Academicians from home and abroad at an international conference held Monday at the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) called for meaningful and applied research to serve society so as to improve living conditions of the people.
Underlining the need of indigenous and knowledge-based research, they said it must meet the need of people for a better life. The two-day conference on recent trends in Chemistry was organised by AIOU’s Department of Chemistry in collaboration with Higher Education Commission.
Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Medical University Vice-Chancellor Dr Javed Akram was the chief guest. There were special guests Dr. Sung Yum Seo from South Korea and Dr Bohari M Yamin from Malaysia.
Addressing the inaugural session, AIOU Vice-Chancellor Dr Shahid Siddiqui announced that the university will set up office of Research Invocation and Commercialisation by next month to bridge the gap between the academicians and industry for taking benefit of research work.
Development of linkage and cooperation among the relevant institutions and dissemination of research findings should be the priority area, he added.
Dr Siddiqui said that the AIOU has achieved the distinction of publishing eight research journals. Besides other initiatives, a special incentive package has been given for encouragement of their faculty members for doing maximum research work in their respective disciplines. The University will be holding four special conferences of international level by March next year to introduce and promote research activities.
Chief guest Dr Javed Akram noted that there has been rapid development in the field of chemistry in the recent years, which he said should be helpful for the overall benefit of the society. The SZABMU, he said will soon sign a MoU with AIOU for joint collaboration in this field. He appreciated VC AIOU for his efforts to develop the University as research-based institution. He suggested that pharmaceuticals companies and academic institutions should develop close liaison among themselves for efficient drugs’ delivery and development system.
