MBZUAI Welcomes Largest Fall 2025 Cohort
Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI) has welcomed its largest cohort for the Fall 2025 intake, enrolling 403 new students. Moreover, this intake includes the inaugural undergraduate class, new graduate cohorts in Computer Science, Computer Vision, Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, and Robotics, and the first intakes into the Master of Science in Statistics & Data Science and Master in Applied Artificial Intelligence. This semester received more than 8,000 applications across the university’s Bachelor and graduate programmes, and therefore the acceptance rate stood at 5 per cent. Furthermore, the result reinforces MBZUAI’s prestigious position and its ability to attract top talent from the UAE and around the world.
“This year, MBZUAI welcomes our largest cohort of graduate students alongside our inaugural undergraduate class. Artificial intelligence is transforming the world at a pace that vastly outstrips traditional education models. To realise its full global potential, MBZUAI invests heavily in reviewing and updating our programmes to reflect modern AI research methodology and workflows, based on our bleeding-edge AI research credentials and grounded in societal and industrial needs. As a young institution, MBZUAI has already earned a place among the world’s top 10 AI universities based on our research credentials. With the introduction of our undergraduate and Master’s in Applied AI programmes, we continue to build world-leading programmes aligned with the UAE’s National Strategy for AI 2031 and supporting Abu Dhabi’s rapidly growing AI ecosystem.”
Undergraduate launch and student profile
The newly launched Bachelor of Science in Artificial Intelligence programme offers two streams, AI for Business and AI for Engineering, and it combines technical rigour with leadership, hands-on entrepreneurship, and in-situ industry experience. The first class consists of 115 undergraduate students from more than 25 countries, and over 25 per cent of them are UAE Nationals. Additionally, the programme emphasises real-world relevance and high-end AI job readiness for graduates.
“The jobs of tomorrow are being shaped by AI today and we must ensure that future generations are equipped with the tools and skills to navigate that shift. Our extraordinarily talented students don’t just learn about AI, but learn with it, through it, and for it. This is an extraordinary value proposition across all our programmes, but especially for our undergraduate students, who will be studying towards a bachelor’s degree in AI that I believe sets a new global benchmark in terms of technical depth, real-world relevance, and the high-end AI job-readiness of the students.”
Diversity, credentials and orientation
MBZUAI’s total student body now numbers more than 700 students and represents over 47 nationalities. Undergraduate nationalities include Bulgaria, China, Egypt, Georgia, Greece, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, the UAE and the UK. Postgraduate cohorts bring together students from Canada, China, Egypt, France, India, Italy, Kazakhstan, Serbia, the UAE, the UK, the USA and Vietnam. Furthermore, 151 of the incoming graduate students (27.5 per cent) hold degrees from the world’s top 100 computer science universities (CSRankings), including Cornell University, Tsinghua University, the University of Edinburgh, and the University of California, San Diego.
Orientation Week has begun and, accordingly, introduces new students to MBZUAI’s culture of academic excellence, AI-driven innovation, and community engagement. Highlights include the Orientation Mini Fair, where internal and external partners showcase resources for academic success, career development, and student life. The programme also features academic sessions, mentorship activities, and cultural programming that celebrates UAE heritage and life in Abu Dhabi. Overall, Orientation Week aims to foster a strong sense of belonging and connection while laying the foundation for academic success and life-changing university experiences. For more information, visit www.mbzuai.ac.ae.
