Abu Dhabi, 14 April, 2006 (WAM)--- Abu Dhabi Government is investing$ 100 million to set up an outpost of the French Sorbonne universityin Abu Dhabi, where the prestigious institution which dates backto 1253 will have its first venture of its kind outside of Francein more than seven centuries.

In a press conference last week, Professor Jean Robert Pitte,President of the Paris-Sorbonne University and Chairman of theManagement Council (Board of Trustees) of the new Abu Dhabicampus announced the completion of final preparations to commissionthe new liberal arts branch campus.

The project is in accordance with the agreement which has beensigned by Gilles de Robien, France's education minister and SheikhNahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Higher Education andScientific Research last February.

According to the agreement, all classes will be conductedin French and be taught by Sorbonne faculty.

The project is in line with the directives of General SheikhMohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Abu Dhabi CrownPrince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces.

According to Pitte, Sorbonne will be a cultural melting pot anda place for dialogue among civilizations.

An intensive French programme will be offered to non-fluent speakerswho want to join the University. Majors include Archeology andArt History, French and Comparative Literature, Geography andUrban Planning, History, Information and Communication, Languagesand Civilizations, Music and Musicology, Philosophy and Sociology.

Additional majors such as law, economics and political scienceswill be later available.

The board of trustees will include, in addition to ProfessorJean-Robert Pitte, Daniel Ollivier, Director of the President'sOffice at the Paris-Sorbonne University and Chancellor-selectof the new campus, and Catherine Vieillard, Secretary-Generalof the Paris-Sorbonne University.

Trustees from the UAE will include Dr. Maitha Al Shamsi, AssistantProvost for Research at the UAE University, Brigadier Omar AlBitar, Commander of Khalifa Bin Zayed Air College, and Zaki Nussaibah,Advisor at the Ministry of Presidential Affairs.

The Paris-Sorbonne University-Abu Dhabi has participatedin present at this year's Gulf Education and Training Exhibition(Getex).

The Sorbonne took its name comes from its founder, Robert deSorbon, chaplain and confessor of Saint Louis, king of France.

Throughoutthe centuries its history has been so interwoven with that ofthe University of Paris that it has become its symbol.

The University was born in the 13th century of the corporativeorganization of Paris masters and scholars. Originally installedin the Ile de la Cite, it was moved during the 12th century towhat was to become the Latin Quarter, where theology, law,medicine and art were taught outside to young pupils from the4 Nations (France, Picardy, Normandy and England) which endowedit from the start with international prestige. The Sorbonne college,founded in 1257/58, was the one of the numerous colleges thathoused poor students on the hillsides of the Montagne Sainte-Genivieve.

These colleges soon became the center of the Paris academic disciplinesand the Sorbon college, a famous theology faculty - La Sorbonne- was to play a major role in the political and philosophicaldiscussions of the time, wavering between jealous conservatismand enlightened liberalism, as significant historical eventstook place.

Rebuilt by Cardinal Richelieu King Louis XIII'schief minister in the 17th century (1624), closed by the FrenchRevolution in 1791, turned into artists' studios in 1801, theSorbonne once again devoted itself to teaching in 1821.At theend of the 19th century, the Republic rebuilt it again, makingthe Nouvelle Sorbonne a sanctuary of the intellect, a privilegedcenter of knowledge.

In May 1968, it became the stronghold of anti-establishment disputes.

The University as a whole has since then been reorganized inautonomous universities, but the Sorbonne, symbol of the Frenchuniversity, still remains forever the magical circle, the magneticpoint of attraction of youth and talent.

The Sorbonne houses 8 schools, including 4 universities headquarteredand/or offering courses at the Sorbonne.