First ever Pakistan Research Day observed at NUST

Islamabad : The Web of Science Group, a subsidiary of Clarivate Analytics, launched its latest Pakistan Research & Innovation Landscape Report at the first ever Pakistan Research Day 2020, observed at National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST) here on Wednesday.

The report documents excellence, challenges and opportunities in scientific and academic research in Pakistan. Key findings of the report were presented at the event co-hosted by Web of Science Group & NUST at the main campus of the university.

The chief guest, Shafqat Mahmood, Federal Minister for Ministry of Federal Education & Professional Training, members of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), representatives from top academic institutions, and over 300 leading researchers from across Pakistan attended the inaugural event.

In his address, the honourable minister expressed his gratitude to the organisers for inviting him at the event held in connection with Pakistan Research Day, which, he said, is recognition of the impact that the transition towards a knowledge-based economy is creating.

He hoped that the collaboration between reputed national Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) such as NUST, Web of Science Group and HEC will play a fundamental role in driving as well as expediting the development of scientific research and excellence in Pakistan. He praised NUST for emerging as a global leader in the higher education and cutting-edge research, setting a precedent for other national HEIs to follow suit.

Stressing the need for directing research towards addressing the challenges facing Pakistan, he said that the introduction of Research Excellence Award was an excellent idea, as it would help augment the research culture in Pakistan.

Faisal Mehmood, Country Manager (Pakistan), Web of Science Group Clarivate Analytics apprised the audience that over the past decade, Pakistan’s research community has substantially increased the number of publications across several disciplines, with a 300 percent growth in the number of publications indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection between 2010 and 2019.

Lt Gen (r) Naweed Zaman, Rector NUST, thanked Clarivate Analytics for launching its First Report on Research & Innovation Landscape of Pakistan from the platform of NUST, adding the event has also afforded an ideal opportunity to reflect on how our policies over a period of time have influenced the direction of research in the country. He also presented a snapshot of milestones achieved by NUST in the domains of scientific research, innovation, patenting and intellectual property transfer to industry.