ISLAMABAD, Sept 27: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has invited research proposals of up to Rs6 million under its recently launched University-Industry Technology Support Programme (UITSP) , said an official statement on Monday.

These proposals should be in research domains which would lead to a significant economic impact and contribute either to export enhancement or increase quality and productivity of products, it said.

This UITSP has to be initiated either by a public-sector university or degree awarding institution in the private sector recognized by the commission in collaboration with a relevant industry. The research grant would be given for a maximum duration of two years with a budget of up to Rs6 million.

University-Industry Technology Support Programme of the HEC is an important step towards fostering high level of tangible cooperation between academia and industry for the sake of capitalizing on emerging international demands for products and processes in order to contribute to national economy.

This programme is focused on industrial sectors where the country is already a major contributor to world trade, to sectors where there is high potential for international trade with a lot of competition and sectors which need developments both for local and international consumption.

The UITSP of HEC proposes that researchers preferably with PhD degrees and affiliation with international professional bodies collaborate with local industry involved in continuous manufacturing for tangible results in terms of improvement of product and processes leading to decreased import of raw material and increased export of finished products and processes.