His Excellency Prof. Abdullah bin Omar Bafail, President of Umm Al-Qura University, today handed out the prizes for the winners of the 10th Scientific Forum and the colleges who participated in the debate contests. This came during the ceremony which was organized by the Deanship of Students Affairs at King Abdul-Aziz Historical Hall, Al-Abdiyyah, in the presence of Dr. Abdul-Aziz Al-Suruji, the University Vice President for Educational Affairs, Dr. Thamir bin Himdan Al-Harbi, the Vice President of Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research, and Dr. Abdul-Majeed Al-Ghamdi, the Vice President for Branches.

His Excellency the President of the University pointed out that the Tenth Scientific Forum is an opportunity for university students to compete in diverse scholarly fields and arts, in a scientific and cultural environment which hones their skills and enhances their capabilities and creativity. These skills and capabilities is evident in what the students present of valuable scientific research, fabulous artistic paintings, exquisite aesthetic work, scientific innovations, and promising ideas and projects.

He indicated that the university is an important phase in the students' lives, and a turning point towards broader prospects. He urged the students to work diligently, and invest this phase to benefit themselves and enrich their expertise and scientific knowledge through participation in the cultural forums and the various events and activities.

Prof. Suruji pointed out that when these competitions started 10 years ago, there were less than 200 participants; but the number exceeded 10 thousand in the competition. He explained that the 10th Scientific Forum is an unusual cultural festival, given that it included (44) different categories.

The Dean of Students Affairs, Dr. Amr bin Taha Al-Saqqaf, said the number of participants this year was very large, as about 3000 male and female students participated in the first phase. He noted that there were 44 competition categories this year, an increase of 8 compared to last year. Moreover, the competition had 64 male and female coordinators, along with 200 arbitrators in the different phases of the competition, 120 male and female students who participated in the organization of the event, and 97 in the different committees.

The College of Shari`ah and Islamic Studies won the first place at the level of the colleges, while the College of Education took the second place, and the College of Social Sciences took the third. The fourth place was taken by the College of Applied Sciences, and the College of Da`wah and Fundamentals of Religion took the fifth place.

For the debate contest, the College of Da`wah and Fundamentals of Religion won the first place, and the College of Engineering and Islamic Architecture took the second place. In the field of scientific research, the College of Shari`ah and Islamic Studies won the first and third places, and the College of Da`wah and Fundamentals of Religion took the second place. The College of Arabic Language won first place in Arabic Language research, while the College of Shari`ah and Islamic Studies won the first and second places in related the pedagogical sciences. The female students won all the awards in the field of the pedagogical sciences at the postgraduate level, in addition to the students in the Department of Science of Education.

In the financial and administrative category for the undergraduate level, the College of Islamic Economics and Finance won first place, while the College of Shari`ah and Islamic Studies took the second and third places. The same schools with the same order also won in the post graduate level.