LAHORE: As many as 150 PhD students of International Research Support Initiative Programme (IRIP) of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) are awaiting funds to travel abroad to continue their studies.

The HEC is offering a six-month research fellowship abroad to the students who are enrolled in full time PhD programmes in Pakistan. The initiative is aimed to provide exposure to the PhD scholars to enhance the quality of research they will be conducting in Pakistan. It also provides opportunities to develop linkages between local and foreign higher education institutions.

The programme’s objectives include enhancing the quality of doctoral research in Pakistan to help create a critical mass of highly-qualified human resource that could contribute towards the development of the country, and facilitate assimilation, absorption and transfer of scientific and technological knowledge and information to achieve rapid economic progress.

It further includes provision of opportunities to doctoral students for training and research work at advanced research labs of reputed universities abroad and to interact with foreign scientists to explore avenues for further collaboration internationally, introduce Pakistani talent globally, disseminate information about research in Pakistan and bring doctoral research on par with international standards.

An IRIP student told Dawn that she got acceptance from an American university through a competitive process at the HEC for this fellowship and got our award letters by Jan 11, 2023.

She said she started working with the university and got her visa stamped by March 2, 2023.

“We were communicated by IRIP officials that we can acquire funding right after getting visas and it would be on a first-come-first-served basis.”

She said she had completed all the formalities within a month, but IRIP officials were giving excuses of unavailability of funds, making her wait for over a month.

She said she needed to acquire the funding to reach the host university on time because the dates mentioned on the DS-2019 form and visa were not flexible.

HEC spokesperson Ayesha Ikram told Dawn that the process to release the funds had started and the students would get the funds near their departure date.

Published in Dawn, March 16th, 2023