ISLAMABAD, Aug 30: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has decided to upgrade the existing School of Biological Sciences at the University of the Punjab.

In this regard a project amounting to Rs30million has been approved in the HEC's Departmental Development Working Party (DDWP) meeting recently held in Islamabad.

By establishing high quality research facilities and forums for scientific assessment, discussion and debate, it is hoped that the school would foster intellectual development.

In the training of PhDs the major emphasis of the school would be on quality. Nevertheless, it is estimated that once the school is fully functional, its doctoral output would be 20 to 24 students per year.

In the short and medium term, however, when the highly qualified staff would be in the process of establishing research groups, the PhD output per year would be at least eight to 10.

It is further hoped that the school would be capable of publishing on the average 10 papers per year in international journals of high quality. The school would undertake research on areas of national importance in sectors of health, agriculture, environment, and industry.