SCU BROCHURES

Shahid Chamran University is located in Ahvaz, the capital of Khuzestan Province in the southwest of Iran. Bordering Iraq's Basra, Missan Provinces, and the Persian Gulf, Khuzestan Province is considered the "heart of the country". As the seat of the Iranian oil and gas industry, water resources and dams, sea ports, power plants, agriculture, steel industry, sugar cane industry, and many other major industrial factories, the province is the land of dreams for entrepreneurs in different economic, industrial, and agricultural fields. Moreover, the province is the seat of the five most important rivers of Iran headed by the Karun River, the longest and the most voluminous river of Iran. In ancient times, Khuzestan had been an important region in the Middle East where the Persian Empire was born, when it was referred to as Elam whose capital was in Susa. Thus, nowadays the province is considered the Mecca of historians and archeologists. Demographically, the province is home to a multicultural community of different ethnic minorities of Persian and Arab origins who are living peacefully side by side.

The history of our university dates back to the sixth century A.D. when it was the Academy of Gundishapur. It was then the intellectual center of the Sassanid Empire. At that time, it offered training programs in Medicine, Philosophy, Theology, and Science. Meanwhile, the name was associated with scientific disciplines and research excellence, and according to The Cambridge History of Iran, the academy was the most important medical center of the ancient world during the 6th and 7th centuries.

In 1955 the first nucleus of the modern university was formed as a revival of the ancient Academy of Gundishapur with the founding of the Faculty of Agriculture in Ahvaz. It was hence correspondingly named Jundishapur University. In 1982, however, the university was renamed "Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz" to commemorate the late Dr. Mostafa Chamran, a UC Berkeley Ph.D. graduate and a commander of paramilitary volunteers in Iran–Iraq War, who had stationed his battalion in the campus of Jundishapur University.

At present, the university is the leading research and educational center in the southwest of Iran with a beautiful campus of more than 180 acres alongside the ancient and beautiful Karun River. It houses 17 colleges and 8 research centers. The university has full academic and recreational facilities, such as libraries, equipped laboratories, workshops, amphitheaters, dormitories, dining halls, restaurant, sports complex, gym, swimming pool, bookshop, printing house, counseling center, medical clinic, guesthouses, and more which give service to faculty members, students, and guests. More than 600 faculty members including assistant professors, associate professors and full professors are engaged in teaching and supervising undergraduate and postgraduate students, and research activities. There are about 16000 students currently studying in undergraduate, postgraduate, and research programs.