In cooperation with Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi

The National Archives Announces the Launch of the Master Degree Program in Records Management and Archival Studies Starting in Next September



The National Archives announced the launch of the Master Degree Program in in Records Management and Archival Studies, which was designed in cooperation with Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, and its first academic year will begin in September 2021. This high academic program will qualify the enrolled students with the necessary skills to improve the archiving system and will be in line with the development witnessed in our current era in the field of archiving, documentation, artificial intelligence programs and other technical sciences. This program is the culmination of a series of study programs in which the National Archives cooperates with Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi. Firstly, there was the Professional Certificate in Records and Archives Management which was designed to qualify the employees in charge of government archives to enhance their knowledge. Then the university started the Bachelor Degree in Records Management for the secondary school graduates. The two programs proved successful and encouraged the introduction of a Master Degree Program in the field of Archiving.

Regarding the introduction of this program, His Excellency Abdullah Majid Al Ali, the Executive Director in the National Archives, said: “The success achieved by the National Archives in cooperation with Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi in the Professional Certificate and Bachelor Degree Program encouraged us to cooperate together to introduce the Master Degree Program in Record Management and Archival Studies. We have a great hope on this program, which we expect to be very popular; because this specialization is the first of its kind in the UAE, and that it gives the graduates greater confidence when they enter the labor market since it is a comprehensive program that provides a high level of intellectual education through specialized research in the fields of archiving and all related modern sciences. All that can pave the way for them to think outside the box.

The National Archives paid great attention to this program as it will prepare a generation of experienced professionals in this field in the wake of the information revolution and the digital transformation that prevailed in the various administrative and the paperless management fields. The program aims to prepare distinguished professionals to assume positions in senior and middle management in various agencies, or qualify them to pursue their PhD Programs in Records and Archives Management.”

His Excellency thanked the prestigious Sorbonne University for its permanent cooperation with the National Archives, which lead to the achievement of all joint projects with great success and pointed out that the curriculum of the master degree program will equip the students with in-depth theoretical and methodological knowledge and offer them excellent learning experience through training and experiences. This will provide the students the opportunity to apply their distinguished acquired skills in their places of work.

His Excellency praised this program, which provides the students with specialized knowledge and new skills resulting from deep research and study that will enhance their ability to become creative, innovative and enable them to develop scientific thinking. It also prepares the students to be pioneers in the development in the fields of documentation and archiving and show their interest and keenness to use both traditional and modern methods to preserve and organize archives and to preserve and process documents in the presence of huge data and the modernity we live in that has become a distinguishing feature of this era.

His Excellency said: “We are very keen to enhance the knowledge and theory wealth, which the students will gain from the master degree program by way of practical application and through the visits to the headquarters of the National Archives, and the practical experience they will gain in the Restoration and Preservation Centre of the National Archives. The students enrolled in this program shall acquire accurate knowledge in all aspects of this specialization, as well as in the modern sciences such as artificial intelligence, which we hope will be used tremendously in the field of documentation and archiving and they shall also promote cultural awareness on preserving documents of all kinds and forms and encourage scientific research in this field.”

Professor Silvia Serrano, Director of the Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi - thanked the National Archives for the good cooperation in all stages of developing and designing the master degree program in Record Management and Archival Studies, which is taught in English for two years. The program includes professional skills and in-depth knowledge in the field of this constantly evolving scientific specialization.

She added: “Archiving plays a very important role. It is considered the memory of nations that enriches society at the cultural and intellectual levels. The progress and development of countries is closely linked to the efforts made in preserving history and learning from the past and that can only be achieved through mastering the science of records management and archiving. The successful cooperation between Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi and the National Archives has resulted in several distinctive and unique programs in records management and archival studies that brings together the academic excellence dating back to 760 years and international professors and experts. We are fully confident that this cooperation will yield many achievements in the future and we look forward to seeing the positive effects that the graduates will have through the development the institutions in which they work and contributing to support the country’s economic progress in general.



The National Archives:

The National Archives of the Ministry of Presidential Affairs was first established in 1968 upon the directives of the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan, with the aim of collecting documents and information relating to the history and heritage of the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf region. Forty years later, HH Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE President, issued Federal Law No. (7) of 2008 changing its name to the National Center for Documentation and Research (NCDR), and assigning it to organize the archives of the various UAE government entities. Finally, HH Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan issued Federal Law No. (1) of 2014, renaming it the National Archives.