Humboldt Foundation, a renowned German research facility, held an award ceremony on June 20 in Berlin, Germany to honour outstanding researchers from around the world. Pakistan received a unique honour when the president of Humboldt Foundation, Prof Helmut Schwarz announced Dr Tariq Rahman as the first Pakistani to receive the prestigious Humboldt Foundation Award for Research, 2012. Tariq is the dean of School of Education at Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Lahore.
Several Pakistanis have received Humboldt fellowships in the past. The process includes sending research proposals to the foundation, which is followed by research work in Germany.
This is the first time that the award has been announced for a Pakistani. Schwarz in his speech said that they had 32 winners from 12 countries. He added that they conducted research in 28 different German research institutions.