THE Awards Arab World tell the stories our rankings cannot adequately capture.

Like our other awards across the globe, here we set aside rigid data, and instead shine a spotlight on specific projects or pieces of work that have had a profound impact on their target audience, whether that involves a fascinating piece of research, an innovative approach to teaching or exceptional leadership and management – we have categories to capture all of these, and more.

Higher education institutions come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes – from the small and specialist to the bigger players with a much broader academic scope – but common to all is a well-defined mission and a strategy to reach its targets.

If there is one thing we’ve learned in the 21 years since we launched our first awards, it’s that brilliant, often groundbreaking work can take place anywhere, and that even in a diverse higher education landscape, institutions can always learn from each other.

Key dates:

• Thursday, 26 March 2026: Entries open
• Thursday, 14 May 2026: Entries close
• Thursday, 16 July 2026: Shortlist announcement
• Tuesday, 3 November 2026: Winners announcement during a gala dinner ceremony at the THE Arab Universities Summit in Morocco