Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi celebrated the graduation of the of the first cohort of officers of the Advanced Maritime Strategic Professional Certificate.

In the presence of HE Xavier Chatel, French Ambassador to the UAE, Professor Silvia Serrano, Vice Chancellor of Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, Staff Brigadier Abdulla Faraj Masoud Almeherbi, Deputy Commander of the UAE Naval Forces, and Captain Pierre Alzuyeta, Chief of Department in charge of the International Relations, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi celebrated the graduation of the first cohort of officers of the Advanced Maritime Strategic Professional Certificate.

The Advanced Maritime Strategic Professional Certificate is a high-level strategic course within the Continuing and Executive Education programmes, delivered to high profile Emirati officers by Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi in cooperation with French naval headquarters. The course aims to provide high ranked officers with a thorough awareness of the emerging challenges on the global military maritime domain, to assist them in refining their skills and enhancing their decision-making ability at a strategic level and to provide an advanced overview of the latest developments and topics related to the maritime field

The graduation ceremony started with a speech by HE Xavier Chatel, who expressed his gratitude to the support that was provided by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, and commended the efforts of Admiral Christophe Prazuck, who was the initiator of this project as Chief of the Naval Staff, and Dr. Yann Rodier, Head of History Department at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, who designed and directed this training course. HE also praised the efforts made by the UAE Armed Forces and the commanding officer of the Jebel Ali Naval Base. He added “I express the wish that this magnificent project will continue. To do so, we will have to be ambitious and imaginative to generate interest in this innovative and unique training programme. The Advanced Strategic Maritime Course is intended to appeal to a very wide public, both military and civilian, in the UAE as well as in France and in our two countries’ partners.”

Following this, Professor Silvia Serrano gave a speech emphasizing on the university’s keenness to be an academic beacon of knowledge in the Middle East region and delivering such training courses that enrich the wealth of knowledge and skills of the joiners, she commented “Today, we reap the results of a fruitful executive training cooperation between Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, Sorbonne University in Paris, The French Navy and UAE Navy. This course is a token of Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi’s academic contribution to developing the knowledge in the field of maritime studies within the context of the strategic dialogue between France and the UAE.”

She also stressed on the fact that this strategic course was not just carefully designed and delivered by highly qualified academics, but also by the most renowned specialists in the field of maritime to equip officers with the highest level of scientific and professional skills, and to assist in providing such highly ranked officers with a wider understanding of maritime security issues.

She added “We are indeed proud to take part in training such high calibers of Emirati officers that already have a wealth of knowledge and expertise,  we are very confident that this cooperation will enhance their knowledge and skills  in maritime issues and will support them in becoming strategic leaders  and role models of the naval forces. Upon completing the course, graduates will also be qualified to get direct entry into Sorbonne University’s Master in International Law, International Relations and Diplomacy: Specialty in Defence and International Security  and we certainly look forward to welcoming them to the programme.”

Professor Serrano concluded by congratulating the graduates and wishing them the best of luck in their professional life.