About Us

Development of Global Talent Mentoring began in late 2017 with the goal of creating a research-based program to mentor exceptionally talented students in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medical sciences (STEMM).
The impetus for the program came from the work done on talent development and mentoring by Prof. Dr. Heidrun Stoeger and Prof. Drs. Albert Ziegler. Since 2005, Prof. Dr. Stoeger and Prof. Drs. Albert Ziegler have been directing CyberMentor, a successful, Germany-wide online mentoring program. CyberMentor supports girls between the ages of 12 and 18 years in developing their interests in STEM. With the help of CyberMentor, Prof. Dr. Stoeger and her team have conducted extensive research on online mentoring in STEM and talent development. The methodically rigorous accompanying research has been described in numerous peer-reviewed publications.

Hamdan Foundation

Global Talent Mentoring is a program by the UNESCO-recognized Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Medical and Educational Sciences in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Hamdan Foundation supports educational endeavors for gifted children in the United Arab Emirates and worldwide.

1998

His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Deputy Ruler of Dubai and the Minister of Finance and Industry of the United Arab Emirates, founds the eponymous foundation. The Hamdan Foundation aims to promote educational excellence and foster talent and innovation. In its first year, the Hamdan Foundation creates a series of awards to recognize achievements in nine different categories, which are presented to recipients in Dubai.

2001

The Hamdan Foundation becomes a member of the World Council for Gifted and Talented Children.

2009

The Hamdan Foundation, together with UNESCO, creates an international award, the UNESCO-Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Prize, which is awarded each year for outstanding excellence and ground-breaking innovation in education at an international level.

2015

The Hamdan Foundation launches a specialized center to foster giftedness and innovation, the Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Center for Giftedness and Creativity.

2017

The Hamdan Foundation initiates the development of the World Giftedness Center (WGC), which aims to become a global hub for talent development and create a mindset of cultivation of excellence to support fundamental educational needs around the world. For that reason, the WGC Development Consortium is created from three teams of specialists: a team at the University of Regensburg (Germany) led by Prof. Dr. Heidrun Stoeger, a team at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (Germany) led by Prof. Drs. Albert Ziegler, and a team at the Hamdan Foundation (Dubai, United Arab Emirates) led by Dr. Mariam AlGhawi. The flagship offering of the World Giftedness Center is Global Talent Mentoring.

2023

The Hamdan Foundation signs a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the UNESCO Regional Centre for Quality and Excellence in Education. This partnership supports the continuity of development and the exchange of experiences and knowledge to ensure effective movement towards building a global citizenry and achieving sustainable successes and accomplishments. The emphasis is on translating the partnership into tangible practices and programs that contribute to enhancing learning outcomes.

Advisory Board

The Advisory Board provides counsel necessary for Global Talent Mentoring's long-term strategy and goal fulfillment. Responsibilities of advisory board members include generating ideas and providing critical feedback in areas such as networking, best practice, encouraging equitable involvement and representation of partner institutions, mentees, and mentors, and sharing recent developments that might be relevant to participants.