Higher Education Commission (HEC) Chairman, Prof. Dr. Mukhtar Ahmed, has said that the Centres for Advanced Study (CAS) programme builds on the legacy of collaboration between Pakistan and the US.
The legacy dates back to 50 years of cooperation, progress, and shared vision for advancement of education, science, technology, agriculture, and commerce.
He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the panel discussion on the role of three newly established Centres of Advanced Study in Energy, Food Security & Agriculture and Water held at HEC Secretariat on Thursday. These centres have been established respectively at National University of Sciences and Technology, UET Peshawar, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (UAF) and Mehran University, Jamshoro.
Each centre will establish a partnership with at least one university in the U.S. with expertise in the technical focus of the centre, and working relationships with the business community and government agencies that relate to the technical focus of each centre. Each centre will develop using a different model, based on the capacity of the university and the needs of the sectors. The CAS is seen as a long-term effort with potential for subsequent phases.
Greg Gottlieb, Mission Director USAID, Vice Chancellors, Members of National and Provincial Assemblies, academicians, researchers, senior Government officials and other stakeholders attended the discussion.
The HEC chairman said that HEC has played a significant role for achieving excellence in Science and Technology and transforming human development into a knowledge based economy. He mentioned that the modern university, with its mix of quality teaching, innovation and research, is different from universities of the past, which only served as teaching grounds. He said that Pakistan is also catching up to these global trends despite its limited financial resources.