The University of Islamabad project focused on establishing a residential postgraduate university with an emphasis on advanced teaching and research in science and technology located in Islamabad, Pakistan. This initiative included developing academic programs for Master's and Doctorate degrees, with the intent that graduates become scholars, teachers, and researchers at universities in Pakistan. At the time, most scientists and Ph.D. degree holders obtained their degrees at Western universities and stayed in those countries to teach and conduct research. The goal of the University of Islamabad was to create a university comparable to those in the West in order to reduce Pakistan's dependence on foreign countries for advanced scientific training. Part of the project plan was to bring Pakistani scientists back to their home country to teach and do research with the promise of a high-ranking university position, competitive salary, prestige, and a professional work environment.

This project was funded by the Ford Foundation and administered by the Office of Research and Advanced Studies at Indiana University, which was headed by Lynne L. Merritt during the span of the project. Chancellor Herman B Wells, who was President of the Indiana University Foundation at this time, also took a very active role in the planning and management of this project. Wells frequently traveled to Pakistan, both for preliminary research and to monitor the project's progress. He remained in frequent correspondence with Dr. Raziuddin Siddiqi, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Islamabad and director of the project in Pakistan, and served as the primary contact person between Indiana University and the Ford Foundation for this project.

The Ford Foundation grant began in 1966, and it is unclear when the Ford grant ran out or when Indiana University's association with the project ended. The latest record of IU's involvement comes from an order for a journal for the University of Islamabad's library dated 1974. There does not appear to be specific information about the termination date of the Ford grant or IU's departure from the project in this collection.

Indiana University's contributions to the project included the following: providing consultants for the organization and development of the University and planning of its campus, hiring visiting professors to teach short-term appointments at the University of Islamabad, recruiting Pakistani teachers residing abroad to the University, and purchasing library books, journals, and equipment. The grant also paid for visits to Western countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom, for select Pakistani faculty and administrators to observe how several Western universities managed their institutions. Select students were also sent abroad to obtain PhDs, with the understanding that they return to Pakistan and join the faculty at the University of Islamabad.

Since Indiana University's role in the project revolved around managing the construction and staffing of the University of Islamabad, most of the work was conducted from the United States rather than Pakistan. Consultants and visiting faculty came from many universities worldwide, but largely from the United States, Canada, and several European countries. Indiana University was in charge of arranging these visits for all instructors, regardless of their country of origin. Visiting faculty and consultants from Indiana University included Vaclav Hlavaty from the Mathematics Department, Walter John (W.J.) Moore from the Chemistry Department, and F.B. Malik and Don Lichtenberg from the Physics Department. In 1968, Stanley Hagstrom from the Chemistry Department served as a consultant for the installation of computers purchased for the university and the training of staff.

This project worked to build the University of Islamabad from the ground up, including the construction of new campus buildings. In 1966, Indiana University entered into a contract agreement with the architect Edward Durell Stone to provide master drawing plans for the construction of the University of Islamabad campus. Stone was contracted to design the following buildings for the university: institutes of mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, earth sciences, social sciences, and Islamic studies; a library and administration building; an auditorium and community center; and student hostels and staff residences. Classes began in October 1966 in rented buildings containing the institutes of physics and mathematics. Future phases of the project included plans to create an institute of economics, followed by chemistry, biology, earth sciences, and social sciences institutes. The first new buildings designed by Stone opened in 1971. The collection does not contain much information about construction post-1971, but the project was eventually completed with brand new campus buildings and academic programs in all planned fields of study. In 1976, the university's name was change to Quaid-i-Azam University, the name by which it is currently known.