[en] The concentration of natural gamma-emitting radionuclides of the uranium and thorium series as well as /sup 40/K and a fission product /sup 137/Cs have been determined by gamma-ray spectroscopy in soil samples collected from various locations of Quid-I-Azam University (QAU) campus, Islamabad and it peripheries. For detection, analysis and data acquisition a high purity germanium detector (HPGe) coupled with a multichannel analyzer was used. The mean specific activity, in Bq kg-1 dry mass of soil samples, due to /sup 226/Ra, /sup 232/Th, /sup 40/K and /sup 137/Cs is 45.5 5.9, 55.2 0.9, 355.7 23.8 and 7.1 .9 respectively. The average value of Radium equivalent activity was found to be 151.9 Bq kg/sup -1/. The external and internal hazard indices were below unity. The average value of absorbed dose rate was 65 nGyh-1. The results show that the soil of QAU do not pose any significant environmental or radiological health problem. (author)