Sharif University of Technology (SUT; fa, دانشگاه صنعتی شریف) is a
public
In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
research university
A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kno ...
in
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...
. It is widely considered as the nation's most prestigious and leading institution for
science, technology, engineering, and mathematics
Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is an umbrella term used to group together the distinct but related technical disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The term is typically used in the context o ...
(
STEM
Stem or STEM may refer to:
Plant structures
* Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang
* Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure
* Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushr ...
) fields and is considered Iran's
MIT among academics, scholars, and industry.
Established in 1966 under the reign of
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi, it was formerly named the Aryamehr University of Technology ( fa, دانشگاه صنعتی آریامهر, Dāneŝgāhe Sannatiye Āryāmehr) and for a short period after the
1979 revolution, the university was called Tehran University of Technology. Following the revolution, the university was named after
Majid Sharif Vaghefi.
Today, the university provides both undergraduate and graduate programs in 15 main departments. The student body consists of about 6,000
undergraduate students and 4,700
graduate students from all the 31 provinces of Iran. Funding for Sharif University is provided by the government and through private funding. Undergraduate admission to Sharif is limited to the top 800 of the 500,000 students who pass the national entrance examination administered annually by the
Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology
The Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) is the government ministry of science, research and technology in the Islamic Republic of Iran. State-run (non-medical) universities of Iran are under the direct supervision of Iran's M ...
.
In the 2013
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...
Engineering/Technology and Computer Sciences rankings, SUT is ranked 5th in the Middle East.
It is in the top 251–275 universities in the world and 37th in Asia in the 2014
Times Higher Education World University Rankings
The ''Times Higher Education World University Rankings'' (often referred to as the THE Rankings) is an annual publication of university rankings by the ''Times Higher Education'' (THE) magazine. The publisher had collaborated with Quacquarel ...
.
In the 2014
Times Higher Education
''Times Higher Education'' (''THE''), formerly ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' (''The Thes''), is a British magazine reporting specifically on news and issues related to higher education.
Ownership
TPG Capital acquired TSL Education ...
top 100 for newer universities (less than 50 years old), SUT ranked 1st in the Middle East, 6th in Asia, and 27th in the world.
Founded in 1966, SUT was established to train and supply part of the required expert human resources of the country on an equal level to credible universities of the world. Compared with other worldwide universities, it is a young and growing pioneer in both basic and applied sciences. The main aims of SUT are: (1) to create an organization where students can be instructed in both theoretical and applied sciences, with special emphasis on the particular needs of Islamic society; (2) to teach students the advanced knowledge and techniques required to participate in the fields of engineering and technology and to cultivate them into creative engineers, good scientists, and innovative technologists; and (3) to educate engineers who are ready to be employed, who contribute significantly to their jobs, and who have a strong sense of public responsibility and a desire to continue to learn. The emphasis is placed on the promotion of multidisciplinary research at the graduate and doctoral levels. Based on that, SUT provides a scientific and dynamic environment for those who are trying to gain knowledge. In other words, SUT is a place for those who are trying to understand and comprehend scientific realities and facts, and are trying to convey those to others.
History
The university was founded in 1966 with the name ''Aryamehr University of Industry'' by
Mohammad Ali Mojtahedi. At that time, there were 54 faculty members and a total of 412 students who were selected by national examination. Also, only four departments were established: Electrical, Metallurgical, Mechanical, and Chemical Engineering.
In 1972,
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi ( fa, محمدرضا پهلوی, ; 26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980), also known as Mohammad Reza Shah (), was the last ''Shah'' (King) of the Imperial State of Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow in the Irani ...
appointed
Sayyed Hosein Nasr as president of the university with the goal of modeling the school based on the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern t ...
, but with roots in Iranian culture. In 1974 a new campus of the university was established in
Isfahan. But later that campus became an independent university, named
Isfahan University of Technology (IUT). The emblem of IUT still closely resembles SUT's emblem . Following the revolution, the university was named after
Majid Sharif Vaghefi, who was one of the
People's Mujahedin of Iran
The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) ( fa, سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران, sâzmân-e mojâhedīn-e khalq-e īrân), is an Iranian pol ...
group's leaders who was killed by the members of a splinter group (later renamed to Peykar Organization) who had recently converted from Islam to Marxism and were adamant to forcefully change the Mujahedin's organization's ideology to Marxism.
Currently, the university has about 12,000 students and over 700 faculty members in 16 main departments. During the
Mahsa Amini protests in 2022, many students participated, with video footage of the protest and subsequent response by Iranian security forces published first to social media and then by major news organizations. Iranian state news agency
IRNA reported that at least 37 students were arrested and most were released shortly afterwards.
Campuses
Main campus
The main campus of the university is located in the
Tarasht neighborhood, near
Azadi Square,
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkm ...
. It is located close to the
Azadi Tower, which is the symbol of Tehran and one of the main transportation hubs. The endowment of Sharif University of Technology has been estimated at $25 million.
International campus
Sharif University also has an
International Campus on
Kish Island
Kish ( fa, کیش ) is a resort island in Bandar Lengeh County, Hormozgān Province, off the southern coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. Owing to its free trade zone status, the island is touted as a consumer's paradise, with numerous malls, ...
in
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...
. The International Campus of Sharif University of Technology was established in 2005. Today there are two faculties active in this campus: Faculty of Engineering and Science, and Faculty of Management. The campus is currently admitting students for bachelor's, master's, and Ph.D. degrees in engineering courses and a master's degree in management.
Academic profile
Profile
Sharif University was established in 1966 as an Engineering university with departments of Electrical, Metallurgical, Mechanical, and Chemical Engineering.
Currently, Sharif University has 14 science and engineering departments:
In engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Petroleum Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Aerospace engineering.
In science, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematical Science.
Other non-engineering departments include the School of Management and Economics
Languages and Linguistics Department and the Department of Philosophy of Science which offers exclusively graduate degrees.
Affiliated research centers
The university has supported the establishment of Research Centers. These are usually started with a spin-off funding provided by or through university but will start to accept research and development projects from industry in their first months of establishment. Most of the employees of these centers are Sharif University students, while in some cases recent alumni or students of other universities have been recruited as well.
Following is a list of research centers affiliated with Sharif University.
* Advanced Communications Research Institute
* Advanced Information and Communication Technology Research Center (AICTC)
* Alborz Observatory for high energy cosmic and gamma rays
* Biochemical and Bio-environmental Research Center
* Condition Monitoring Center (CMC)
*
Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...
Center
* Economical and Industrial Studies research Center
* Electronics Research Center
* Energy Technology Research Center
* Biochemical and
Bioenvironmental Research Center(B.B.R.C)
* Green University: environmental research center
* Industrial Systems Research Center
* Institute for Nanoscience and
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology, also shortened to nanotech, is the use of matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale for industrial purposes. The earliest, widespread description of nanotechnology referred to the particular technological goal o ...
* Institute for Transportation Studies and Research
* Sharif Applied Physics Research Center
* Water, Energy and
Ocean Engineering Research Center
* Sharif
Accelerator
* Sharif Incubator
World rankings
In the 2020 ''
Academic Ranking of World Universities
The ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' (''ARWU''), also known as the Shanghai Ranking, is one of the annual publications of world university rankings. The league table was originally compiled and issued by Shanghai Jiao Tong Universi ...
''
(also known as Shanghai Ranking), the university ranked between 501 and 600 in the world and first in Iran. According to the
QS Ranking
''QS World University Rankings'' is an annual publication of university rankings by Quacquarelli Symonds (QS). The QS system comprises three parts: the global overall ranking, the subject rankings (which name the world's top universities for the ...
, Sharif University of Technology has stood in the first place of Iran and maintained its international rank 380th. In the 2022-2023 ''
U.S. News & World Report Best Global University Ranking'', the university ranked 598th in the world.
Research and endowment
Sharif University is a public university and its funding is provided by the government of Iran. For the top ranks of the national university entrance exam, education is free in all public universities. Those ranking lower are required to pay part or all of the tuition.
Industrial companies have supported Sharif University and provided research funding for the desired programs and projects. For instance, the Petroleum Engineering department was supported by Iran Oil industries .
Sharif University was appointed as a Center of Excellence (
:fa:قطب علمی lit. ''Scientific Pole'') by Iran's Ministry of Science and Technology in the fields of Advanced Materials, Aerospace Systems, Biological Process Engineering, Communication, Design, Robotics and Automation, Energy Conversion, Earthquake Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Power System Management and Control, and Telecommunications, as well as Hydrodynamics and Dynamics of Marine Vehicles. This appointment is based on national standing based on research achievements and invested funding in the mentioned topics.
Student life
Political activities
Before the Islamic Revolution many political organizations including but not limited to
Fadaian Khalg and
People's Mujahedin of Iran
The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) ( fa, سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران, sâzmân-e mojâhedīn-e khalq-e īrân), is an Iranian pol ...
active members and supporters were among students of the Sharif University. In the 14 years since its inception, many active members and supporters were arrested and killed by
SAVAK
SAVAK ( fa, ساواک, abbreviation for ''Sâzemân-e Ettelâ'ât va Amniat-e Kešvar'', ) was the secret police, domestic security and intelligence service in Iran during the reign of the Pahlavi dynasty. SAVAK operated from 1957 until prim ...
among those Abdolmajid Pirzadeh Jahromi, Majid Ahmadzadeh (Fedaian Khlaq) can be named.
Through the student political movement after the
2nd of Khordad Movement
The Reformists ( fa, اصلاحطلبان, Eslâh-Talabân) are a political faction in Iran. Iran's "reform era" is sometimes said to have lasted from 1997 to 2005—the length of President Mohammad Khatami's two terms in office. The ...
, Sharif students were also actively involved. The major groups with political intentions at Sharif, during 1997–2003, were students
Basij
The Basij ( fa, بسيج, lit. "The Mobilization"), Niru-ye Moghāvemat-e Basij ( fa, نیروی مقاومت بسیج, "Resistance Mobilization Force"), full name Sâzmân-e Basij-e Mostaz'afin ( fa, سازمان بسیج مستضعفین, "The ...
and the Association of Muslim students, briefly called Anjoman (Association). Most other smaller groups were allies of either Basij or Anjoman.
Basij was a serious opposer of
Mohammad Khatami
Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 t ...
, the president of the time. Whereas, Anjoman was a loyal follower.
There have been several clashes between member students of the two groups. Free speech tribunes, occasionally end in harsh quarrel-like debates.
However, the major clash between Anjoman and Basij occurred while the student movement was in silence in most other universities. In 2006, a serious controversy resulting in physical tensions, occurred after Basij attempted to bury bodies of unknown
Martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...
s of the
Iran–Iraq War
The Iran–Iraq War was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. It began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for almost eight years, until the acceptance of United Nations Security Counci ...
at the universities' Mosque court.
Sharif University of Technology Association (SUTA)
Sharif alumni and affiliates are spread worldwide since many of them continue their graduate studies in Europe or North America and also some of them immigrated to these countries, therefore it is not easy to establish a local organization to be contacted by the alumni. Sharif University of Technology Association (SUTA) is a global organization that was formed in 2000 to facilitate communication and collaboration among the graduates, faculty, and staff of the Sharif University.
This non-profit organization is registered in the state of California, USA and has many chapters and affiliates around the world. Its mission is to enhance professional, academic, and social contacts among its membership, and to strengthen the ties between the association members living outside of Iran and the university.
Since 2000 SUTA has had a reunion/conference every other year, in the following cities: San Diego (California), Toronto (Canada), Heidelberg (Germany), Santa Clara (California), Vancouver (Canada), Gothenburg (Sweden), Ottawa (Canada) and Milan (Italy).
Faculty and alumni
Chancellors
Notable alumni
The university is known for its large number of alumni who join the academic world, including the late
Maryam Mirzakhani, Professor of Mathematics at
Stanford University and the first female to be awarded a
Fields Medal.
Several SUT alumni have been active in the industry.
Niloufar Salehi, computer scientist at
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...
,
Akbar Torkan, director of Petro-Pars Co. and previous Transportations Minister,
Ahmad Ghalebaani
Ahmad ( ar, أحمد, ʾAḥmad) is an Arabic male given name common in most parts of the Muslim world. Other spellings of the name include Ahmed and Ahmet.
Etymology
The word derives from the root (ḥ-m-d), from the Arabic (), from the ...
, former managing director of
SAIPA
SAIPA ( fa, سایپا, ''SAIPA'') is an Iranian automaker headquartered in Tehran. The SAIPAC (an acronym for the French ''Société anonyme iranienne de production des automobiles Citroën'') was established in 1965 as with 75% Iran
...
,
Salman A. Avestimehr
Salman A. Avestimehr is a Dean's professor at the Electrical & Computer Engineering and Computer Science Departments of University of Southern California, where he is the inaugural director of the USC-Amazon Center for Secure and Trusted Machine Le ...
, an American-Iranian professor and co-director of the Communication Sciences Institute at the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department of Southern California, managing director of Iran national petroleum company can be named as some of the more famous alumni.
Many of the SUT alumni have entered in politics, including
Mohammad Ali Najafi
Mohammad-Ali Najafi ( fa, محمدعلی نجفی; born 13 January 1952) is an Iranian mathematician and reformist politician who was the Mayor of Tehran, serving in the post for eight months, until April 2018. He held cabinet portfolios during ...
former minister of higher education and member of
Tehran City Council,
Es'hagh Jahangiri
Eshaq Jahangiri Kouhshahi ( fa, اسحاق جهانگیری کوهشاهی, ; born 21 January 1958) is an Iranian peoples, Iranian politician who served as the sixth Vice President of Iran, first vice president from 2013 until 2021 in Hassan R ...
, former Minister of Industries and Mines,
Abbas Mohtaj, former commander of Iranian Navy,
Mohammad Atrianfar, former head of Tehran City Council,
Morteza Alviri, former mayor of
Tehran
Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the Capital city, capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is th ...
,
Ali Larijani
Ali Ardeshir Larijani ( fa, علی لاریجانی, ; born 3 June 1957) is an Iranian conservative politician, philosopher and former military officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, who served as the Speaker of the Parliament of Ir ...
, speaker of
Majlis and former presidential candidate and former head of
IRIB
The Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB; fa, صدا و سيمای جمهوری اسلامی ايران, ''Sedā va Sīmā-ye Jomhūri-ye Eslāmi-ye Īrān'', , formerly called National Iranian Radio and Television until the Iranian Rev ...
and
Mohsen Sazegara, former government official, political activist. Also, some of the opposition groups outside Iran have members who are SUT alumni. These members include
Foad Mostafa Soltani
Foad Mostafa Soltani ( fa, فؤاد مصطفی سلطانی; 1948 – 31 August 1979) was one of the founders of the Revolutionary Organisation of the Toilers of Kurdistan, popularly known as Komala.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mostafa Soltani, ...
, former leader of
Komala political party of
Iranian Kurdistan and
Maryam Rajavi, president of
People's Mujahedin of Iran
The People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI), also known as Mojahedin-e-Khalq (MEK) or Mojahedin-e-Khalq Organization (MKO) ( fa, سازمان مجاهدين خلق ايران, sâzmân-e mojâhedīn-e khalq-e īrân), is an Iranian pol ...
Organization.
Multiple alumni of SUT also continued their careers as professional athletes. Having been affiliated with SUT's athletic teams,
Ali Daei, former member and later head coach of
Iranian national football team can be named.
Adel Ferdosipour, the prominent football commentator and
Elshan Moradi Chess Grandmaster are also SUT alumni.
Other publicly known figures with a Sharif related background include
Peyman Yazdanian, music composer and
Mohammad-Javad Larijani, director of
Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics.
Imprisoned human rights blogger
Kouhyar Goudarzi
Kouhyar Goudarzi ( fa, کوهیار گودرزی) is an Iranian human rights activist, journalist and blogger who was imprisoned several times by the government of Iran. He previously served as an editor oRadio Zamane He is a member oCommittee of ...
was an aerospace student at Sharif until pressure from state security forces allegedly caused his dismissal.
Omid Kokabee, an Applied Physics and Mechanics alumnus,
was arrested while visiting Iran during his Postdoctoral research in University of Texas at Austin.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison for "communicating with a hostile government" and "illegitimate/illegal earnings."
Image:Maryam_Mirzakhani_in_Seoul_2014.jpg, Maryam Mirzakhani: Professor of Mathematics at Stanford University and the first female to be awarded a Fields Medal
Image:GM_Elshan_Moradiabadi.jpg, Elshan Moradi: Chess Grandmaster
Image:Ali_Daei,_Saipa_vs._Al-Rayyan_pre-match_conference.jpg, Ali Daei: former member and later head coach of Iranian national football team
Image:Adel_Ferdosipour_2019.jpg, Adel Ferdosipour: the prominent football commentator
Image:Mohammad-Javad_Larijani.jpg, Mohammad-Javad Larijani: Iranian conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
politician, mathematical logician
Mathematical logic is the study of formal logic within mathematics. Major subareas include model theory, proof theory, set theory, and recursion theory. Research in mathematical logic commonly addresses the mathematical properties of formal sys ...
, and former diplomat
Image:Eshaq_Jahangiri_portrait_2018.jpg, Eshaq Jahangiri: vice president
A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is o ...
of Hassan Rouhani
Hassan Rouhani ( fa, حسن روحانی, Standard Persian pronunciation: ; born Hassan Fereydoun ( fa, حسن فریدون, links=no); 12 November 1948) is an Iranian politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. ...
's government
A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state.
In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...
See also
*
Higher education in Iran
*
Pardis Technology Park
*
Shahbal, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) developed at SUT
*
Iranian Machine Design Competition
The Iranian Machine Design Competition ( fa, مسابقه ملی طراحی ماشین) is a national design competition for universities of Iran. This competition is held at the Sharif University of Technology, and different groups from around th ...
References
External links
Sharif University of Technology's home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharif University of Technology
1966 establishments in Iran
Educational institutions established in 1966
Engineering universities and colleges in Iran