The university was established by the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) in 1998, while its first charter was granted by the Government of Pakistan in August 2000.[4] Dr. S. M. Junaid Zaidi was the Founder Rector of the university and continued to serve the university till March 2017. Prof. Dr. Raheel Qamar[5] assumed charge of the office of Rector in March 2017.[6] It was envisioned as Pakistan's first exclusive Institute of Information Technology. Previously, its name was COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), which was transformed into a full fledged university called the COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI) by an Act of Parliament [7]in April 2018. The university was ranked among top 250 Asian Universities by QS University Rankings in 2014 [8] and nationally it is ranked top-most in Computer Sciences and IT category and 1st overall in the country according to NatureIndex.
