ISLAMABAD, Oct 2: Pakistan-US Natural Sciences Linkage Programme has been launched to increase the contact and collaboration among the scientists and institutions of Pakistan and the United States, announced Prof Attaur Rehman, adviser to the prime minister on science and technology, here on Thursday.

Presiding over a meeting of the Board of Governors of Pak-US Natural Sciences Linkage Programme (NSLP), Dr Attaur Rehman said the programme would provide researchers and institutions with opportunities to exchange information, ideas, skills and techniques and enhance opportunities to collaborate in solving the problems of common interest relating to natural sciences.

During the meeting, secretary ministry of science and technology Shahzad Hassan Pervez, chairman Pakistan Agriculture Research council, member Bio-Sciences Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, chairman Pakistan Science Foundation, representatives of ministries of finance, food and agriculture, NIAB and US embassy attended the meeting.

The meeting discussed the mechanism for operating the Endowment Fund created between Pakistan and USA under Pak-US NSLP and decided that research projects up to Rs2 million would be granted in the selected priority areas of collection, evaluation and exchange of germplasm, plant genomics, plant biotechnology, stress biology, bio-informatics, application of information technology in agriculture, identification and control of animal/plant diseases, dry land/sustainable agricultural production systems, biotechnology/microbiology, and agribusiness development, Biophysics, Biology and Environmental Sciences.

The minister instructed the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF) to immediately place advertisements in the national press inviting project. The Fund will be operated and managed by a Board of Governors headed by the ministry of science and technology (MoST) with secretaries S&T, finance, food and agriculture, chairman Science foundation, chairman PARC and director NIAB as members. The Fund management Committee will be headed by the PSF chairman.

The Natural Sciences Linkage Programme has been initiated as a result of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Government of Pakistan and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in November, 2002.

Decisions on the level of funding for individual project under the programme would be taken by the two sides including Pakistan and the United States by mutual agreement.