Pakistani, Belgian universities to undertake research in areas of mutual interest
Higher Education Commission Chairman Engr Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilani in a meeting with Ambassador of Belgium in Pakistan Peter Claes on Tuesday discussed prospects of cooperation between Pakistani and Belgian universities.
The chairman and the ambassador agreed to encourage higher learning institutions in both the countries to conduct joint research after identifying areas of mutual interest.
The chairman briefed the ambassador about institution to institution collaborations already existing between Pakistan and foreign universities.
Peter Claes appreciated the performance of HEC over the last decade, for tapping human resource and encouraging relevant research. He said, “I am impressed by the potential of Pakistani youth and HEC has wonderful initiatives for facilitating the young minds to improve their knowledge and skills, and contribute towards the development of their country.”
He elaborated how the higher learning institutions in Belgium provide tremendous opportunity to the faculty members, researchers and students to learn as well as collaborate in areas of mutual interest. “This will also help in building cooperation between the two countries,” he said.
Syed Imtiaz Hussain Gilani informed the ambassador that there are 76 public universities in Pakistan and majority of them already have international partnerships.
“HEC has always encouraged and facilitated universities to explore avenues for development of faculty and students.”
Prof Ansar Yasar from Transportation Research Institute, Hasselt University, Belgium, accompanied the Ambassador. Yasar played a key role for an agreement between HEC and the HasseltUniversity signed in 2013.
The agreement is designed to foster cooperation between the two institutions, enabling groups of selected candidates from universities, colleges and Research and Development organisations in Pakistan to undertake their Masters and PhD studies in the field of Transportation Sciences, Statistics, Management and Computer Sciences with fully-funded scholarships from HEC.