UCL Qatar, a partner of Qatar Foundation and Qatar Museums, has honoured the achievements of 43 graduating students in a ceremony at its Education City campus in Doha.
The traditional ceremony, including a formal procession of faculty, dignitaries and students, was presided over by Prof Anthony Smith, UCL vice provost, and Prof Thilo Rehren, director of UCL Qatar, in the presence of VIP guests from Qatar and the UK.
The occasion marks the second graduation ceremony for UCL Qatar, which conferred Master’s Degrees in Library and Information Studies, Museum Studies, Archaeology and Conservation, as well as a Diploma in Academic Research and Methods.
The ceremony also witnessed the first PhD student to graduate from an international branch campus in Doha, Maninder Gill, whose research analysed medieval to early modern Islamic tile-work on monuments.
This year’s graduating class included a total of seven Qatari female graduates, plus three members of staff from Qatar Museums and four members of staff from the Qatar National Library.  
British ambassador Ajay Sharma recalled the UK’s rich educational heritage and expressed delight in it being shared with young Qataris through the courses on offer at UCL Qatar.
Maryam al-Shamlan, who completed an MA in Museum and Gallery Practice at UCL Qatar, addressed her  fellow alumni and said: “Graduates, regardless of where you stand in the spectrum, when you walk out the doors of UCL Qatar today, you will be equipped with a world class education that – if you smartly apply- will allow you to stand without competition in the market.”
Many of the graduating students this year took part in distinguished community projects including the ‘Loading…’ student exhibition, ‘Heritage of Doha, Identity of Qatar’ public workshop and ‘Qatari Natural Heritage Under the Microscope’.