CSAIL & QCRI Announce New Research Collaboration

October 21, 2012— The MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the Qatar Computing Research Institute (QCRI), a member of the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), today announced a new joint research program aimed at advancing the field of computer science. The announcement was made during a signing ceremony as part of the Joint Qatar Foundation Annual Research Forum and Arab Expatriate Scientists Network Symposium 2012.
 
Those in attendance at the signing ceremony included Prof. Philip S. Khoury, Associate Provost of MIT; Prof. Daniela Rus, Director of MIT CSAIL; Mr. Faisal Al Suwaidi, President of Research and Development at QF; and Dr. Ahmed Elmagarmid, Executive Director of QCRI. Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of QF, witnessed the signing.
 
"This new collaboration creates an exciting opportunity for CSAIL, MIT's largest interdepartmental research laboratory, and the QCRI to advance the frontiers of knowledge. Our scientists will work together in a variety of critical fields, ranging from data analytics and cloud computing to the Internet and Arabic language technologies, with special attention to the application of these fields to health care and education.  MIT fully embraces this important new collaboration,” said Prof. Khoury.
 
The new program, called the Computer Science Research Program, will be a medium for knowledge transfer and exchange of expertise between MIT and QCRI scientists. Scientists from both organizations will undertake a variety of core computer science research projects, with the goal of developing innovative solutions that can have a broad and meaningful impact. The agreement will also offer CSAIL researchers and students exposure to the unique challenges in the Gulf region.
 
Through the Computer Science Research Program, researchers plan to focus on several critical areas in the field of computing including distributed systems, data analytics, social computing and Arabic language technologies.
 
“The Computer Science Research Program is an exciting opportunity for our laboratory. We look forward to a long and fruitful collaboration with QCRI, and to joint research projects that will have a major impact in the field of computer science,” said Prof. Rus.
 
“This collaboration agreement is a major milestone for QF and QCRI,” said Dr. Elmagarmid. “We are proud to be partnering with an institute of such global recognition and high caliber.”
 
Scientists at QCRI will benefit from the expertise of MIT’s eminent faculty through joint research projects that will enable QCRI to realize its vision to become a center of computing research internationally and a global recognized leader in Arabic language technologies.
 
“This collaboration with MIT represents a significant collaboration for QF and one that will have a positive impact on the research, technological and economic development of Qatar,” said Mr. Faisal Al Suwaidi, President of Research and Development at QF.