1reporter1 February 2015, Issue 6

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What’sinside?

SU reviews programs to meet local market needs p.2SU Public Seminar p.5Salahadin University Hosts The Activities of The EU Legal Education Funded Project p.7

1 February 2015, Issue 6

5,600 New Students Started Classes In The New Academic Year

total of 5,600 fresh-men, and 291 post-graduate students

have started their classes in the new academic year 2014-2015 in more than 100 differ-ent programs ranging from

engineering, applied scienced, to the humanities and lan-gauges. New admissions at SU’s various schools are based on a percentile grades system from the Kurdistan’s National Exam.

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ISSN 2308-5584

alahaddin University has replaced its (iq) domain name with a new one

that is aimed at “promoting” Kurdistan Region of Iraq and its people.The new .krd domain name was made available by the ICANN, a non-profit organi-zation whose main focus is managing Internet protocol numbers and Domain Name System root, following con-tinued efforts by the Kurdistan Regional Government’s IT Office.The KRG’s application report to ICANN reads the purpose of the domain name is: “to promote the Kurdistan region of Iraq and elevate the people of Kurdistan onto the interna-tional stage by providing an online space in which to pro-mote and develop the culture and language of the Kurdistan Region and its people. As such, the TLD aims to establish a dedicated, open namespace that represents Kurdish people within Kurdistan and interna-tionally, and offers a new and innovative approach for Inter-

net users globally to engage with the people of Kurdistan.”The KRG IT Office, which is now managing this domain,

started to first give the .krd do-main names to the universities based in Kurdistan Region.

Following the change in do-

main names, the Salahaddin University’s web address is now:www.su.edu.krd

New .krd Domain Name For Salahaddin University S

2 reporter1 February 2015, Issue 6

n June 2014, DAISH (or Islamic State as they loved to be so called) the most inhumane barbaric terror-

ists in the history of humanity began to appear in the Middle East, in Syria and the Sunni Arabic areas of Iraq. In a very short time, they invaded three major cities of Iraq (Mosul, Tikrit and Anbar) and announced the Islamic Caliphate State. DAISH systematically killed innocent ci-vilians in these Cities, instilling so much terror and fear in people , they chose suicide process especially in the heavily populated areas suffering in poverty, life became chaotic. DAISH introduced slav-ery into these people’s lives creating slave auctions for non-Muslim women and girls, selling them to satisfy jihadist, As a result , millions of people from these areas flewinto the Kurdistan Region (The Other Iraq) in order to survive and escape from the grasp of DAISH. Amongst them are 20,000 university students from Mosul,Tikrit and Anbar universities. These students have suffered incredible stress, not only from the terrible conditions imposed on them but because when they had the opportunity to escape it meant leaving behind their classes, universities and their hope.Salahaddin University-Erbil in Kurdistan although greatly over capacity could not stand by and watch these incredible stu-dents lose hope for their future and decided to come to their aid as well as ensuring the survival of these universities. But the way was not easy. First, the council of Salahad-din University decided to provide spaces for the management of these displaced univer-sities to run daily schedules and requested that some of the displaced academic lead-ers of universities to facilitate the registra-tion and management of displaced students within the places provided. Second, we at SU have started in cooperation with these universities, to take the final examinationof more than 18,000 displaced students in more than 100 different programmes, this helped the students to be ready for start-ing the current academic year. Third, we have introduced an initiative called “Guest Student” where displaced students are able to join our students for lectures whilst remaining registered to their respective

EDITOR’S CORNER

Displaced Universities

INSIDE SU

universities permanently. They use labs and facilities as original students, they do assign-ments and homework and sit exams as original students, but will graduate in their own uni-versities. This initiative has made over 3,000 students happy. We have placed an enormous amount of pressure on our university, but we are so proud to provide help and solutions to make the young people do not lose hope. But still there are more than 15,000 students out

of classes. It is the responsibility of the cen-tral federal government of Iraq to come to the assistance of these young people but unfortu-nately, has not moved to take any action yet. This careless of Baghdad toward the hope of these young people will complexes the proc-ess of reconciliation of these young men in a united Iraq in the future.

Professor Ibrahim Hamarash, PhD

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A Joint Symposium between Salahaddin University-Erbil & Bergakademie Freiberg

Partnership in progress

alahaddin Univer-sity-Erbil hosted a 2-day-symposium

in the framework MEGI university partnership dur-ing 12-13 November 2014. The symposium funded by the DAAD and the Federal Foreign Office of Germany.Its goal was to strengthen the cooperation between the German university TU Bergakademie Freiberg and the participating partner uni-versities in Iraq Salahaddin University-Erbil, University of Technology Baghdad, University of Diyala, Koya University, University of Sulaimani and the Cihan University.Focus of the symposium were future areas of co-operation in the fields of

engineering, processes, energy, materials and ma-chinery between the Iraqi universities and German companies. Internships and days of open companies for Iraqi students as well

as international projects have also been discussed. The involved scientists and company representatives gave presentations and presented their activities or businesses.

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3reporter1 February 2015, Issue 6 SUCCESS Partnership Stories

alahaddin University-Erbil (SU) as part of its mission for internationalization

constantly tries to build relations with as many universities and educational institutions – from different philosophical and educational backgrounds - as possible. Since a window of opportunity to the outside world was made available after the 2003 Iraq war, much has been accomplished in the higher education sec-tor. People of Kurdistan could travel abroad easily for the firsttime, and some people actually travelled abroad to pursue their higher education. At the beginning, the efforts were individual and limited. Then, a well-known Kurdish businessman, Ahmed Ismael Nanakali, offered grants in 2006 to send 100 people to Malay-sia to pursue their doctorates so they can return home and make a difference. And it did in many ways. When the grantees returned, they brought back influences they were exposedto in the Malaysian society, namely the Malaysian experi-ence, culture, progress, toler-ance, secular form of governance – assets much needed by the Kurdistan society of that time. And that’s exactly when Sala-haddin University-Erbil realized

the importance of maintaining a close relationship, and coopera-tion with the Malaysian higher education institutions. So, on 25 through 29 June 2012, SU invited University Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) to visit Erbil and discuss ways of cooperation. The UTM delegation, Prof. Dr. Madzlan Aziz, Dean of Faculty of Science, Prof. Dr. Rahim Sa-har, Head of Physics Department, AP Dr. Fadzilah Adibah and Sha-haruddin Salleh, a representative

from the SPS/Math Department, were introduced to the Kurdish experience. The members of the delegation praised the higher education sector in Kurdistan as “Promising”Following was the signing of a MoU between SU and UTM that stressed on supporting joint or singlehanded initiatives by the two university’s academia. Moreover, SU started a split-site PhD program with UTM whereby PhD students could

study a portion of their degree at SU and finish the rest atUTM, or the vice versa. Cur-rently, there are eight split-site PhD programs between SU and UTM. On September 2 through 5, 2013, the two universities held a joint international conference in Johor, Malaysia. And since 2014, SU has been steadily sending academic staff to UTM for short periods of time to maintain the cooperation and find new areasof cooperation.

SU’s Growing Relations With Malaysia’s UTM

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Two (out of 8) Undergoing Joint Research Projects between UTM and SU1. Project Title: Role of Metallic Nano-Particles on Thermal, Struc-tural and Spectroscopic Prosperities of Rare Earth Co-Doped ZINC Tellurite GlassPeople Involved: Professor Dr. Md Rahim Sahar (UTM), Asst. Prof.

Dr. Saeed Omer Ibrahim(SU), Kasim Fauzy Ahmed(SU)2. Project Title: Investigating the Radioactivity Levels in the Darbandikhan Lake Drinking Water Resource in Sulaimany GovernoratePeople Involved: Prof. Dr Wan Muhammad Saridan(UTM), Asst. Prof. Dr. Ali Hassan Ahmed (SU), Adeeb omer jafir (SU).

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alahaddin University’s Scientific Committeesheld a workshop on Oc-

tober 19 to re-examine the 86 academic progrms currecntly offered by the univeridty’s dif-ferent colleges, with the aim of updating the programs to meet the currents needs of the local market. Three international experts also took part in the workshop who held a seminar about the role of technology in education. The workshop discussed the number of modules and and the theoretical as well as practical credit hours for the programs, in addition to shedding light on the fact that the current market needed certain programs that are not currently offered by Salahaddin University-Erbil. SU Council is expected to hold more discussion about the workshop report and implement the conclusions in the new academic year.

Inside Stories

n a new effort to keep up with the digital world, Salahaddin Univeristy has

launched an all new website and an application from PKP for a greater penetration of its academic journals. The ZANCO Academic Journal for Pure and Applied Sciences which pub-lished

its 26th volume this year, and the ZANCO Academic Jour-nal for Humanities with its 18th volume release have been publishing academic researchs and studies of academics from across Iraq, Kuridstan and worldwide for 26 years now. ZANCO journals reached two benchmarks this year: the publishing of ten issues in one year, five scientific and fivehumanities, and the launching of the on-line version of the journals on the cloud and on mobile devices.Researchers can now sub-mit papers digitally directly throught the journal’s websie at www.zancojournals.su.edu.iqScholars from around the world can now view the Zanco publications on the website or through a PKP application for Google Scholar.Mr.Aram Azad, a lecturer at the IT Centre of Salahaddin Uni-versity, managed the digitaliza-tion of the project.

Salahaddin University’s ZANCO Academic Jour-nals Go OnlineI

he Department of Cin-ema held for the firsttime on December 15 a

festival for the films producedby the department’s students. A total of 12 short films weredisplayed in Mega Mall’s cin-ema in Erbil city. The festival was aimed at helping cinema students with organizing filmfestivals, reviewing films,and discussing the technical

aspects of films.Well advertised for by the students, the festival attracted more visitors than they had expected, both from the aca-demic circle and outside the university.The Department of Cinema was established and started offeriig BA courses in 2004, and still it is the only one in Kurdistan.

SU’s School Of Cinema Holds First Student-Produced Films Festival

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SSU Reviews Programs To Meet Local Market Demands

5reporter1 February 2015, Issue 6

n November 25, 1960, three Dominican sisters, political activists known

as the Hermanas Mirabal, were brutally assassinated for op-posing the Trujillo dictatorship. The International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women remembers this day. The United Nations General As-sembly, by resolution 54/134 of 17 December 1999, designated 25 November as the Interna-tional Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women,

inviting governments, interna-tional organizations and NGOs to organize activities on the day designed to raise public aware-ness of the problem of maltreat-ment of women. Music Students of Salahaddin University have organized a public Kurdish Concert in that day in Minara Park in Erbil, where hundreds of people have attended the event followed by speeches from the Governor of Erbil, Mr.Nawzad Haid, who is an Alumni of Sala-haddin University-Erbil.

SU and Local Society

he SU Public Seminar at Salahaddin University-Erbil is a weekly platform

of faculty, policy makers and Public interested in analyzing the ways in which Kurdistan Region advances forward in the complex Middle East. The seminars ad-dressee variety of perspectives on nation building issues, oil and gas sector, security and other related topics.The seminar is a collaboration of the Social and Cultural centre of Salahaddin University and its research centers. It is hosted in the cultural Centre auditorium.

Please contact seminar coordina-tor at the Media Department at the SU Cultural Centre, Dr.Ariana Ibrahim. If you would like to sug-gest a topic that would be suitable to present.The last fall season seminars were:September 2014:Dr.Kawan , Asst. Professor, In-ternational Law, SU College of Law and Political SciencesSeminar Title: The proposed act of Oil and Gas of Iraq. December,2014:

Dr.Jwtyar Adil, Centre for Po-litical and Strategic Research at Salahaddin University-Erbil. Seminar Title: Security Situation and the Role of Universities in Kurdistan.

December,2014:Dr.Nuri Othman, Advisor to PMSeminar Title: DAISH Geno-cide against Ezydie Kurds

SU Public SeminarsT

SU Music Students Praise The International Day For The Elimination Of Violence Against WomenO

University Council Approves Promotion of 7 Faculty toFull Proffessor Rank

he Council of Salahaddin University-Erbil has approved the promotions of 5 academic staff members to full professor rank.The academic

staff members and their departments are (from left to right):1. Dr. Khalid Saed (Poletical Sciences )2. Dr. Ramadhan Haidar (Physics)3. Dr. Omar Qarany (Structure Engineering)4. Dr. Nawzad Waqas (Kurdish Language)5. Dr. Talib Hussen (Kurdish Language)

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6 reporter1 February 2015, Issue 6

aniel Hakimov Davronbekovich, Artem Makarov Alekseevich and Hikmet Esser-Kan, Scholars from Moscow state university visited SU in August 2014 for

six weeks. Their mission was to establish links with Kurdish Society and Academia and closely work with Kurdish Schol-ars. During their visit, SU organised an extensive Kurdish Lan-guage course to them in the SU’s language centre . The three visitors are working in the Middle East political issues in Rus-sia and this visit was an opportunity for them to get in touch with Kurdistan’s economic, social and political progress.

Academic Visitors

n August this year, Pro-fessor Takaaki Yoshioka from the Institute for

International Policy Studies held a seminaar at Salahaddin University in which he talked about the development of Ja-pan and drew a developments comparision between Japan and the petrolium exporting countries and Kuridstan from a historical perspective. Professor Yoshioka said Ku-ridstan had much similarities with the oil rich countries in terms of development except that it is not an independent country. The factors conducive to this development, accord-ing to the professor, include the level of education among the Kurdistan population, internal and external demand, and facilitating legislation and policies.He left the attendants with one

question to think about: Is Ku-ridstan going to take Japan as a model for its development, the oil rich countries, or it is going to take its own path?

Seminar On Kurdistan’s Development In Com-parision With Japan And Oil CountriesI

group of eight aca-demics from Salahad-din University’s Col-leg of Basic Education

visisted Germany’s Leipzig Univeristy in October to par- ticipate in various

seminars,

workshops and field visits toeducational institutions to get aquainted with the German education system, methodol-ogy and special programs by observing classes at the col-lege, high school

as well as

grade levels, and introduce the advances into the Kurdish society.The visit came after an MoU was signed between the Col-lege of Basic Education and

Leipzig’s Faculty of Edu-cation. A

group of five professors fromLeipzig visited Salahaddin University’s Basic Education College in May wher they held a two-day workshop about the German education systems. The delegates from SU held seminars on education in Kurdistan for Leipzig Faculty of Education teaching staff and students.Based on the MoU, a one year grant proposal has been sub-mitted to DAAD for collabora-tion between the two colleges on teacher education related matters on a longer term ba-sis. A second project, a three year grant proposal, has also been drafted to be submitted to DAAD in the near future which arranges collaboration between the two sides on cur-riculum development, capac-ity building for teachers, joint research, and joint supervision.

SU’s Basic Education Staff Visits Lipezig University A

Three Scholars from Moscow State Univer-sity Visit SU

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7reporter1 February 2015, Issue 6 Events

fter a successful series of the Beyond The Studio workshops in fine arts and video art in December

2013, hosted by Salahaddin Uni-versity-Erbil, Caspian Arts Foun-dation and SU are delighted to continuing partnership expanding on the development on education in the arts and the close interac-tion between the student and art-ist for the purposes of achieving research, knowledge and building an archive of local artistic talents. The next school of the Beyond The Studio programme will

include workshops, an exhibition, with the added opportunity of international residencies and MA studies overseas. The result will be that participating art students are guaranteed to receive the best training from world class artists

and teachers and gain access to unique networking opportuni-ties overseas (in London, UK, or New York, USA), projects, exhi-bitions and talks. The workshops in Beyond the Studio2015 will focus on Contemporary Art with

a focus on Architecture and the Urban Environment as its core theme. Each workshop will be followed anddocumented by each of the students thereby contributing to the overall documentation of the full project which will include film footage, a publication and an exhibition.Participating artists in 2015 are: Slavs and Tatars (Eurasia), Mahmood Bakhshi, Walid Siti,Cevdet Erek, Soheila Sokhanvari, Brad Butler & Karen Mirza.

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Beyond The Studio: A Fall School In Fine ArtsA Partnership Between Caspian Arts Foundation And Salahaddin University-Erbil

n 2013, the European Union commenced a project entitled

‘Support to Higher Legal Education in Iraq’. The aims of this project are twofold namely: Enhancing the overall ac-ademic environment with-in Iraqi Colleges of Law. This includes supporting the ongoing development of the curricula, the learn-ing/teaching environment and research opportunities at Higher Legal Education institutions. Salahaddin University was selected as a direct beneficiary of this project. Supporting the establish-ment of a network of Higher legal Education institutions throughout Iraq and also including regional and Interna-tional counterparts. This network will facilitate the exchange of ideas, discussion and debate, and the sharing of information between universities. On this last point, the project is currently engaged in de-veloping an inter-univer-

sity law library whereby students and academics alike will be able to view the contents of the librar-ies of other universities. The project team has, thus far, facilitated four online conferences (video conferences) between Col-leges of Law to discuss matters pertaining to Inter-national and Comparative Law. Other participants in

these conferences include representation from the Kurdish Regional Gov-ernment and the Bologna Process Secretariat based in Yerevan, Armenia.A study visit will be undertaken early in 2015 during which academics from both the College of Law and Politics at Salahaddin University, and the College of Law at

Baghdad University will visit the Max Planck In-stitute at Heidelberg. The aim of this study visit is to enhance academic knowl-edge of International and Comparative Law. The project has received generous cooperation from Salahaddin Uni-versity. The project team is also committed to the involvement of students

in this project and would welcome suggestions and ideas from the student body. The project is led by: Ulrich Schroeder, deputy project team leader and Shane Cunnane, key expert, IT. This project is being implemented by Tsamota Ltd. The project website can be found at euhleiraq.wordpress.com.

Salahadin University Hosts The Activities Of The Higher Legal Education EU Funded Project

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include workshops, an exhibition, and teachers and gain access to

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is published by the office of vice president for scientific affairs and postgraduate every three month during term time. Available online at: www.reporter.su.edu.krd

reporter Editor’s Team: Hoshmand Rafeeq, Raber Derayee,Hardi Abdulla, Dastan Saeed Designer: Aso H. Ahmed The next publication day is 1 June . Contact Hardi Abdulla: hardi.abdulla@su.edu.krd +964(0)662230335

Salahaddin University’s Social and Cultural Centrehe Social and Cultural Centre of Salahaddin

University-Erbil is located on the Engi-neering campus on the Kirkuk road. It is one of those SU venues that offer services to the aca-demic circle from within and outside the univer-sity and the re-gion. The center contains many fa-cilities and spaces that made it to be one of the busiest con-vention centres in Erbil the capital. It has a round lobby that can hold up to 150 people, a large 300-seat conference room, in addition to a smaller 100-seat hall, two

small activi-

ties seminar rooms of 25 seats, a 25-seat compu-ter lab, two dining areas that together can accom-modate about 200 peo-ple, a fitness center with a summer swimming pool, an outdoor theater

with a ca-pacity of 200 people,

terrace dining room, and that’s of course in addi-tion to parks, children’s playrooms, and other management and control rooms and the kitchens. Moreo- ver, the center

can provide accommo-dation for night stays especially for academ-ics, with room services that include food and beverages.

The center has all the facilities, equipment and technology re-quired to hold seminars, conferences and fairs and it has been used by most of the uni-versities, educa-tional institu-tions,

government departments and of-

fices as well as busi-ness, private sector and NGOs based in Erbil for its convenient pric-ing and location. These spaces are reserved by the Centre’s Administra-tion Office.

Tneering campus on the Kirkuk road. It is one of those SU venues that offer services to the aca-demic circle from within and outside the

gion. The

many fa-cilities and spaces that made it to be one of the busiest con-vention centres in Erbil the capital. It has a round lobby that can hold up to 150 people,

ple, a fitness center with a summer swimming pool, an outdoor theater

with a ca-pacity of 200 people,

terrace dining room, and

beverages.The center has all the facilities, equipment and technology re-quired to hold seminars, conferences and fairs and it has been used by most of the uni-versities, educa-tional institu-tions,

government departments and of-

fices as well as busi-ness, private sector and NGOs based in Erbil for its convenient pric-