Joining hands: Pak-US varsities to promote social sciences

Aim to enhance research activities and scholarships.

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistani and American universities have agreed to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under a joint consortium to establish linkages with national and international organisations for improving social sciences, arts and humanities research in the country.

The Inter-University Consortium for Promotion of Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities Pakistan (IUCPSS), the country’s first-ever inter-university alliance formed by nine universities and the American Institute of Pakistan Studies (AIPS) Islamabad agreed to collaborate for promotion of Social Sciences in the country. The MoU will be signed on Friday at University of Gujrat.

The agreement aims to promote co-operation between Pakistani universities and US academia by enhancing collaborative research and scholarship and sharing resources.

AIPS will facilitate IUCPSS in setting up a National Social Science Research Council in the country. In collaboration with Higher Education Commission and IUCPSS, it will also organise doctoral dissertation writing workshops for Pakistani students, said an official.

The institute will use its US institutional membership (consortium of 32 affiliated universities) to motivate research scholars and faculty members to conduct academic research in affiliation with IUCPSS.

The academic partnerships between consortia-member universities of AIPS and IUCPSS also entails faculty exchange, student exchange, split degree and research, video conferencing and joint certificate/diploma programmes, he added.

IUCPSS comprises Quaid-i-Azam University, University of Gujrat, Government College University Faisalabad, Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur, University of Balochistan, Institute of Management Sciences Peshawar, Bahauddin Zakariya University, The Islamia University of Bahawalpur and COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Abbottabad.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2012.