Investment in research: Committee to ensure effective utilisation of endowment fund

Profit would be shared among higher education institutes

PESHAWAR: To ensure the effective utilisation of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Higher Education Research Endowment Fund, a committee was formed at a meeting of senior officials on Wednesday. The meeting was chaired by Minister for Higher Education Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani, stated a handout.

The additional secretary for higher education said the fund was established with an initial amount of Rs500 million. The committee overseeing the fund utilization comprises 12 members and shall submit recommendations within 15 days for the board of directors’ consideration.



The fund is operated under the K-P Higher Education Research Endowment Fund Act, 2004 and governed by a board of directors notified under the Act. The meeting was informed the profit of the fund would be used to provide cost sharing to higher education institutes such as universities, degree awarding institutes (DAI) and centres of excellence.

According to Ghani, the fund would help universities in innovative research. It would help increase the financial resource line benefiting higher education institutions and would be utilised to fund research in natural and social sciences in public sector universities.

The participants decided the fund would be invested in top-ranking and well-reputed banks. The investment policy would be followed according to the Act.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2015.