August 25, 2021

Start-ups, AI and social change: Zayed University X Minerva

19 minutes

Students at Zayed University began a new bachelor's degree programme on Tuesday. It is the first stage in a plan to transform the way the Abu Dhabi university teaches students over the next five years. The course is designed to build skills in critical thinking and project management, alongside studies in entrepreneurship, artificial intelligence and social change. The programme is a tie-up with US education provider Minerva Project, called Zayed University X Minerva.

"For the last 30 years universities have done an abysmal job at training their graduates for the present," Ben Nelson, the founder and chief executive of the Minerva Project, told host Kelsey Warner on this week's Business Extra.

"We need graduates who are prepared for this world right now. And we have to acknowledge that universities fall woefully short in that order." He said Zayed University "not only recognised, but decided that they had to do something about it".

Hosted by Kelsey Warner

Produced by Arthur Eddyson and Ayesha Khan

In this episode:

Challenges and opportunities for students and recent graduates (1m 05s)

Zayed University x Minerva partnership (2m 56s)

The Minerva way of education (6m 54s)

Future-proofing careers (12m 35s)