The Department of Architectural Engineering, in cooperation with ICCROM Sharjah, organized a virtual guidance meeting for new students who were admitted into the Master in Conservation Management of Cultural Heritage program offered by the University of Sharjah in cooperation ICCROM Sharjah. More than 135 candidates from the United Arab Emirates and most Arab countries applied for the program. 32 male and female students were accepted for this new academic year, 16 from the United Arab Emirates, 4 from Jordan, 3 from Egypt, 2 from Sudan, and 1 each from Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Palestine, Lebanon and the United States of America.

During the meeting, Prof. Abbas Elmualim, Head of the Department of Architectural Engineering at the University of Sharjah's College of Engineering, welcomed the new students, and conveyed to them the greetings of His Excellency the University Chancellor and the Dean of the College of Engineering and their wishes for their success. In turn, Dr. Zaki Aslan, Regional Representative of ICCROM for the Arab States and Director of the Centre, the main partner of the University of Sharjah in this program, wished the new students all the best.

Then Dr. Monther Jamhawi, Associate Professor at the University of Sharjah and Program Coordinator, gave a full explanation about the nature of the program and its academic plan, and answered all the inquiries of the new students. Lama Said, Manager of Continuing Education at ICCROM Sharjah, also provided an explanation of all the supplementary procedures required of students from Arab countries who received the ICCROM grant for this year.

It is worth noting that the University of Sharjah introduced this program with the aim of serving and developing the local and regional community, and meeting the needs of labor markets. It is a unique program in the Arab world and comes in response to the need of many institutions and agencies responsible for the conservation and management of the cultural and civilizational heritage and museums in the Arab world. This program is of great importance to countries and societies that seek to preserve their historical and archaeological holdings, to be a witness to their civilization and development during the various historical stages. It is also considered one of the multidisciplinary scientific programs for a number of different colleges, including engineering, arts, humanities and social sciences, sciences, fine arts and design. The program also features a flexible study system that relies on intensive teaching through a system of educational units (Modules), which allows hosting experts from the Arab world to teach in this program. The program has been designed to accommodate the various specializations in the field of conservation and management of cultural heritage. It covers a wide range of topics, including preservation of built heritage and museum collections, management of world heritage, as well as disaster risk management of cultural heritage.