrid format.

The fourth in a series of webinars tackling contemporary women's issues, organized by Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), gathered parliamentarians, civil rights activists, and advocates to discuss the adoption of gender quota systems in the Arab region on July 7. 

More than a year into the pandemic, the medical community is still confronted with the unknown. Despite the global community’s undisputed need to quell COVID-19, open-ended questions remain on vaccine efficacy and safety within specific age groups. Vaccines against COVID-19 are safe and highly effective and the American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends vaccination of children and adults as early as possible to stop the pandemic, especially with the rise in variant forms of the virus that are more potent. 

Dr. Anis Ben Brik, an associate professor at the College of Public Policy (CPP) and founding director of the program for social policy evaluation and research (PROSPER), recently presented a paper at the 50th Annual Meeting of the Jean Piaget Society. Titled Well-being of Parents and Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the MENA Region, his paper examined levels of self-reported depression, anxiety, and stress in parents, and anxiety in their children, in 20 countries across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), has announced the ‘Call for Papers’ for the upcoming second edition of its International Conference in Sustainable Energy-Water-Environment Nexus in Desert Climate 2021 (IC-SEWEN’21). The four-day hybrid event is scheduled to be held from November 22-25.

To mark World Refugee Day on June 20, Maker Majlis, a platform under the College of Islamic Studies (CIS) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), is partnering with local, regional, and international organizations and scholars to host a three-day event under the theme “We Cannot Walk Alone”. Taking place virtually from June 20-22, the event is open to the public. 

Qatar Environment and Energy Research Institute (QEERI), part of Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), recently hosted a meeting of Working Group 11 of the ISO Technical Committee (TC) 67, tasked with managing and developing worldwide standards for the corrosion protection of materials, equipment, and offshore structures used by the petroleum and natural gas industries.

The College of Science and Engineering (CSE) at Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) was an organizer of the 2nd International Workshop on Ethics in Software Engineering Research and Practice (SEthics 2021), held virtually on June 4.