MBZUAI launches Ruwwad AI Scholars Fellowship to build UAE’s next generation of AI faculty

Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) has announced the pilot launch of the Ruwwad AI Scholars (RAIS) program, a flagship postdoctoral fellowship designed to cultivate Emirati talent in artificial intelligence and computational research. 

RAIS offers UAE Nationals who have recently completed their Ph.D.s the opportunity to undertake two-year fully funded postdoctoral fellowships at some of the world’s leading research institutions worldwide. The fellowship covers a competitive stipend, research funds, insurance, relocation support, and conference travel – with host institutions incurring no cost. For fellows, this means two years of uninterrupted focus on research that matters. 

The program’s name carries deliberate cultural resonance. Ruwwad (رُوَّاد) means ‘pioneers’, while the acronym RAIS echoes Ra’is (رئيس), meaning ‘leader’ – reflecting the program’s ambition to shape the UAE’s future research leaders.

Eligible candidates are Emirati Ph.D. graduates who have recently completed their doctoral degrees across a broad range of fields, from core AI and machine learning to computational social science, data science, epidemiology, life sciences, and global health. 

“RAIS is more than a fellowship – it is a national investment in the scholars who will define the UAE’s research identity for decades to come,” says Thamar Solorio, Vice Provost of Faculty Excellence and Advancement and Professor of Natural Language Processing at MBZUAI.  

“Through our most promising Emirati minds at the world’s leading institutions, we are not just building careers, we are building the foundations of a homegrown AI faculty that is globally competitive and deeply rooted in our national ambitions. 

“We look forward to welcoming the inaugural cohort and watching them grow into the future research leaders of the UAE.” 

Completion of the fellowship is intended to strengthen participants’ eligibility for tenure-track faculty positions, creating a clear pipeline from elite global research experience to academic leadership at MBZUAI. 

For more information, visit mbzuai.ac.ae/RAIS.