Iranian Deputy Minister of Science, Research and Technology assures President ECOSF of their Cooperation and Support to ECOSF Programmes

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President ECO Science Foundation (ECOSF) Prof. Dr. Manzoor Hussain Soomro called upon H.E. Dr. Vahid Ahmadi, Deputy Minister for Research and Technology of Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) of Islamic Republic of Iran on 6 December 2016 in MSRT office in Tehran.

The Deputy Minister welcomed President ECOSF and briefed him about the initiatives of MSRT for promotion of science research and technology. He emphasized on the need for extensive interaction of scientific community of ECO Region which could provide basis for initiation of research projects among the S&T organizations of the region. He encouraged ECOSF to continue to play its role as a bridge between the S&T community of the ECO Region with more emphasis on collaborative research.

President ECOSF briefed the Deputy Minister about the activities and initiatives of the Foundation. He informed that to enhance the mobility of Scientific Community of ECO Region the Foundation has initiated the program of “Travel Grants”, under the program 22 scientists/researchers/engineers of ECO Region have sofar been provided travel support to attend the scientific conferences, workshops, meetings etc in 2016.

President ECOSF also briefed about the Foundation’s Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) Programme which was launched in Astana – Kazakhstan in June 2015 and informed that as a follow up ECOSF with its collaborators, viz., Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT)-Iran, University of Isfahan-Iran, LAMAP Foundation of France and IAP SEP is organizing a Capacity Building Workshop on Inquiry Based Science Education (IBSE) for Science teachers trainers in Isfahan, Iran during 8-14 January 2017. While emphasizing on the importance of the programme he said that IBSE techniques are key to prepare the future generations of ECO Countries to be the ambassadors of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) based economic development in the region.

Dr. Vahid Ahmadi in response assured his Minitry’s full support for the activities and programs of ECOSF. He also offered to share the experiences and specialization of Iran in the areas of Science Research and Technology to other ECO region’s countries through the Foundation. In this respect, he suggested that ECOSF may compile a catalogue of S&T strengths of member states. Dr. Ahmadi also assured President ECOSF for financial contributions to the Foundation as per BoT decisions.