Pak-US joint research projects present progress reports
By Asad Cheema

ISLAMABAD—A joint meeting of the Higher Education Commission, USAID and Ministry of Science and Technology was held Monday here to evaluate the progress of the projects running under the Pak-US Joint Academic and Research Programme begun in 2005.
This programme, which is being implemented by the US National Academy ofSciences on the U.S. side, is intended to increase the strength and breadth of cooperation and linkages between Pakistan scientists and institutions with counterparts in the United States. The meeting waschaired by Dr. Altaf Ali G. Shaikh, Advisor Research and Development, HEC.
In 2005, 12 projects were selected for funding, receiving a combinedtotal of more than $4.9 million. The US budget of the grants ranged from$40,000 for a one-year project to $350,000 for each of several three-year projects. On the Pakistani side, budget ranged from $47,880to $500,000.
A total of approximately $5.5 million from HEC, MOST, and USAID, wasmade available in 2006 ($3.0 million from Pakistan, $0.5 million by MoST and $2 million by the US).
Dr. Sarosh Lodhi from NED University of Engineering and Technology,Karachi, Dr.Abdullah Sadiq from GIKI, Swabi, Dr. Rumina Hasan from Aga Khan Medical University, Karachi, Dr. Tauseef Qureshi, from University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Dr. Tayyeb Akramof National University of Science and Technology, Risalpur, Dr. Ishtiaq Qazi ofNational University of Science and Technology, Rawalpindi, Dr.M. Latif, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Dr. Faqir Anjum, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Dr. Riazuddin from Centre ofApplied Molecular Biology and Dr. Anjuman Arif from National Institute for Biotechnology presented first year progress reports of their respective projects.
The evaluating team included Dr.Robert Bertram, USAID, Dr. RumanaRiffat, George Washington University, Dr. Christopher Howson, March of Dimes Foundation, Dr. Russ Zajtchuk, Rush Presbyterian St. Luke’s Hospital, Ms. Kelly Robbins, US National Academy of Sciences while the
Ministry of Science and Technology was represented by Mr. Sabeeh-ur-Rahman.
Projects funded under this solicitation are done as they propose to contribute to economic development and capacity building in Pakistan andstrengthening US-Pakistan cooperative relationships by improving the quality, relevance, or capacity of education and research at Pakistaniinstitutions of higher education in science and technical fields. They also aim to increase the capacity of science and technology to improve the well-being of ordinary Pakistani people The proposals developed in partnerships include at least one Pakistani partner and one US partner. In developing proposals, proposing partners are urged to take advantage of the widest range of Pakistani talent capable of contributing to the achievement of objectives.