Aga Khan University
Aga Khan University is a unique hybrid: an institution of academic excellence that is also an agent for social development. A leading source of medical, nursing and teacher education, research and public service in the developing world, the University prepares men and women to lead change in their societies and to thrive in the global economy. Aga Khan University’s faculty, students and graduates go where the need is greatest, working in informal urban settlements, remote villages and regions where conflict or neglect has decimated basic services. Indeed, in many cases, such communities are their homes.
Guided by the principles of impact, quality, relevance and access, the University has campuses and programmes in Pakistan, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Afghanistan and the United Kingdom. It operates teaching hospitals in Karachi and Nairobi, Schools of Nursing and Midwifery, Medical Colleges, Institutes for Educational Development, the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations , the Graduate School of Media and Communications, the East African Institute and the Institute for the Study of Human Development.
Aga Khan University also runs an Examination Board and manages the French Medical Institute for Children in Kabul, Afghanistan. At Aga Khan University, students flourish in a welcoming, supportive environment that embraces pluralism, demands excellence and encourages leadership, teamwork, intellectual curiosity, debate and direct engagement with real-world problems. Admission to the University is based on merit, without regard to financial need.
Our Vision
The Aga Khan University will be an autonomous, international institution of distinction, primarily serving the developing world and Muslim societies in innovative and enduring ways.
Mission
The Aga Khan University is committed to the development of human capacities through the discovery and dissemination of knowledge, and application through service.
It seeks to prepare individuals for constructive and exemplary leadership roles, and shaping public and private policies, through strength in research and excellence in education, all dedicated to providing meaningful contributions to society.
To advance this mission, AKU will:
- Offer programmes of international quality.
- Respond to identified needs in the countries and regions which it serves.
- Prioritiseteaching and research which will inform and underpin intellectual innovation and change.
- Provide service to advance its educational and research mandate.
- Foster and develop leadership capacity through its education and research programmes.
- Assess its impact and effectiveness.
- Promote access and equity by taking positive measures to make the University inclusive of all socio-economic groups, addressing the particular needs and circumstances of the disadvantaged, promoting the welfare and advancement of women.
- Engage in knowledge networking and emerging technologies.
- Add value by promoting partnership and networking across the Aga Khan Development Network, and with other national and international institutions.
Values
As an international institution, in achieving its Mission, Aga Khan University operates on the core principles of Impact, Quality, Relevance and Access. Inspired by Islamic ethics, humanistic ideals and the philosophy of Aga Khan Development Network, the University is committed to building an environment that fosters intellectual freedom, distinction in scholarship, pluralism, compassion, and humanity’s collective responsibility for a sustainable physical, social and cultural environment.
Our Impact
With nearly 2,500 students spread across campuses and programmes in five countries, the University is both a model of academic excellence and an agent of social change. In all of the societies in which it works, AKU is:
Educating Leaders. Because a single leader can have an enormous impact, we equip our graduates with the expertise, outlook, values and skills needed to become effective agents of change.
Embodying Excellence. In places where resources are scarce and few institutions are effective, we meet the highest quality standards and demonstrate that excellence is a powerful force for transformation. In Pakistan, we are the #1 ranked health sciences university.
Discovering What Works. One of the developing world’s leading sources of health and education research, we are creating new knowledge that saves and enhances lives in some of the world’s poorest societies.
Serving the Community. Over the last 30 years, our Patient Welfare Programme has provided more than 1 million patients with free or reduced-cost care worth more than US$83 million. Our prize-winning and influential Urban Health Programme, which has significantly improved life in squatter settlements in Karachi, is just one of many examples of our community service.
Providing Access to All. We believe poverty should not prevent anyone from receiving a quality education, which is why admission to AKU is based on merit, without regard to financial need. We also work to find talented students from disadvantaged backgrounds and to prepare them for rigorous, English-language university education.
Empowering Women. Nearly half of our faculty and three of every five AKU students are women. Moreover, our leadership in maternal and child health research is internationally renowned. Providing girls and women with opportunities to thrive will always be one of our top priorities.
Fostering Pluralism. Through our research, curricula, admissions and culture, we build respect and understanding across religious, ethnic, communal and national boundaries.
Always Connecting. AKU has a long record of partnering successfully with other institutions and goes out of its way to forge connections between the private and public sectors, the developed and developing worlds, urban and rural areas, ideas and faiths. Our supporters and partners include the governments of France, Germany, Norway, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada; the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; the University of California, San Francisco; Johnson & Johnson; the World Bank; the World Health Organization and many others.
Planning for the Future. Today, AKU educates doctors, nurses and teachers, and the majority of its students are located in Pakistan. But with knowledge becoming ever more indispensable for individual and societal success, and with Africa desperately in need of excellent universities, we are planning an ambitious expansion. In both East Africa and Pakistan, our Faculty of Arts and Sciences will provide promising young people with an outstanding liberal arts education and offer graduate professional education in fields such as media and communications and leadership and management. The University is also planning to launch new programmes in East Africa to train the health care leaders the region requires.
Aga Khan University Faculties
Faculty Of Arts And Sciences
The Aga Khan University believes in the singular importance of higher education for leadership because so often change begins with a visionary leader and because leaders unleash the power of many to bring about a better world. We believe in the power of knowledge to solve the most important problems confronting the world today. Aga Khan University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences will be a contribution to that indispensable effort to create capacity in local populations to solve their own challenges, to build harmonious and pluralistic societies and to pursue their aspirations for a better life for themselves and their families.
As it grows into a comprehensive university, Aga Khan University plans to set up two Faculties of Arts and Sciences, in Karachi, Pakistan and in Arusha, Tanzania.
Centre For Innovation In Medical Education
The Centre for Innovation in Medical Education (CIME) in the Aga Khan University campus in Karachi is a donor-funded facility comprising three buildings – the Maryam Bashir Dawood Building, the Ibn Sina Building and the Shiraz Boghani Building. The buildings, completed and commissioned in November 2015, are located adjacent to the Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery and cover an area of 80,000 square feet. The Centre is the most advanced healthcare teaching and learning centre in Pakistan as well as in the region and is comparable to the best in the world.
Centre For Regenerative Medicine And Stem Cell Research
The Centre for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research (CRM) is one of the most ambitious and mission-critical initiatives at Aga Khan University. CRM is an autonomous university-wide academic entity, focused on stem cell and related research themes.
Our Partner
The Centre for Regenerative Medicine has partnered with the Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California San Francisco to develop research capacity in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine. This is aligned with AKU’s vision to become a research-led university
Our Mandate
The mandate of CRM is to undertake research, educate, innovate, and commercialize applications related to regenerative medicine and stem cells. In this manner, CRM will be supporting the broad priority research themes of the University’s Research Strategy.
Centre Of Excellence In Women And Child Health
Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health of the Aga Khan University. This Centre represents one of the most exciting academic platforms of its kind globally with a focus on integrated academic and research activities for the Aga Khan University and the Aga Khan Development Network. It also has a special interest in evidence-based advocacy and capacity development, impacting on health worker training in geographies and populations in greatest need.
The Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health focuses on health and developmental outcomes for women and children in low and middle-income countries. In September 2000, 189 world leaders signed a declaration on eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to improve the lives of women, men, and children in their respective countries. Goal 4 called for a reduction in child mortality by 67% and Goal 5 called for improvements in maternal health with target 5a referring to a reduction of maternal mortality by 75% between 1990 and 2015, and 5b achieving universal access to reproductive health.
Since 1990, and notably after the MDG declaration, substantial progress has been made in improving reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health outcomes, especially over the last decade with almost 45-50% reduction in maternal and child mortality respectively. Yet, major challenges remain with many countries and sub-national populations lagging behind these gains.
Now with the end of the MDGs and transition to sustainable development goals after 2015, the challenge of improving lives and livelihoods of women and children worldwide becomes even more prominent. Through its activities, the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health aims to help promote evidence-based solutions for women and children’s health and their implementation and we welcome your partnership and support in this endeavour.
School Of Nursing And Midwifery, East Africa
The School of Nursing and Midwifery’s advanced nursing studies programme represents a coordinated response to the need for health sector reform in the East African region. The programme is tailored to ensure that health services are more responsive to the needs of the people. The overall goal of the School is to enhance nursing education, policy, practice and research to improve patient care in East Africa.
Since 2000, we have offered diploma and undergraduate upgrading programmes. In order to provide educational opportunities close to students’ home communities, these programmes are based out of three teaching hubs: Nairobi, Kenya; Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; and Kampala, Uganda. At each of these locations, our qualified faculty supervises field-based studies and provides practical on-site instruction at different clinical settings.
EN-RN Diploma Programme
The purpose of the EN to RN conversion Diploma in AKU-SONAM is to upgrade the knowledge and skills of the Enrolled Nurse to the level of Registered Nurse. The programme will equip the learner with knowledge, attitudes and skill that will enable him/her to provide quality care to individuals, families and communities at primary, secondary and tertiary care levels.
The core activities of the AKU-SONAM programme are related to the activities of tuition, research, and community participation, which together reflects the concept of academic citizenship, i.e. The practical implementation of knowledge in society gained through tuition and research. Aga Khan University SONAM studies believe that the programmes must involve the communities, from whom the graduates will serve in order to make education more meaningful and relevant to the health needs of the communities.
Bachelor of Science in Nursing Programme
The programme is designed to give experienced registered nurses an opportunity to develop in-depth knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to provide holistic nursing care. The programme will enable the graduates to use the existing theories and research findings in the provision and promotion of health services, illness prevention and management of patients/clients in a variety of settings. It will further enable the graduates to develop and integrate critical thinking and problem-solving skills into the practice of nursing. The graduates will also be able to provide leadership at institutional and national levels influencing policies in both the public and private sectors.
Bachelor of Science in Midwifery Programme
AKU-SONAM midwifery education honours the normalcy of women’s’ lifecycle events, appropriate use of interventions and technology for current or potential health problems. Nursing and midwifery preparation believes in consultation, collaboration and referral with other members of the health care team as needed to provide optimal health care to women and their families. This program will prepare nurses to provide safe, competent, culturally responsive and quality care at all levels of the health care system with a focus on reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health for the families and communities by integrating knowledge, skills and attitudes from humanistic, behavioural and natural sciences.
Oncology Course
Aga Khan University is the first University to offer a speciality diploma in Oncology Nursing in the region. This 18–months work-study programme, fully approved by the Nursing Council of Kenya, will help you earn your diploma while working. Classes and clinical experiences will be scheduled for two (II) days per week so that students can continue working while taking classes. The programme will be offered at the Nairobi Campus of Aga Khan University and is open to any nurse who meets the minimum requirements.
Nurses enrolled in the program must be able to travel to the Nairobi campus for two (II) days per week to attend classes and clinical placements. The opportunities the graduates will get include: working as general nurses in a general ward or as specialist nurses in an oncology ward, outpatient oncology clinic, chemotherapy suite, radiotherapy unit, paediatric ward and palliative care unit.
Medical College, East Africa
Welcome to the Medical College in East Africa. As part of the Faculty of Health Sciences, we are working with the School of Nursing and Midwifery and Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi, Kenya, and Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam to build a new academic community.
This community will provide outstanding health professional education, build strong programmes of research that support graduate student and postdoctoral training and provide programmes and services that will be relevant to and have an impact across East Africa.
We have the distinct advantage of being part of an over one hundred year history of service to the East African community through the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) that includes a broad range of community development and healthcare delivery services across East Africa. In addition, we are transforming the quality of health care in the region via the Aga Khan University Hospital in Nairobi where we are building a Faculty of Health Sciences campus closely integrated with the broader health care delivery system of the AKDN. We are also focused on building quality public-private partnerships with a government that serve to increase quality and access and provides our students with relevant learning environments.
We have excellent international partners who provide great strength and opportunity for our growth as an academic health system stretching across East Africa. Please feel free to contact us if you have any queries.
Institute for Educational Development East Africa
Based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania the Institute for Educational Development is one of the leading centres in East Africa for providing diverse programmes designed for the professional development of educators and educational researchers.
With our cutting edge and regionally relevant research and leading academic staff, we work to develop and support the professionalization of teachers, educational leaders, managers and others working in the field of education in nurturing innovation and improving the quality of education in East Africa.
Developing Excellence
We are dedicated to ensuring that our students are equipped with the right skills and knowledge to become leaders in the education career.
Our master’s degree in education and our continuing professional development programmes through our Centre for Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning are tailor-made for classroom teachers who are passionate about improving learning outcomes and have the desire to gain skills to advance in all aspects of the teaching process.
We bring working professionals together with a dynamic community of active professors, superior research and dedicated student support.
East Africa Institute
In late 2011 and early 2012, three consultation forums were held on the relevance and need for a regional policy think tank. The forums brought together East African leaders in business, civil society, government and academia as well as representatives of key diplomatic missions and bilateral donor agencies.
The leaders argued that the key policy challenges that confront East Africa arise from the interaction of multiple interdependent factors not readily addressed by traditional policy- and decision-making. They were unambiguous in their belief that such complex challenges must be met with integrated approaches to policy research and analysis complemented by parallel capacity building and public engagement.
The leaders viewed the proposed East Africa Institute, embedded within a regional university, as uniquely positioned to contribute to advancing a true East African perspective on these challenges. They expressed an overarching concern: the importance of exploring and supporting the evolution of an East African identity, a factor they viewed as a serious gap between policy and implementation within each of the nations of the Community.
In endorsing the proposed programmatic themes of the EAI, the leaders recognized that, by virtue of its AKDN affiliation, the EAI was uniquely positioned to bring together a network of implementation-oriented agencies to enhance the link between policy research and practice and augment the EAI’s relevance and impact. The network and other partnerships would include a broad range of stakeholders, including academia, research institutions, donors, governments, the EAC, the business community and civil society organizations.
Institute For Human Development
To build capacity and drive innovation in research and higher education to produce and disseminate new knowledge of human development that advances the quality of individual lives and contributes to the building of successful pluralistic societies, with a particular focus on children, families, and communities within resource-poor regions of the world.
The Institute for Human Development will generate new knowledge through basic and applied research; apply the knowledge gained through research to inform programmes, services, and practices within community settings; influence policy formulation and implementation in ways that reap the benefits of the systematic research produced at the institute and elsewhere; and deliver educational programmes at multiples levels of study to prepare a wide range of human development specialists and professionals.
The Institute was launched in February 2015 with an international conference and reception. The very successful conference attracted over 200 participants from 22 countries.
Aga Khan University Contacts
Kenya
3rd Parklands Avenue
East Tower Building
P.O. Box 30270-00100
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254 20 366 2107
Fax: +254 20 3744035
mc.ea@aku.edu
or
The Aga Khan University,
School of Nursing and Midwifery
Sunny Plaza | Wangapala Rd, off 4th Parklands Avenue
P.O. Box 39340 – 00623, Nairobi.
Tel: (Office) +254 20 374 5808 |374 7483 |366 2014
Email: sonam.ke@aku.edu
Pakistan
Stadium Road
P. O. Box 3500
Karachi 74800, Pakistan
Tel: +92 21 3493 0051
Tanzania
The Aga Khan University,
School of Nursing and Midwifery
Salama House |344 Urambo Street
P.O. Box 38129, Dar es Salaam.
Tel: (Office) +255 22 212 2740 | 212 2744
Email: sonam.tz@aku.edu
Uganda
The Aga Khan University,
School of Nursing and Midwifery
Plot # 9/11 Col. Muammar Gaddafi Road
P.O. Box 8842, Kampala.
Tel: (Office) +256 41 4349 494 | 4349 307
Email: sonam.ug@aku.edu
United Kingdom
210 Euston Road
London, NW1 2DA
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 207 380 3800