The cornerstone of Zewail City of Science and Technology was laid on January 1, 2000 in the Sheikh Zayed District of 6th of October City, Cairo. Present at the ceremony were Dr. Ahmed Zewail, the Prime Minister Dr. Atef Ebeid, and a number of ministers including Dr. Ahmed Nazif, who later became involved in his capacity as Prime Minister.

After many delays in the City’s establishment, the January 25 revolution in 2011 led to the revival of the initiative, and Dr. Zewail was asked by the Egyptian government to form the Supreme Advisory Board and re-launch the initiative on its original site. On May 11, 2011 the Cabinet of Ministers issued a decree to establish the National Project for Scientific Renaissance, and named it Zewail City of Science and Technology.

The City was officially inaugurated on November 1, 2011 in two buildings belonging to the Egyptian government on the Sheikh Zayed premises. The final legal status was established when the City was granted law 161, issued on December 20, 2012. This law outlines the City’s aims and constituents, as well as its financial and administrative structures.
Former Egyptian president Adly Mansour issued decree 115 on April 9, 2014 granting 198 acres to Zewail City for the construction of the new campus in the October Gardens of 6th of October City.

President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi decreed that the new campus be built by the Engineering Authority of the Egyptian Armed Forces and inaugurated in a one-year time frame.
Zewail City’s University of Science and Technology and Research Institutes was operated at the Sheikh Zayed campus—in accord with decree 832 granted by Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab—until construction of the new campus was completed. The headquarters was also fully functional in Cairo’s Garden City.

The Prime Minister and some members of the Cabinet Inauguration of Zewail City on November 1, 2011.

Following the January 25 revolution and with a strong national will, we are certain that, as our motto indicates, “Egypt Can” elevate local technologies to the world level and increase national productivity in a relatively short time.