Awards ceremony arranged at UoM: Call to align research, syllabus with international demands

CHAKDARA: Minister for Science, Information Technology, Sports and Youth Affairs, Dr Najeebullah, on Wednesday called for aligning research priorities and syllabus with the international demands to produce quality graduates who are able to compete in the global market.

He said this while speaking as a chief guest at the 3rd Annual Research Performance Awards Ceremony here at the University of Malakand.The minister asked the students to work hard and excel in respective areas as there are ample career opportunities within the country and abroad for bright students.

He pledged to provide sports equipment for the university gymnasium and announced the establishment of a data center there.Earlier, he inaugurated Smart Classroom established with financial support of Higher Education Commission.

The chief guest congratulated all the award recipients for outstanding academic and research contributions in respective fields. University of Malakand Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Rashid Ahmed stated that no path-breaking research was possible in any field without right incentives and funding.

The VC announced the establishment of Seed Capital for Startups of Students worth one million rupees. He pledged to increase the budget of Short-term Research Projects from Rs. 1.5 million to Rs. 3 million from the next year.

There were research performance awards for the best researchers at the university as well as faculty levels.Faculty members who have won national and international research projects were awarded Project Excellence Awards.

The event was organized by the Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC), Maqsood Mazhar, Manager Research Operations of ORIC and Fazli Subhan, Manager Business Incubation Center (BIC).

The event was attended by deans of faculties including Professor Dr Ata Ur Rehman, Professor Dr Sultan Alam, Professor Dr Mir Azam Khan, Professor Dr Arab Naz, Professor Dr Muhammad Nisar, Professor Dr Jamil Ahmad, Professor Dr Shafiqur Rehman, faculty members, officials and a number of students.