Alzahra University (, Dāneshgāh-e Alzahrā) is a female-only public university in the Vanak neighborhood of Tehran, Iran. Alzahra University is the only comprehensive women's university in Iran and the Middle East. Acceptance to the university is competitive and entrance to undergraduate and graduate programs requires scoring among the top 1% of students in the Nationwide University Entrance Exams. Alzahra University is ranked second in Iran and 201–300 in the world, according to University Impact Rankings 2019, Times Higher Education (THE). Alzahra University ranked number 17 in Iran and number 801+ worldwide according to the physical sciences subject ranking, World University Rankings 2019 by Times Higher Education. History and profile The university, founded by Queen Farah Pahlavi in 1964, began as a private institution under the title of the Higher Educational Institute For Girls with 90 students. After the Iranian revolution, the university attained public status, and was renamed Mahboubeh Mottahedin after an Iranian Revolutionary who was killed prior to the 1979 revolution. In 1983 the university was renamed Alzahra University. The university offers 51 undergraduate, 83 graduate, and 31 post-graduate programs to 10,000 students. The university has ten faculties and a research center for women's studies, as well as a branch in the city of Urmia (the capital of West Azerbaijan province) and two self-supporting campuses. The faculties of Alzahra University are Art, Biological Sciences, Education and Psychology, Engineering and Technology, Literature and Languages, Mathematical Sciences, Physical Education, Physics and Chemistry, Social and Economic Sciences, and Theology. The university initiated its graduate studies program in 1990, under the supervision of Vice Chancellery for Academic Affairs, by establishing an Educational Psychology master's degree program and admitting 11 students. It then established five fields and admission of 36 students in 1993. In 1994 the Graduate Studies Affairs was established and commenced its mission with 158 students in eight master's degree fields. The first PhD examination was administered in the major of Islamic History in the same year. The university offers doctoral programs in history (Islamic history and history of Islamic Iran), psychology, economics, research in art, chemistry, physics, and applied mathematics. Faculty members The academic faculty of the university is a community of some 350 tenured scholars teaching and conducting research. The professors work in collaboration with visiting colleagues from other Iranian universities. Collaborations with other universities Alzahra University is a member of the International Association of Universities (IAU) and the Federation