THIS is apropos Dr Sumera Qureshi’s letter (Nov 21)in response to my my letter (Nov 18).

The writer has said there are two research centres at the University of Sindh, Jamshoro: the Institute of Advanced Studies in Chemical Sciences and the National Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry.

First, these institutes are not research centres, because a ‘research centre’ means a facility dedicated to the specific area of research like Asia Research Centre at London School of Economics.

A research institute involves teaching and research. The Institute of Advanced Studies in Chemical Sciences and the National Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry at the Sindh University, Jamshoro, offer MPhil and PhD programmes and conduct research in different areas of chemistry. A research centre is an arm of a faculty which involves research in a specific area, not mere teaching.

A research centre is also an independent and self-supporting entity.

Simon Fraser University of Canada says: “Research centres are non-departmental academic or administrative units established for facilitating collaborative research mainly within a faculty”, and “research institutes are created to facilitate collaborative multi-disciplinary research between different faculties and (or) multi-university initiatives and to provide research-related services to the community.”

Furqan Hyder Shaikh
Programme Officer
Sindh Rural Support Programme
Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2017