Research boost for university Islamic studies

A NEW research centre for Islam studies is to be created at Edinburgh University.

The move by the university and Cambridge University is funded by a £16 million endowment from Prince Alwaleed bin Albdulaziz Alsaud, chairman of the philanthropic organisation Kingdom Foundation.

The new centres will aim to carry out research and public engagements designed to increase understanding between the Muslim world and the West.

Professor Carole Hillenbrand, head of the department of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies at Edinburgh, said: "The centre will ensure Edinburgh's place as a world-class resource for expertise on Islam in the modern world."

Professor Yasir Suleiman, director of the Centre of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at Cambridge, added: "We intend advance tolerance, mutual understanding and cross-cultural dialogue between Islam and the West."