Scholars gather at SZABIST’s research conference to try and change ‘dearth’ of research

Around 120 students from across the country will present their papers at the event.

KARACHI:

The Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) is taking big steps to do something about Pakistan’s virtually non-existent research scene. In collaboration with the department of management and administration at the University of Karachi, it has organised an international research conference which is being attended by scholars from across the globe.

The inaugural session of the conference was held at the Regent Plaza Hotel on Friday. A multitude of scholars, research students, corporate delegates and civil society representatives from all over Pakistan were present at the event. The chairman of the conference, Dr Mustaghisur Rahman, told the audience that no nation could ever succeed without engaging in research. “The institution has been organising two conferences each year since 2003,” he said. “This time we tried to go international and invited scholars from Canada, India, Bangladesh, Malaysia and Kazakhstan.”

While talking to The Express Tribune, Dr Rahman lamented the fact that six Indian scholars who wished to participate in the conference were denied visas by Pakistani authorities. “They were eager to attend the conference and kept calling the institution to say that they were disappointed over not being able to do so,” he said.

Eight consecutive thematic sessions based on research in the fields of computer science, economics, finance, management and social sciences will be held over a two-day period. Around 120 students from all over the country will present their papers in these sessions. The vice chancellor of the University of Karachi, Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui, was the chief guest and keynote speaker for the inaugural session. He said that annual spending on education should be increased to at least four per cent of GDP to ensure long-term, sustainable economic growth. The secretary of the conference, Syed Muhammad Ali Shah, told The Express Tribune that the proceedings of the conference would be published in SZABIST’s biannual Journal of Independent Studies and Research (JISR). “All 120 research papers will be available to HEC recognised educational institutions free of cost,” he said.

Zohaib Memon, who is pursuing a post-graduate degree in the Computer Science, was one of the people who presented a paper on Friday. He is specialising in health informatics, which in his view, is a neglected field of study in Pakistan. Memon saw the conference as a good opportunity to get feedback on his work and even secure a scholarship from the international organisations. “I believe that SZABIT will be able to organise even bigger conferences in coming years,” he said.

“In an educational environment which is marred by the dearth of research, one can only hope that this conference would serve as an inspiration to increase research-based activities,” said a member of the Social Sciences faculty, Samina Wahid.

Shazia Khalid was another researcher who had arrived from the University of Punjab to present her two research papers on organisational behavior. Her work places emphasis on the implications of sexual harassment in working environments. Dr Khalid was appointed as a lecturer at the department of psychology and recently authored a book on organisational conflicts. “I’ve witnessed the hard work of students in the initial proceedings of the conference,” she said. “What inspired me the most is students’ involvement in quality research as part of their course work.”

The conference will end with a speech by the president of SZABIST, Dr Saqib Razavi on Saturday, December 17.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 17^th, 2011.