Alzahra University

Founded in 1964 as “Girls’ College”. this institution of higher education began its activities with 90 students studying in such courses as Translation Studies, Psychology, and Secretarial Studies. A year later another course by the name of “Housewifery” was founded and began to admit students.

In 1975, the “Girls’ College” was upgraded to a university with four independent faculties of “Humanities and Literature”, “Management”, “Economics”, and “Sciences”. Following the victory of the Islamic Revolution in 1979, this university was renamed “Alzahra University” and continued to flourish in an enterprising and progressive spirit.

Over the years, certain changes occurred in the structure of this university, such that in 1986 the four existing faculties were renamed “Basic Sciences”, “Social and Economic Sciences”, “Literature” and “Arts”. In 1994, the faculties of “Educational Sciences and Psychology”, “Physical Education” and “Technical Engineering” were founded, and in 2001, the Faculty of Literature was split into two faculties of “Literature” and “Theology” making the total number of faculties of Alzahra University eight. Finally, in 2014, the Faculty of Basic Sciences was transformed into four faculties of “Mathematical Sciences”, “Biological Sciences”, “Physics”, and “Chemistry”, to increase the number of faculties to 10.

Alzahra University is located over an area of 14 hectares in the north of Tehran and a total of 10,000 female students pursue their higher education in two campuses, one branch, two research institutes, one gallery, and one study center in 29 fields and orientations at the doctoral level, 70 fields and orientations at the master’s level, and 51 fields at the undergraduate level.

Research Institutes and Campuses of Alzahra University

The Urmia branch of Alzahra University was established in 2013 with five faculties of “Social Sciences and Economics”, “Educational Sciences and Psychology”, “Literature”, “Theology” and “Arts”. This branch admits students at the postgraduate level.

Research Institute of Economic Studies is one of the two research institutes of Alzahra University in which the researchers are engaged in research in the four areas of “Inequality, Poverty and Corruption”, “Economic Model-making and its Applications in Economy”, “Social Economy” and “Agent-Based Mode-making”.

Women’s Research Institute is another research institute of this university, which was established in 1996 with the aim of conducting research projects related to women’s issues and providing practical strategies regarding these issues to the authorities of the country.

The Innovation and Development Center of Alzahra University is also considered as one of its research centers. This center, which started functioning in June 2017, consists of the two units of “Entrepreneurship and Innovation” and “Expansion of Employment and Skill Training”. This center seeks to support innovative projects and entrepreneurial ideas.

International Activities of Alzahra University

About 200 foreign students are studying at Alzahra University. There are some centers in this university that provide services to these students. One of these centers is the “Center of Teaching the Persian Language”, which teaches Persian to non-Persian speakers. This center started its activities in 2016 and has succeeded in imparting teaching both in-person and virtually.

One of the active international centers at Alzahra University is the Center of Cooperation with Pushkin Russian Language State Institute. This center is considered the only authorized center to hold TORFL exams in Iran. The center was established in 2017, and because of its membership in the Pushkin Center, it is in interaction with other 108 member countries of this institute.

The Center for Cultural Dialogue among the Women of Iran and the Arab World is a center the purpose of which is to provide opportunities for increasing the participation of Iranian and Arab women in the fields of management, education, culture, and producing knowledge. Holding workshops and international meetings between women thinkers of Iran and Arab countries is one of the activities of this center.

The Center for the Management of International Scientific Cooperation is one of the oldest international centers of the university, which was established in 1991. The mission of this center is to develop relations with universities and educational centers of different countries and conduct joint research projects.