How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
The Abu Dhabi government has already taken steps to ensure the success of NYU's satellite campus in the Middle East. It donated millions of dollars to NYU and is offering virtually limitless financial aid to attract the world's brightest students, regardless of their means.
Now, Abu Dhabi has agreed to provide $20 million for three "lead-off" research projects at NYUAD, a move that Provost David McLaughlin said will be integral to the university's success.
"[The Abu Dhabi government] really desires to have a research university in Abu Dhabi that is of highest stature and quality, and of course such a university will have a very strong research component," McLaughlin said. He added that the government's goal is for NYUAD to help make the emirate one of the "idea capitals of the world."
Over the next five years, the $20 million will be split among three professors: NYUAD faculty director Philip Kennedy, linguistics and psychology professor Alec Marantz and economics professor Yaw Nyarko.
Kennedy plans to create a library featuring side-by-side translations of Arabic classics in modern idiom, Marantz will explore the implementation of language in the brain, and Nyarko will study the use of technology to spur economic growth in poor and rural areas.
According to McLaughlin, many of the research projects conducted at the NYUAD research institute will be a part of ongoing research in New York. In addition to playing a part in current projects, these research areas will be able to branch out to different areas due to the satellite campus' newer equipment and facilities.
