Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif approved, in principle, the renaming of Quaid-i-Azam University's (QAU) physics centre to the Professor Abdus Salam Center for Physics on Monday, according to a Press Information Department (PID) statement.

The Ministry of Federal Education and Professional Training was directed to draw up a formal summary of the renaming of QAU's National Centre for Physics for President Mamnoon Hussain's approval.

The PM also approved a grant for five annual fellowships for Pakistani PhD students in the field of Physics through the Higher Education Commission in reputable international universities. The programme will be named the Professor Abdus Salam Fellowship, the PID said.

The moves were made in order to recognise the contributions of Dr Abdus Salam, a major figure in 20th century theoretical physics, the PID said. He shared the 1979 Nobel Prize in Physics for his contributions to the field.

He was the first Pakistani to receive a Nobel Prize in science.

"His remarkable achievement earned fame and prestige for the country which rightly deserves to be valued," the PID said.