The Department's policy is to establish scientific foundations that promote development and advancement in the fields of science and knowledge and human resources development in order to keep abreast of the growing civilizations and the flourishing sciences through the establishment of various events that will contribute to the development of various cadres at the University. This is in the interest of the university in particular and the interest of the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in general to build a prosperous Iraq with science and knowledge. On the other hand, the Department works to consolidate the foundations of culture, education and continuous exchange with the countries of the world, enabling the Department to attract various fields of study and culture, and to disseminate and motivate our countrymen, especially the members of our university, to learn and benefit from it. The Department aims to provide the best educational opportunities abroad and conclude agreements with various universities of the world on a solid scientific basis. It also seeks to bring various scientific participations from abroad to learn about the latest methods of training and education, which raise the level of scientific and skills development

The Department of Scholarships and Cultural Relations is the University's window to the world through which various academic institutions are contacted nationally and internationally. After the great development that has been taken place recently, this Department has expanded to include the Division of International Studies and the Division of Cultural Relations which include eight units:

A. Division of Cultural Relations: which include four units:

1. Cooperation Agreements

2. Delegations

3. Conferences and Seminars

4. American Corner

B. Division of International Studies

1. Scholarships

2. Fellowships

3. Academic Leave

The Department will provide students with necessary instructions, procedures, and training to complete their studies abroad through scholarships, fellowships or academic leave. The Department also organizes training courses and workshops to introduce practical skills, techniques, or ideas that will help them with their program.

A. Division of Cultural Relations:

Cooperation Programs:

This unit is one of the most important of the Division of Cultural Relations through the tasks entrusted to it: preparation of draft agreements and memorandums of understanding or letters of cooperation between our university and other universities and follow-up their signatures and implementation. In addition, it coordinates visits between our university, and various institutions through the preparation of international communications for agreements (before and after the signature of).

Tasks:

1. Negotiate with Arab and international universities for the purpose of signing agreements and memorandums of understanding or letters of cooperation with them to build relationships in scientific, cultural and administrative fields and to exchange experiences through mutual use of abilities.

2. Study and prepare agreements, memorandums of understanding or letters of cooperation for with international institutions and indicate their conformity with the ministerial and legal requirements.

3. Coordinate with the ministerial authorities for approval of the agreements, memorandums of understanding and letters of cooperation.

4. Coordinate with Iraqi universities and sign local memorandums of understanding to exchange experiences through mutual use of abilities.

5. Prepare copies of agreements, memorandums of understanding or letters of cooperation in various foreign languages in cooperation with the Translation Unit.

6. Contact and negotiate with national and international universities.

Steps of drafting and studying a Letter of Understanding or MOU.

1. Proofread the legal aspects and grammatical structures,

2. Send it to the Department of Legal Affairs to comply it with the Ministerial legal requirements and regulations.

3. Translate it into English

4. Send a copy of the final draft to the Ministry of Higher Education for approval and to the second party to notify them of any changes in the draft.

5. When approved by the said Ministry it is signed by both parties.

Delegations:

Delegations are limited to the activities with scientific, economic, financial, political or security benefits. It includes the attendance of conferences, seminars, training courses, workshops, award ceremonies and other activities.

Conferences and Seminars:

This unit focuses on organizing conferences or coordinating with other organizers. These meetings include academic participations that communicate with international governmental and non-governmental organizations.

American Corner:

The American Corner is a dedicated information space hosted at the UoK. It introduces visitors to the true story of the United States by providing a multifunctional platform for public diplomacy programs and offering access to print, multimedia, and other materials. The American Corner helps maintain open dialogue, counteract negative preconceptions, and build bridges of understanding. They represent the nation’s long-standing commitment to spread the ideas and values of American democracy and civil society.

B. Division of International Studies

Scholarships:

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research launched the scholarship program to obtain PhD and master's degrees in all majors to prepare highly qualified staffs to raise the level of scientific according to the approved academic standards as well as the existence of many programs for the scholarships that were launched from our institutions and other ministries such as the Higher Committee for the Development of Education (HCED) in Iraq for the year 2009/2010 with the launch of 10,000 ten thousand scholarships at the world's best accredited universities. This committee was launched to enhance the educational system in Iraq by sending thousands of qualified staff members to international universities.

Fellowships:

It offers fellowships to the university staffs to obtain various academic degrees from international universities. Applicants may apply as soon as a fellowship is announced by the sponsoring institution. Applications are then sent to the Department of Scholarships and Cultural relations at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

WALADU is a three years (2017-2019) international project funded by the European Union in the frame of the Erasmus+ Capacity Building Key Action 2 in the field of higher education. To learn more, click here.