His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Monday conferred the prestigious Great Arab Minds 2023 awards to the six winners from various categories.
Each awardee per category will receive Dh1 million each to fund their research and development and other privileges including administrative offices for programme fellows at the Museum of the Future.
Sheikh Mohammed pointed out that the Arab region was a cradle of human civilisation. “If the humans (the Arab people) work hard, they can reignite a great civilisation. I am confident that the Arab people have a lot of potentials for creating a great civilisation,” he stated.
Sheikh Mohammed also announced the launch of a new research and knowledge centre within the Museum of the Future to permanently support the scientific and knowledge journey of Arab geniuses under the ambit of the Great Arab Minds award.
“The only path to civilisation is science... and its scientific men... and its success is supported by governments... and guaranteed by harnessing resources for it. We are optimistic about the future whenever we see the love of generations for science and scientists,” he said.
Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, Minister of Cabinet Affairs and chairman of the Great Arab Minds Higher Committee, who highlighted the Arab world’s centuries-old contributions in various fields, dubbed the Great Arab Minds award as the Arab Nobel Prize.
“We are not here to show off the glory of our people, but to motivate them to seek knowledge and build civilisations,” he added
The winners who were honoured at the glittering award ceremony held at the Museum of the Future are: Saudi cardiac surgeon, Dr Hani Najm (Medicine), Lebanese engineer and academic Prof Fadel Adib (Engineering and Technology), Egyptian-American economist Dr Mohamed El-Erian (Economics), Lebanese scientist and academic Prof Niveen Khashab (Natural Sciences), Lebanese architect and academic Prof Lina Ghotmeh (Architecture and Design), and Algerian writer and academic, Prof Waciny Laredj (Literature and Arts).
Their names were earlier announced on the social media platform X by Sheikh Mohammed who launched the Great Arab Minds as the largest scientific and intellectual movement in the Arab world with a budget of Dh100 million.
