Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch


The Islamic Azad University, Central Tehran Branch is a private research university located in Tehran, Iran. Founded in 1982, Central Tehran is the flagship institution of the universities affiliated with Islamic Azad University system. The university is the oldest, the largest and the top university among all branches of Islamic Azad University academic organization, established in 1982, originally as the Islamic Azad University of Tehran.
The university campuses rest on of various districts of Tehran.
It offers approximately 488 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines such as sciences, engineering, art, architecture, humanities and social sciences.

History

Establishment

Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch is the very first branch established under the university system which is known as Islamic Azad University, so the history of this branch can be traced back to the foundation of the university.
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani sought to establish a private university to address the challenges posed during the early years of Iranian Revolution -such as Cultural Revolution- and to meet increasing demands of secondary-school graduates for higher education in Iran. On the sidelines of an Islamic Republican Party conference, Rafsanjani mooted the idea with Abdollah Jasbi, who supported and developed the plan to establish Islamic Azad University.
Islamic Azad University Central Tehran Branch is the very first branch established under the university system which is known as Islamic Azad University. In its early days, the university lacked sufficient funds and facilities to operate, sorely relying on donations made by people and government. The initial endowment was about 100,000 Rials.
Jasbi rented No. 155 building in Forsat Shirazi St., while Nassir Shekarriz and Mahmoud Latifipour – who were in charge as Chancellor and Vice Chancellor respectively – rented the sixth floor of a building located in Enqelab St., Felestin St. in order to hold an entrance exam in 1982. This university began as the Islamic Azad University of Tehran when it opened its doors to about 200 students, offering six majors in bachelor's degree and two in associate degree.
Soon after, the whole building in Enqelab St. was purchased from Mostazafan Foundation of Islamic Revolution and became the university's first property.

Chancellors

Campus

The university has 13 Faculties:
FacultyLocation
Faculty of Foreign LanguagesEnghelab Campus
Faculty of Literature and HumanitiesEnghelab Campus
Faculty of SciencesHashemi Rafsanjani Campus
Faculty of EngineeringHashemi Rafsanjani Campus
Faculty of Architecture and Urban PlanningHashemi Rafsanjani Campus
Faculty of ManagementVelayat Campus
Faculty of ArtsVelayat Campus
Faculty of Economics and AccountingVelayat Campus
Faculty of Psychology and EducationVelayat Campus
Faculty of Social Sciences, Communication Sciences and Media StudiesVelayat Campus
Faculty of Physical Education and Sport SciencesVelayat Campus
Faculty of Political SciencesVelayat Campus
Faculty of LawVelayat Campus

The university has three campuses:
CampusLocationSchools
VelayatSohanakArts, Humanities, Behavioral and Social Sciences
Hashemi RafsanjaniPunakScience, Engineering and Architecture
EnghelabEnghelab St., Pich ShemiranForeign Languages, Literature and Humanities

Schools and departments

Programs by subject:
  • Arts & humanities
  • Clinical, pre-clinical & health
  • Life sciences
  • Social sciences
  • Engineering & technology
  • Physical sciences

    Enrollments

In academic year of 2023-2024
Field of StudyPercent
Engineering and technology~30%
Humanities~51%
Art~13%
Science~5%
Agriculture and Veterinary~1%
Medical Sciences~0%
Total100%

Level of study Percent
Associate2.36%
Bachelor's62.20%
Master's30.15%
Ph.D.5.29%
Total100%

Faculty of Engineering

Programs and majors

In academic year of 2023-2024:
  • Aerospace engineering
  • Biomedical engineering
  • Chemical engineering
  • Civil engineering
  • Computer engineering
  • Electrical engineering
  • Energy engineering
  • Environmental engineering
  • Industrial engineering
  • Information technology engineering
  • Materials engineering
  • Mechanical engineering
  • Mechatronics engineering
  • Mining engineering
  • Nuclear engineering
  • Petroleum engineering
  • Polymer engineering
  • Sports engineering
  • Textile engineering

    Sub-program

  • Department of Electrical Engineering
B.S.M.S.Ph.D.
CommunicationsCommunications Communications
ControlControlControl
ElectronicsElectronics Electronics
PowerPower Power

B.S.M.S.Ph.D.
Biomedical EngineeringBioelectric Bioelectric
BiomechanicBiomechanic
BiomaterialBiomaterial
Rehabilitation
Tissue

  • Department of Computer Engineering
B.S.M.S.Ph.D.
Computer EngineeringComputer Systems ArchitectureComputer Systems Architecture
SoftwareSoftware
Artificial Intelligence & RoboticsArtificial Intelligence & Robotics
Network and Computing

  • Department of Nuclear Engineering
B.S.M.S.Ph.D.
Nuclear EngineeringMedical Radiation EngineeringMedical Radiation Engineering
Reactor EngineeringNuclear Energy Engineering

  • Department of Mechanical Engineering
  • Department of Industrial Engineering
  • Department of Chemical Engineering

    Faculty of Science

  • Department of Mathematics, Computer Science and Statistics
It offers the following programs:
B.S.M.S.Ph.D.
Computer ScienceComputer ScienceComputer Science
Applied StatisticsApplied StatisticsStatistics
Applied MathematicsMathematics Mathematics

  • Department of Biology
  • Department of Chemistry
  • Department of Physics

    Admissions

The university received 35,317 applications for the Fall 2011 undergraduate class, making it the university with the most freshmen applicants among all branches of Islamic Azad University.
In 2013, a total number of 11,789 and 6,061 applications were received for undergraduate and graduate programs respectively.

Rankings

2011: third among Islamic Azad University campuses
2012: International rank : 231, National rank : 1

2013: International rank : 87, National rank : 1

2025: International rank: 9,456, National rank: 143

Notable alumni and people

Faculty