HYDERABAD, Sept 6: Vice-Chancellor Karachi University Professor Dr Pirzada Qasim Raza Siddiqui has urged the science scholars to play their due role in the development of a research culture at campuses and design collaborative research projects with industries to benefit the mankind.

He was speaking as chief guest at the inaugural session of second international seminar on analytical sciences organised by National Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry (NCEAC), University of Sindh, at a local hotel here on Thursday.

The three-day seminar was largely attended by scholars from Greece, Iran, South Africa, India and universities and research organisations of Pakistan.

Dr Pirzada said that the new challenges faced by the society can only be resolved with research support of the scholars.

Dr Pirzada appreciated the research projects and research activities at national and international level carried out by the Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry and educational achievements in the university.

Dr Pirzada said that he and Sindh university vice-chancellor always think for development of research culture at universities.

He said in the past due to lack of facilities, funding and due to lower salary packages for the faculty members, university graduates were avoiding to serve in the universities but presently due to attractive salary packages scholars have changed their attitude.

He said that due to lack of facilities in the universities, high calibre scholars stopped visiting the universities.

He said that there was a dire need of interaction among scholars of the world and universities and industry.

Higher Education Commission has been paying attention on proper funding and facilities to the public sector universities, he said and hoped that the scholars would now work for promotion of research activities.

He thanked the university vice-chancellor and National Centre of Excellence and said that it was his duty to attend the seminar for interaction with the scholars from abroad.

Vice-Chancellor Mazharul Haq Siddiqui, who presided over the inaugural session, said that today analytical chemistry has to play a pivotal role in the understanding of basic sciences for practical applications such as biomedical applications, environmental monitoring, quality control, industrial manufacturing forensic science etc.

Mr Siddiqui said that the world is moving faster and added that recent developments in computer automation and information technologies have helped analytical industry to initiate number of new biological fields such as genomics.

He said that when we make a comparison of the state of science and technology in this global world we find that there are significant social and economic differences between the developed and under developing countries.

He said that many underlying causes of these differences are rooted in the long history of development of such nations and social, cultural and economic variables, historical and political elements, international relations and geographical factors.

He said that differences in the scientific and technological infrastructure and in the popularisation of science and technology in the two groups of countries are the most important cases of differentials in social and economical levels.

Sindh university vice-chancellor pointed out that an essential prerequisite to a country’s technological progress was early recognition of necessity of good educational system and added that this was one of the key factors that contributed to Japan’s economic success.

In the universities they assign highest priority to stimulating and nurturing scientific and technical talent and to the training of the students, Mr Siddiqui said and added that what is emerging from this priority is the close association of education and economical growth.

Accelerating the rate of growth and rate of productivity can basically be accomplished by stimulating and supporting scientific education in the universities, he said.

Mr Siddiqui said that realising this the Higher Education Commission in Pakistan under the present government has initiated several new programmes and the government is committed to uplift the state of science and technology in the country and added that the credit certainly goes to Dr Attaur Rehman who himself a renowned scientist and has brought a paradigm shift in higher education in Pakistan.

Mr Siddiqui welcomed the vice-chancellor of Karachi University and scholars for their participation in the international seminar.

Dr Khalid Hussain, secretary-general of Chemical Society of Pakistan, speaking on the occasion said that nations progress in this immensely competitive world though their capacity to harness the fruits of knowledge.