Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University (PNU; ar, جامعة الأميرة نورة بنت عبد الرحمن) is a public women's university located in

Riyadh Riyadh (, ar, الرياض, 'ar-Riyāḍ, lit.: 'The Gardens' Najdi pronunciation: ), formerly known as Hajr al-Yamamah, is the capital and largest city of Saudi Arabia. It is also the capital of the Riyadh Province and the centre of the ...

, the capital of

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

. It is the largest

women's university A women's college is an institution of higher education where enrollment is all-female. In the United States, almost all women's colleges are private undergraduate institutions, with many offering coeducational graduate programs. In other countrie ...

in the world. The university offers diplomas,

bachelor A bachelor is a man who is not and has never been married.Bachelors are, in Pitt & al.'s phrasing, "men who live independently, outside of their parents' home and other institutional settings, who are neither married nor cohabitating". (). Etymo ...

and postgraduate degrees. It has 34 colleges in the city of Riyadh and in the neighbouring cities, an Arabic Language Institute (for non-speakers of Arabic), a Deanship of Community Service and Continuous Education, and a Community College. It has more than 5,000 academic and administrative staff.

History and name

The university was founded in 1970 as the first College of Education for women in the Kingdom. Within the following 25 years, there were 102 similar colleges in 72 cities around the country, accommodating 60,000 students. There were 6 colleges in the city of

alone, primarily in the fields of education,

social service Social services are a range of public services intended to provide support and assistance towards particular groups, which commonly include the disadvantaged. They may be provided by individuals, private and independent organisations, or administ ...

, science, arts, and

home economics Home economics, also called domestic science or family and consumer sciences, is a subject concerning human development, personal and family finances, consumer issues, housing and interior design, nutrition and food preparation, as well as texti ...

. In 2004, the decision was made to unify all of the women's colleges in Riyadh, thus creating the first all-female university in the Kingdom. Other colleges around the Kingdom were unified and expanded in their respected regions into independent universities. In 2008, the

Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques (abbreviation ''CTHM''; ar, خَادِمُ ٱلْحَرَمَيْنِ ٱلشَّرِيفَيْنِ, '), Servant of the Two Noble Sanctuaries or Protector of the Two Holy Cities, is a royal style that has been u ...

King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, عبدالله بن عبدالعزيز آل سعود ''ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al ʿAzīz Āl Saʿūd'', Najdi Arabic pronunciation: ; 1 August 1924 – 23 January 2015) was King of Saudi Arabia, King and Pri ...

inaugurated the campus and changed the university's name to "Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University" after Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman, the sister of the country's first king and leader, King Abdulaziz. ''Nourah'' in Arabic means "light." With this launch was the building of the world's largest and most modern women's institution of higher education in a self-contained higher education city. The first rector was Princess

Al Jawhara bint Fahd Al Saud Al Jawhara bint Fahd Al Saud is a Saudi royal, an academic and a member of the Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia. Early life and education Al Jawhara bint Fahd is a daughter of Fahd bin Mohammed and Muda bint Assaf. Her father was the second ...

. On 12 June 2011, the new campus was opened in an official ceremony by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques,

, during which he said:

"Women carry a responsibility that is more than a duty, to maintain the stability of society and contribute to building the economy of the nation, and to represent the community and the nation to the highest standards, outside and inside the country. To be the caring mother, exemplary citizen and productive employee. Outside the nation, to be the ambassador of her country and community, and to represent well her religion, faith and our values."

In February 2017, the university was the host of the first-ever opera in Saudi Arabia. The show, "Antar and Alba", was produced by Opera Lebanon.

Colleges and Departments

Health Colleges * College of Medicine ** Basic Sciences * College of

Dentistry Dentistry, also known as dental medicine and oral medicine, is the branch of medicine focused on the teeth, gums, and mouth. It consists of the study, diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases, disorders, and conditions of ...

** Preventive Dental Sciences ** Clinical Dental Sciences ** Basic Dental Sciences * College of

Nursing Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ...

* College of

Pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medication, medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it ...

** Pharmaceutical Sciences ** Clinical Pharmacy * College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences ** Rehabilitation Sciences **

Health Sciences The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to health sciences: Health sciences are those sciences which focus on health, or health care, as core parts of their subject matter. Health sciences relate to multiple a ...

Medical Technology Health technology is defined by the World Health Organization as the "application of organized knowledge and skills in the form of devices, medicines, vaccines, procedures, and systems developed to solve a health problem and improve quality of liv ...

** Communication Sciences Science Colleges * College of Business and Administration ** Economics ** Law **

Business Administration Business administration, also known as business management, is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. From the point of view of management ...

** Accounting * College of Computer and Information Science ** Computer Sciences **

Information Systems An information system (IS) is a formal, sociotechnical, organizational system designed to collect, process, store, and distribute information. From a sociotechnical perspective, information systems are composed by four components: task, people ...

** Networking and Telecommunication Systems * College of Science **

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which ...

Chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a natural science that covers the elements that make up matter to the compounds made of atoms, molecules and ions: their composition, structure, proper ...

** Mathematical Sciences **

Biology Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

Humanities Colleges * College of Art and Design ** Interior Design **

Graphic Design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdiscip ...

and

Digital Media Digital media is any communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronics device. ...

** Painting and Printmaking ** Fashion Design and Textiles * College of Art ** Arabic Language and

Literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to ...

** English Language and

Geography Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth description") is a field of science devoted to the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, an ...

** History and Civilization ** Library and Information **

Islamic Studies Islamic studies refers to the academic study of Islam, and generally to academic multidisciplinary "studies" programs—programs similar to others that focus on the history, texts and theologies of other religious traditions, such as Easter ...

* College of Education ** Curriculum and Instruction **

Early Childhood Early childhood is a stage in human development following infancy and preceding middle childhood. It generally includes toddlerhood and some time afterward. Play age is an unspecific designation approximately within the scope of early childhood. ...

** Special Needs Education **

Psychology Psychology is the science, scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immens ...

* College of Home Economics ** Nutrition & Food Science * College of Social Work * College of Languages and Translation ** English Language and Translation ** French Language and Translation * Community College ** Computer Sciences and Information Technology ** Administrative Sciences The Deanship of Community Service and Continuous Education offers various diploma options. The Arabic Language Institute (for non-speakers of Arabic) offers grant scholarships to non-speakers of Arabic from different countries. The institute has over 350 students from more than 40 countries. In early 2018, the university became the first in the Kingdom to offer a driving school for women, following the allowance of

King Salman Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud ( ar, سلمان بن عبد العزیز آل سعود, , ; born 31 December 1935) is King of Saudi Arabia, reigning since 2015, and served as Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia from 2015 to 2022. The 25th son of Kin ...

to grant women the right to drive in the Kingdom. More than 50,000 female students are expected to take part. Despite these advancements Saudi Arabia still has some of the worst rates of unemployment among women in the world Preparatory Year Program (PYP): To ensure quality and a smooth transition into university life, PNU students are required to enroll in a two-year preparatory program of necessary skills, such as: *

Study skills Study skills or study strategies are approaches applied to learning. Study skills are an array of skills which tackle the process of organizing and taking in new information, retaining information, or dealing with assessments. They are discrete ...

* Intensive English program *

Communication skills Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inqu ...

* Computer skills

Campus services and facilities

Description

The campus was constructed in a record time of two years, supported by 75,000 construction workers and the latest building machinery and methodologies. It is 13 million square meters in size, with a maximum capacity of 60,000 students. The campus has 600 high-tech smart buildings, large-capacity student residencies, various models of faculty residence units, and three spacious, state-of-the-art recreation centers. In addition, it has

pre-school A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary scho ...

s, primary schools, intermediate and secondary schools. It also has an elegant central library, research centers, a university hospital, student support centers, student-accessible sport facilities, a convention center and an automated metro system by

Hitachi Rail Italy Hitachi Rail Italy S.p.A. is a multinational rolling stock manufacturer company based in Pistoia, Italy. Formerly AnsaldoBreda S.p.A., a subsidiary of state-owned Finmeccanica, the company was sold in 2015 to Hitachi#Hitachi Rail, Hitachi Rail o ...

Health and Wellness

Sports Facilities include a number of sports halls (basketball, volleyball, aerobatics, bicycles, etc.) as well as an olympic sized swimming pool. In 2016, the university signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the General Authority for Sports, aiming to increase participation in sports to 40% by 2030.

Sustainable Design

* Water recycling plant * Solar thermal plant * 4000 sq. meters of Solar Panels, which provide 16% of heating and 18% of air-conditioning needs 38 of the university's buildings, totaling a million square meters, have been submitted for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating and the library has applied for the second highest LEED "Gold" rating.

Central Library

The library holds over 2 million books in both Arabic and English with a maximum capacity of 5 million, in addition to numerous journal subscriptions, government publications,

dissertations A thesis ( : theses), or dissertation (abbreviated diss.), is a document submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings.International Standard ISO 7144: ...

databases In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases spa ...

, and

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced i ...

."Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University"
Saudi Ministry of Higher Education Portal

Research Centers

Social Research and Women's Studies * Social Science Research. * Women's Studies Research * Human and Social Development Research * Natural Sciences Research Center Aljazeera Chair Academic Societies Established * Saudi Society for Child Care. * Arabic Language Society.

Student Support Centers

* Clubs and Student Councils * Meeting Rooms and Offices * Media and screening rooms * Restaurants and Cafes * Banquet Halls * Bookstore * Pharmacy * Supermarket * Bank

Convention center

* 2 large halls * 2,700 seats (largest in the country) * 1,350 seats * 13 conference and meeting rooms.

Transportation

Due to the physical size of the campus, an efficient means of transporting students needed to be developed. To this end, an 11.5 km

automated guideway transit An automated guideway transit (AGT) or automated fixed-guideway transit or automatic guideway transit system is a type of fixed guideway transit infrastructure with a riding or suspension track that supports and physically guides one or more dr ...

system, the Princess Nora bint Abdul Rahman University Automated People Mover (PNU-APM), was constructed. The network, built to light metro standards, opened in 2012 and has 4 lines and 14 stations. It has 22 two car

AnsaldoBreda Hitachi Rail Italy S.p.A. is a multinational rolling stock manufacturer company based in Pistoia, Italy. Formerly AnsaldoBreda S.p.A., a subsidiary of state-owned Finmeccanica, the company was sold in 2015 to Hitachi Rail of Japan. After the ...

Driverless Metro trains, each having a maximum capacity of up to 110 passengers and a maximum speed of 60 km/h. The driverless technology used in the trains is the same as that of the

Copenhagen Metro The Copenhagen Metro ( da, Københavns Metro, ) is a 24/7 rapid transit system in Copenhagen, Denmark, serving the municipalities of Copenhagen, Frederiksberg, and Tårnby. The original system opened in October 2002, serving nine stations ...

International partnerships

University of Auckland , mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work , established = 1883; years ago , endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021) , budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021) , chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant , vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...

in New Zealand *

University of Southern Denmark The University of Southern Denmark ( da, Syddansk Universitet, lit=South Danish University, abbr. SDU) is a university in Denmark that has campuses located in Southern Denmark and on Zealand. The university offers a number of joint programmes in ...

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and S ...

* Valencia College in the United States * Rouen University in France *

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam (abbreviated as ''EUR'', nl, Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam ) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century humani ...

in the Netherlands *

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has ...

in Australia *

Dublin City University Dublin City University (abbreviated as DCU) ( ga, Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile Átha Cliath) is a university based on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. Created as the '' National Institute for Higher Education, Dublin'' in 1975, it enrolled its ...

in Ireland

Memberships in Regional and International Associations

International Association of Universities The International Association of Universities (IAU) is a membership-led non-governmental organization working in the field of higher education. It comprises more than 600 higher education institutions and organizations in over 130 countries. IAU ...

* Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World *

Association of Arab Universities The Association of Arab Universities (Arabic: إتحاد الجامعات العربية), also called the ''Union of Arab Universities'' (Arabic: تحاد الجامعات العربية), is an organization working within the framework of the A ...

* The Society of Arab Universities * The Scientific Society of Arab Nursing Faculties * Colleges of Computing and Information Society * Association of Social Services * American Council on Education * Association of Colleges of Fine Arts * Scientific Society for Arab Faculties f Medicine * Society of Colleges of Science

References

External links

Official site
in Arabic an
in English

Aerial view and building photos
* Photographs fro
Tridonic.fr

Dedication of the new campus by King Abdullah
(video) {{DEFAULTSORT:Princess Nourah Bint Abdulrahman University 1970 establishments in Saudi Arabia Educational institutions established in 1970 Education in Riyadh Universities and colleges in Saudi Arabia Women's universities and colleges in Saudi Arabia