A major fund has been set up by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, to identify the brightest minds in the Arab world and harness their ideas.

Sheikh Mohammed on Tuesday unveiled Great Arab Minds with a Dh100 million ($27.22 million) budget.

The programme will identify and develop the brightest people in their fields, including mathematics, physics, computer software and data science.

Dubai's Museum of the Future will be used as a base for the programme, which will be overseen by four Cabinet ministers.

“Today we launch a new project to search for 1,000 Great Arab Minds in the fields of physics and mathematics, software and data science, economics and higher education and research,” Sheikh Mohammed said.

“Great minds built Arab civilisation — today I believe we have the talent to build a better world.

“We will accelerate the Emirates' role as an incubator for fostering Arab and global talent. We built the Museum of the Future as a global hub for scientists, thinkers and innovators — it is the ideal headquarters for a fund to develop the potential of our region's finest minds.”

Source: The National