THE Awards Arab World tells 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.

Once again, we have 10 categories to choose from, so hopefully there are a few to capture your proudest recent achievements.

This year’s winners will be announced on 3 November 2026 during a gala dinner at the THE Arab Universities Summit in Morocco.

The key dates for THE Awards Arab World 2026 are as follows:

• Entries open: Thursday, 26 March 2026
• Entries close: Thursday, 14 May 2026
• Shortlist published: Thursday, 16 July 2026
• Ceremony: Tuesday, 3 November 2026

Please note that we are charging for entries this year. The reasons for doing so and advice on how you can keep your costs to a minimum can be found here.