His Highness Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan is the United Arab Emirates Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. He is also Chancellor of two of the UAE's three government-sponsored institutions of higher learning: United Arab Emirates University, established in 1976, and the Higher Colleges of Technology, established in 1988. He is the president of the third, Zayed University, established in 1998. Sheikh Nahayan is also Chairman of CERT (Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training), the commercial arm of the Higher Colleges of Technology, which was established in 1996. Sheikh Nahayan is Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Group, Union National Bank, and United Bank Limited. He is also Founder Chairman of Bank Alfalah Limited and Chairman of WARID Telecom International (a regional telecoms group based out of Abu Dhabi with operations in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Georgia, Uganda, Congo Brazzaville, and Ivory Coast). He is a recipient of Pakistan's highest civilian award, the 'Hilal-e-Pakistan', which was conferred upon him by the President of Pakistan in 2005.

 Higher studies and scientific research