The Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor has agreed to help Qatar University develop its own center for social and economic research, reports the Gulf Times.

The new institute at the Persian Gulf emirate’s national university will be among the first research units in the region to focus on conducting local social-science research.

The Michigan program, one of the oldest and most comprehensive social-science-research centers in the United States, will provide technical and professional support as the Qatari institute builds its capacity to conduct social and economic surveys that are specific to Qatari society as the country rapidly develops.

The Qatari university has described its mission as helping to drive the scientific and cultural development of the country’s society while preserving its Arabic characteristics and Islamic heritage.

The new institute will focus its research on changes in the region’s cultural values, in the structure and dynamics of the family, in local social values, and in the influence of the media.

In addition, the institute aims to conduct economic research on the labor market and local commerce. —Andrew Mills