Department of Soil and Water Sciences

 In 1981, along with many other of the departments, Department of Soil Science fell victim to Saddam Hussein's politically motivated university restructuring program. The department was forced to move from Sulaimani to Erbil.        

Fortunately for the people of Sulaimani, the Kurdish uprising of March 1991 and the subsequent formation of the Kurdistan Parliament, which on 31 October 1992 passed act number 29, paving the way for the department along with the university to be re-established in Sulaimani and to begin readmitting students. College of Agriculture was one of the basic colleges within the re-established University of  Sulaimani and started with a primary faculty staff of 31 lecturers on 28 November 1992. For the academic year of 1992-1993, the only department in agriculture was the Field Crop Department.

        As all the academic establishments of  the university have progressed and advanced, so did the Soil Sciences Department with the support of a primary faculty of 7 lecturers. It also began to enroll student for the academic year 1993-1994. Consequently the department was able to graduate its first 18 alumni in 1995-1996.

        The Department of  Soil Science as with the other academic establishments of  University of Sulaimani has paid significant attention to further education and scientific research and advancements. It has tried to guarantee scholarships internally and abroad for its alumni. Hence, the department announced the opening of three M.Sc. degrees in the academic year of 2001-2002 and three Soils based Ph.D. Degrees in the academic year of 2003-2004. The first Ph.D. degree in soils was awarded in 2007 (since then, 12 doctorate degrees have been awarded).

       One of the department's fundamental aims has been to constantly update its programs to ensure they meet international standards. This has been done through partnership programs with similar departments in different international universities. This aim has been spurred by the constant struggle to service the Kurdistan region and also for Kurdistan to play its role in the international effort to protect the environment. Our hope is that this effort will reward our students with great future careers in their fields.

Head of the Department, Mr. Salih N. Majid,  has made significant efforts to change the specialization field of the department Department of Soil Science into the Department of Soil Science and Water, his idea and thought was supported and appreciated by the college's Dean Dr. May Ibrahim Al-Jaff and all the department's teaching staff and he succeeded in the academic year of 2005-2006. The Head was able to achieve this change by working with different international universities with similar departments to transfer and learn from their programs. Latest figures put the department's subject changes at 17 out of 50. All of these subjects have been changed or replaced with new and up-to-date course all designed to maximize its service to the Kurdistan Region.    

These changes have also been employed by other similar departments across the Kurdistan region with a few changes. 

     Head of the Department                                                                                    Department Determinant