Due to the presence of the shrine of Hazrat Masoumeh, the daughter of the 7th Shiite Imam, the city of Qom has been a teaching center of Islamic sciences since the 9th century CE. The geographical location of this city in the center of Iran and near the capital has added to its importance. As the largest center of higher education of this province, the University of Qom is considered the main center of higher education in the province and holds a special position among the universities of Iran.

History

Located in a complex of 140 hectares, the University of Qom has been engaged in scientific and educational activities for more than four decades. The establishment of this university dates back to 1979 when it was initially established under the title of “School of Law and Judicial Sciences. The Qom Seminary played an important role in the establishment of this academic center. In 1997, with the expansion of the activities of this center, its position was changed to that of a university.

University of Qom Today

Presently, six faculties are active in this university and 300 faculty members teach and train about 10 thousand students in 164 fields in the form of 33 educational groups. University of Qom admits students in all three levels of bachelor’s, master’s, and doctorate.

In terms of comfort and sports facilities, the University of Qom is well-equipped. It has two large dormitories for male and female students, indoor and outdoor halls, and sports areas, making it possible for its students to have fun and exercise in their free time. In different years, students of Qom University have achieved good ranks in athletics, physical fitness, taekwondo, karate, chess, badminton, handball, and futsal in inter-university sports competitions.

Workshop and Laboratory Facilities of the University of Qom

University of Qom has provided suitable educational facilities for its students. Four units of foreign language teaching laboratories, 15 units of physics laboratories, 9 units of chemistry laboratories, seven units of civil engineering laboratories, three units of electrical and electronics laboratories, five units of industrial laboratories and workshops, 15 units of biology laboratories, seven units of mechanical laboratories, and 16 units of computer workshops are considered a part of these facilities. In all, a total of 94 laboratories and workshops are available to students in this university.

Research Centers of the University of Qom

The following research institutes are active in the University of Qom:

• Environmental Research Institute
• Environmental Pollutants Research Department
• Green Environmental Research Institute
• Management and Islamic Law Research Institute
• Research Department of Water Resources Management
• Light Structures research group
• Women’s Research Department
• Dust Impact Reduction Workgroup

A growth center has also been established at the University of Qom, where 84 developed technological units and 11 knowledge-based companies are present. This growth center has two branches in the province. Besides, 45 scientific associations, seven independent student organizations, 18 cultural and artistic centers, and 23 student publications are active in this university.

Foreign Students of the University of Qom

Nearly four thousand foreign students pursue their higher education at the University of Qom. In terms of the number of foreign students, the ‘Faculty of Law’ ranks first with more than 1,500 students. The faculties of Literature and Humanities, Technical and Engineering, Theology and Islamic Studies, and Management and Basic Sciences rank next in terms of admitting foreign students.

Most of the non-Iranian students of the University of Qom are pursuing their higher education at the postgraduate level of which more than three thousand students are undergoing master's level and more than 500 are at the Ph.D. level.

A center called “Office of Foreign Students” has been established at the University of Qom, which caters to the educational requirements of non-Iranian students. Those interested in studying at this university can benefit from the services of this office.

Baqir al-Olum University of Qom is one of Iran’s non-governmental centers of higher education that operates in the field of Islamic humanities. This university, which operates under the supervision of the Islamic Propaganda Office of Qom Seminary, has had a close relationship with the seminaries since the beginning of its activities and mostly selects its students from among seminary students. Examining the current issues of the world through the lens of Islamic jurisprudence and providing answers to the questions of societies by resorting to Islamic texts is one of the main goals of this university.

History of Baqir al-Olum University

The need for improving the level of political awareness of seminary students and better communication with the Islamic world and other cultures of the world formed the idea of establishing Baqir al-Olum University. The first unit of this university started its activities in the year 1984 by imparting short-term general and specialized training courses. From 1987 onwards, the political science courses of the Propaganda Office of Qom Seminary took a more coherent form and attracted many seminary students. Being admitted to the training courses of Baqir al-Olum University was conditional to being a seminary student.

Following the approval of the concerned institutions for the upliftment of this educational institute to that of an institute of higher education, after expanding its activities, it was eventually upgraded to a university in the year 1992.

Educational and Research Activities of Baqir al-Olum University

The following four faculties operate in Baqir al-Olum University:

• Faculty of Foreign languages: comprising four educational groups: English, Arabic, French, and German

• Faculty of Culture, Social and Behavioral Sciences: comprising three educational groups of Social Sciences, Strategic Management, and Cultural Studies and Communication

• Faculty of History and Political Studies: comprising three groups of Political Studies, Islamic History, and Cultural and Civilizational Studies

• Faculty of Philosophy and Ethics: comprising three scientific groups of Philosophy and Theology, Additional Philosophy, Islamic Ethics and Sciences.

The jurisprudence department of this university also engaged in research and education about the relationship between Islamic jurisprudence and the needs of societies by forming groups such as governance system jurisprudence, health system jurisprudence, social system jurisprudence, cultural system jurisprudence, economic system jurisprudence, and science and technology jurisprudence.

This university also published the following three scientific journals:

• Political science: The publication history of this journal dates back more than 25 years and by 2022, 100 issues had been published in this journal.

• History of Islam: Launched in 2000, this journal is known as the first publication of historical studies with a scientific-research rank.

• Ayin-e Hikmat: The main theme of this quarterly is research about different branches of Islamic philosophy and by 2022, 50 issues of it had been published.

Baqir al-Olum University also publishes three specialized journals:

• The Culture of Research: in which articles in the field of Islamic history are published and by 2023, the number of its issues stood at 52.

• Philosophy of Law: This publication, which is younger than other university publications (founded in 2019), is managed by the Department of Philosophy of Law of the university. The main goal of this journal is the scientific promotion of the legal system on the basis of research on Islamic jurisprudence.

• Theoretical studies of history and civilization: The plan to launch this journal was proposed in 2023 with the aim of exploring historical experiences to respond to today’s civilizational needs.

After providing the necessary facilities and preparations, this university received permission to admit non-Iranian students in 2020. In 2021, it made a call for admitting foreign students in the fields of cultural policy, strategic management of culture, media management, Islamic knowledge of Muslims, and applied ethics, at postgraduate and Ph.D. levels. This phenomenon has improved the level of international activities and cooperation of Baqir al-Olum University and has realized a part of the objective of its officials to be more present in international arenas and present their research findings to the scientific circles of the world.