Five Pakistani universities have been selected for award of research grant under Erasmus Mundus’ project STRONG TIES (Strengthening Training and Research through Networking and Globalisation of Teaching in Engineering Studies) supported and funded by the European Union (EU).
The five selected universities, under facilitation of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) include Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro, National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Muhammad Ali Jinnah University, Islamabad, University of Punjab, Lahore and Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).
The main disciplines covered under the programme include Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics with special emphasis on Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Information and Communication Technology, Photonics, Biomedical Engineering, Computer Engineering; Energy and Power Systems, Informatics and Telecommunication Engineering.
Under the programme, 43 researchers from the aforementioned universities submitted their individual research proposals in November 2012 and won the award.
Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairperson Dr Javaid Laghari was invited by the European Union Science Forum last year to deliver a keynote address at the EU Parliament. Laghari also attended several meetings with EU officials in which to increase Pakistan’s share in research grants and scholarships was discussed.
The HEC Research and Development Division commended the performance of the participants.