The National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) is a Pakistani multi-campus public research university with its main campus in Islamabad and six other campuses in four cities (Rawalpindi, Risalpur, Quetta, and Karachi), covering all provinces, as well as 18 constituent institutions in total. The university offers degrees in multiple disciplines e.g., engineering, computer sciences, natural sciences, business studies, humanities, architecture, law, and health sciences.
The university offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. NUST was established in March 1991 to promote higher education in the country, especially in the fields of science and technology, and its charter was granted in 1993. All of its engineering programmes are accredited under the Washington Accord, as well as by the Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC). The main campus in Islamabad also contains Pakistan's first National Science and Technology Park, certified by International Association of Science Parks (IASP). As of 2025, NUST has over 12,000 full-time students enrolled and over 20 departments with over 1,637 academic faculty staff.
History
Pre-Inception
After the independence of Pakistan in 1947, the training of military corpsmen became one of the top priorities of the new Government. In 1947, Military College of Signals (MCS) was established as the School of Signals. A year later, in 1948, the School of Military Engineering (SME) was established at Sialkot to train the corps in the field of engineering. In 1951, it was given the status of college as Military College of Engineering (MCE) and was shifted to its present location in Risalpur. On 1 April 1957, EME School was established at Quetta and in 1969, it was given the status of College of Electrical & Mechanical Engineering (CEME) and civilians were admitted. In 1962, Pakistan Navy Engineering College (PNEC) was established in Karachi. To train the members of the Pakistan Air Force, the College of Aeronautical Engineering (CAE) was established at Korangi Creek, Karachi in 1965. In the same year, the School of Signals was upgraded to a college. In 1981 an undergraduate program was launched at CEME giving it the status of a university. A few years later in April 1984, CEME moved to its current location in Rawalpindi from Quetta. In May 1986, CAE was shifted to the PAF Academy in Risalpur.
Inception
In March 1991, the Government of Pakistan established the National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) for the promotion of higher education in the country, especially in the fields of science and technology. The first college to be affiliated with NUST was MCS in 1992. In 1993, the university was granted a Charter through a Presidential Ordinance, and CEME and MCE became part of the university. In December 1994 and November 1995, College of Aeronautical Engineering and Pakistan Navy Engineering College became constituents of NUST respectively. In 1997, the charter was converted into the National University of Sciences and Technology Act (Act No. XX of 1997) by the Parliament of Pakistan. In 1999, CEME and CAE attained ISO 9001 Certification, the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (SEECS) and NUST Business School (NBS, formerly known as NIMS) were established. In 2003, the Center for Cyber Technology and Spectrum Management was launched in Islamabad. In May 2004, the Center for Advanced Mathematics and Physics was created. The School of Chemical and Materials Engineering (SCME) was established in 2006. In 2007, the Center of Virology and Immunology was developed to increase research in the field of medical sciences in Pakistan.
Establishment of main campus
In 2008, a new campus was developed in Sector H-12, Islamabad. Some old colleges such as SEECS and NBS were shifted to this campus and new schools were established such as School of Civil and Environmental Engineering (SCEE) and the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering (SMME). The School of Civil and Environmental Engineering comprises four constituent institutes: the NUST Institute of Civil Engineering (NICE), the Institute of Environmental Sciences and Engineering (IESE), the Institute of Geographical Information Systems (IGIS), and the National Institute of Transportation (NIT).
Campuses
NUST is a multi-campus university with the main campuses located in Islamabad. Campuses of NUST are located in the following cities:
Islamabad
Sector H-12 Campus
The campus in Sector H-12 Islamabad was initiated in 2008. Besides NUST Headquarters, the schools and institutes that were relocated to this campus include School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, School of Chemical and Materials Engineering, Research Center for Modeling and Simulation, School of Natural Sciences (formerly known as Center for Advanced Mathematics and Physics), Atta-ur-Rehman School of Applied Biosciences, School of Art Design and Architecture, NUST Business School, School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Professional Development Center, Technology Incubation Center, Marketing and Industrial Relations Organization, NUST Publishing and NUST Outreach and Talent Hunt Initiative. It also has a department for career counselling named Centre for Counselling and Career Advisory (C3A) that helps provide primary mental health facilities.
The campus is spread over 3.2 square kilometres (800 acres) of land. Sports facilities such as cricket, volleyball courts, basketball, football and squash courts are present while hockey stadium and tennis courts are under construction. Hostels for both male and female students are present inside the campus. Facilities in the hostels include badminton courts, basketball and gymnasiums. Some hostel rooms have attached baths while others have community baths. The campus recently inaugurated a central library next to the Headquarters, along with a race course track and a horse riding club. In 2017, a small hiking trail was also opened up for students in order to promote physical well-being. Various cafeterias are constructed on the campus to facilitate the students, along with a tailor shop, a barber shop and various bakeries and shopping marts. A Separate housing facility for the university staff is also present in the campus. Moreover, the campus also houses the NUST Science and Technology Park (NSTP). It also has a central gymnasium (along with several others in hostels) and a lake.
National Science and Technology Park
The National Science and Technology Park (NSTP) is located in SINES department. It was inaugurated in December 2019.
Rawalpindi
College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (CEME):
Located on Grand Trunk Road in Rawalpindi, College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (CEME) is the largest military constituent college of NUST. CEME's journey began in 1957, when it was established as the Electrical and Mechanical Engineers School in Quetta for the training of Pakistan Army's EME Corps. In April 1984, having stayed for 26 years at Quetta, the College moved to its present premises in Rawalpindi. CEME offers different undergraduate and postgraduate programs in mechanical, electrical, mechatronics and computer engineering fields. As of 2025, it has 2400+ enrolled students and 122 faculty members.
The campus includes all on-campus facilities, auditorium and conference hall, accommodation and mess facilities. The library is fully computerized, with a collection of 70,000 volumes. Sports facilities at EME includes three tennis courts, a basketball court, a squash court, a badminton court, football ground, cricket pitch, a swimming pool and two gymnasiums.
Military College of Signals (MCS):
Located on Hamayun Road in Rawalpindi Cantt, it is the oldest constituent college of NUST, founded in 1947 after the independence of Pakistan to train the members of Pakistan Armed Forces. It has three departments, namely Electrical, Computer Software and Information Security departments. The MCS library is computerized, with over 55,000 volumes. It spreads over 50 acres of area and is located in the heart of Rawalpindi Cantt.
Risalpur
College of Aeronautical Engineering (CAE):
The college comprises four departments; Aerospace Engineering Department, Avionics Department, Industrial Engineering Department and Humanities and Sciences Department.
Aerospace Engineering Department has five major labs; aerodynamics lab, structure lab, propulsion and heat transfer lab, material science lab and numerical analysis lab. Avionics Department has six labs which include guidance lab, navigation and control system lab, antenna lab, communication lab, radar, microwave and digital system lab and embedded system lab.
The campus is equipped with a library, auditorium, conference hall, dining facilities and hostel facilities, although more hostel accommodation is required for a conducive study environment. The college library has a collection of 80,000 technical and reference books. Sports facilities at the campus include table tennis, badminton, basketball, tennis, volleyball, football, hockey, swimming, golf and cricket.
Military College of Engineering (Pakistan) (MCE):
College of Civil Engineering and National Institute of Transportation are located on this campus. MCE is one of the oldest constituent colleges of NUST, founded in 1948. The campus houses laboratories, a computer centre, library with 41,000 books, sports facilities and hostels.
Karachi
Pakistan Navy Engineering College (PNEC)
The college campus is spread over an area of about 300,000 square metres (75 acres) comprising the administration block, four academic blocks, postgraduate studies center, labs and workshops, professional development center, an auditorium, a mosque, a dispensary, hostel and dining facilities. The campus is home to the Computer Aided Designing and Manufacturing Center and the Professional Development Center. While majority of the students are active-duty naval officers from all branches of the Pakistan Military, civilian students can also attend the school on merit-based admission.
Quetta
NUST Balochistan Campus (NBC)
NBC is located on Kuch Road, Quetta and was Inaugurated by Chief of the Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa in September 2019.
The concept of establishing NBC is to help the Government and people of Balochistan in the development of human resources by producing a quality workforce in the fields of Civil engineering, computer sciences, mining and mineral resources and, artificial intelligence.
The campus currently has 315 undergraduate students, 30 postgraduate students and 33 faculty members.
Academics
Research
A Research and Development (R&D) Directorate is established at the NUST headquarters which encourages the growth of research in the university. All efforts of R&D Directorate are coordinated through an organizational structure consisting of NUST headquarters, R&D Cells at each constituent college and NUST's commercial arms. The mission of Research Directorate is to facilitate and co-ordinate research activities of NUST constituent institutions and to liaise with other national as well as international academics, research and industrial organizations to facilitate research at NUST. It has collaboration with various International agencies such as, USAID, British Council, UKAID, QNRF, TWAS, BP, NRG Bio-fuel Canada, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and many others.
R&D cells
Each college, institute and center has an R&D Cell headed by a PhD qualified faculty member who co-ordinates, monitors and records all the R&D activities of the college. The head coordinates all the activities among departments, faculty members, researchers, students and industries identifying potential projects and sources of funds. Many innovations from NUST students are finding practical use in Pakistan.
NUST Consulting
NUST Consulting helps researchers undertake consultancy services with external agencies. In this regard, all centers are involved with NC to improve efficiency, reduce of wastage, increase productivity and improve quality.
Technology Incubation Centre
NUST has established a Technology Incubation Centre with an aim to combine industrial development and technological research together and establish the linkages between institutes and the industry. The Incubation Centre has been mentoring and hosting startups since 2005. TIC will also help faculty members in identifying the end users apart from commercializing of R&D output.
University research journals
The university publishes the following journals:
- NUST Journal of Engineering Sciences, ISSN 2070-9900
- NUST Journal of Business and Economics, ISSN 2073-994X
- NUST Journal of Natural Sciences, ISSN 2072-4659
- Pakistan Armed Forces Medical Journal, ISSN 0030-9648
- TECHNOCRAT - Journal of Science and Technology, ISSN 1728-5690