DUBAI — Dubai will soon have a university offering Bachelor's and diploma programmes in French. The French University of Dubai, a joint collaboration between the University of Lumiere Lyon 2 and Emirates Investment and Development (Emivest), situated in the Academic City, will open its doors in September 2009.
This is the first offshore branch of the University of Lumiere Lyon 2.
This decision follows a recent Memorandum of Understanding signed by Emivest and the City of Lyon to develop Dubai-Lyon City within the emirate.
Officials say non-French speaking students can also join the university. However, they will have to attend an intensive one-year French language course before they could go for the degree course.
Christophe Arroudj, Deputy Project Manager of University of Lumiere Lyon 2, said, "The university will provide a platform for students to work with numerous French companies operating in Dubai. The degrees will be relevant in France, Europe and North America."
Initially, the university will enrol about 200 students and in the next three years, it hopes to enrol about 400 students.
Dubai-LyonCity will be established on the architectural expertise of Lyon, with the design of buildings, creation of infrastructure and related areas of expertise all being masterminded and managed by French professionals, including John Paul Lebas, renowned international planner.
One of the steps of the project implementation would be positioning of satellite institutions such as University Lumiere Lyon 2, Olympique Lyonnais Football Club, l'M Lyon, Institut Lumiere, Institut Paul Bocuse, le Mus'e des tissus and other cultural institutions of Lyon within Dubai. The city will be bedecked with public squares, restaurants, outdoor cafes and museums, and play host to the same gastronomic, cultural, sporting and economic institutions found in the French urban hub.
The university will also have a language lab where students can video conference with professors in France. Students will also have dictionaries and special programmes to aid their studies.
According to Arroudj, the university will provide Bachelor's degrees in economics, management and law and Master's in Finance, Management, HR, Business, Information Technology and International Business Law