Research Environments in Pakistan:

Challenges and Solutions

Dr. Waqar Mahmood
HoD Communications Systems
22 March 2005
2 22 March 2005
Outline
Research related statistics
Significance of research for a knowledge based economy
Students/Teachers research capacity development
Infrastructure needs
Funding support
Public
Private
Some facts about Pakistan
Hope for the future

3 22 March 2005
Pakistan: Research and Development
World Bank Report, Jan. 2004 Extracts
In Education Pakistan appears to be at least 35 40
years behind East Asian Countries, and 10 15 years
behind the South Asian Countries
During the past decades, per-student spending at
higher education levels declined by as much as 50% in
real terms
The next few years represent a period of great
opportunity for Pakistan to accelerate its economic &
social development
Source: HEC
4 22 March 2005
The Demographic Challenge
Year
Population
(Millions)
Age group
17-23
years 2.60% 4.00% 6.00% 8.00%
2000 142.16 18.00 0.53 0.72 1.08 1.44
2005 164.80 21.38 0.62 0.86 1.28 1.71
2010 191.05 25.39 0.72 1.02 1.52 2.03
2015 221.48 30.16 0.83 1.21 1.81 2.41
2020 256.76 35.82 0.97 1.43 2.15 2.87
The status of population growth and university education
Source: HEC
5 22 March 2005
Key Areas of Improvement
Access
Low enrollment in higher education
Quality
Poor standard of faculty and lack of training / capacity
building
Low quality of teaching & research and lack of
relevance to national needs
Poor governance of universities
Relevance
Minimal relevance of higher education to national
needs
50 Years of Neglect
6 22 March 2005
EXPORT PERFORMANCE
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
1960 1980 1985 1990 1995 1999 2000 2001 2002
Pakistan Thailand Malaysia Korea China
1960 2002
Pakistan 0.16 9.88
Thailand 0.43 68.62
Malaysia 1.23 95.65
Korea 0.03 162.47
China 2.79 325.56
US$ BILLION
CHINA
KOREA
MALAYSIA
THAILAND
PAKISTAN
Source: WTO, Database
COMPARISON: SELECTED COUNTRIES
1960-80 in Korea employment of GMs doubled while that of engineers
Increased Ten Fold.
7 22 March 2005
Research in Education Fuels National
Growth
Socio-Economic Development Plans
Economic, Industrial, Services
Infrastructure, Governance, Defence
Research in Education: Knowledge Base
Human Capital
Implementation
National Growth
Trained
Manpower
Government
Society
Education
8 22 March 2005
Talented people are born anywhere in the world they
are not a privilege of developed countries!
Talented people without education, however, will
remain talented but uneducated people!
Talented, but uneducated people:
will not contribute much to their countrys
development
some of them will even use their talents in a
detrimental way
Human Capital: Talented and Educated People
9 22 March 2005
Maxwell, Thomson, Rutherford, Curie, Fermi, Dirac,
Einstein (physics), Watson, Crick (biology), Mendeleev,
Pauling (chemistry), Fleming, Pasteur (medicine).have
dramatically changed our world through their research
followed by its technological applications
All these scientists were not just talented, they
were found to be talented as they were educated!
Therefore, without education their talents would
have been lost for the progress of mankind!
Educated not just Talented People
10 22 March 2005
Educated people are a necessary, but not a
sufficient condition for the development of
a country:
A countrys wealth thus depends on its
educated people producing items or providing
services - commerce or just selling natural
resources does not produce wealth
Natural Resources & Infrastructure
11 22 March 2005
72
149
291
454
2,193
2,319
2,799
3,676
4,828
4909
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000
Pakistan
India
Turkey
China
Korea
Ireland
Finland
United States
Israel
Japan
Council of Higher Education, Turkey-Web Site
Numbers
S&E Researchers per Million
Inhabitants
12 22 March 2005
J apan is a striking example: it was a poor island nation with few
natural resources and bad infrastructure (as well as closed ports until
the late 19
th
century) - but J apan always had a strong tradition for
good education.
Some 30 years after its opening to the World Japans navy
destroyed the Russian fleet at Tsushima. One generation
later, and (like Germany) following its total destruction,
J apan (with less inhabitants than Pakistan) succeeded to
rebuild its country to become the second most powerful
economy on the globe
When Japan opened up in about 1880, it began to
complement the education of its most talented people by
sending them to study in developed countries.
Best Capital Investment Country = Talented
and Educated People
13 22 March 2005
An obsolete or decrepit infrastructure in
universities, institutes or hospitals, inadequate
equipment, poor communication networks, and to
a certain degree also low salaries etc. cause the
best scientists to migrate to better equipped
countries whilst the other scientists stay at home
Next to the need for educated people, a country
needs modern and competitive infrastructure and
proper tools as the working environment
Need of a Modern Infrastructure
14 22 March 2005
A Developing Country with a poor infrastructure
(in particular in the area of science, research and
education) is often providing, free of charge, its
most talented people (whos education it paid from
its scarce resources) to Developed Countries

Therefore, investments in education are wasted if
no investments are also made in the science,
research and education infrastructure (+ salaries)
Brain Drain
15 22 March 2005
Research in Education Fuels National
Growth
Socio-Economic Development Plans
Economic, Industrial, Services
Infrastructure, Governance, Defence
Research in Education: Knowledge Base
Human Capital
Implementation
National Growth
Trained
Manpower
Government
Society
Education
16 22 March 2005
Need for an Integrated Approach
Simultaneous Bi-Modal Approach Required
Bottom-Up
Primary and Secondary Education
Infrastructure
Top-Down
Higher Education
Technology Development
Industrial Linkages
Research Centers
17 22 March 2005
Government
Politics and economy
Environment, culture, tradition, national character
Economic
Policy
Infrastructure
Develop Social
Education
Policy
Labour Policy
Science and
Technology Policy
Policy
Tax and Financial
Knowledge Base
Utilize Knowledge Produce Knowledge
Human resources
Development and supply
Collaboration
Universities
Productive Sectors
Create knowledge
Improve education level
Improve
productivity
Product and
Services Market
Innovations

Demand
Market
Policy
Society
Need for An Integrated Approach
Knowledge
base
Industry
18 22 March 2005
Research in Education: Strategic Aims
Good Governance & Management
Quality Assurance: Standards, Assessment, Accreditation

Research
Capacity
Development

Faculty
Development
Improving
Access &
Infrastructure
Relevance to
National
Priorities
C
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S
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19 22 March 2005
Students Research Capacity
Development
Develop basic skills for research
(Undergraduate)
Independence
Encouragement for study outside of the text book
Emphasis on original discovery
Analytical thinking
Logical decision making skills
Encourage International publication in the final year
Improvement in Math skills
Improvement in English reading/writing

20 22 March 2005
Students Research Capacity
Development
Provide Opportunities for Research (Graduate)
Faculty with active research interest and achievement
Research collaborations
Access to research journals library resource
Masters with thesis only option
International Seminars, Workshops and Conferences
on premises
Travel allowance for students getting paper published
in reputed conferences (Peer reviewed, Impact Factor)


21 22 March 2005
Faculty Research Capacity Development
PhD - a must for the University faculty
Support in terms of PhD Scholarships
Research incentives for faculty
Honorarium for publications / supervision
Seed research grants
Post doctoral fellowships
Sabbatical and Adjunct research positions at
prestigious Institutes of higher learning world wide
Reverse Brain Drain
Hire Foreign Faculty
Provide incentives for researchers to return home
22 22 March 2005
Technology Infrastructure for Research :
University Computerization & Networking
Computer Laboratories
Campus wide high-speed LAN
Computerization of Administration
Research Centers Development
State of the art lab equipment
Scientific Instrumentation
Analysis tools and software
Digital Library
Distance Education
Educational TV Channels
Video Lecturing
23 22 March 2005
Relevance to National Needs
Relevant Industry
Agriculture Sector: Food Technology
Textile
Petroleum Sector (Geology & Mining)
Automotive Industry
Chemical
Information Technology
Technology Incubation Centers
Public Sector Industry - Incentives for
Collaborative Research
AWC, NTC , NESCOM, PTCL, PCSIR .
24 22 March 2005
2.0 million internet users
8.4 million mobile phone users
Over 400 cities connected to internet
VoIP, GPRS capability
Islamabad ranked among best cities in Asia by
Asiaweek Magazine (April 2002)
Outside of U.S. and U.K. 10% of all English speaking
people in the world live in Pakistan.
Pakistan (little known facts)
25 22 March 2005
Violent Crime Rate
(Per 1000 People)

Seventh United Nation Survey of Crime Trends and Operations of Criminal Justice System. Covering 1998-2000
for Country Data FBI Uniform Crime Report for City Data
9.77
10.8 13.21
13.53
14.16
14.32
16.3
13.09
49.5
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26 22 March 2005
Research Focus Outcome
Research Culture Revived
40% increase in international publications
52 international conferences held in Pakistan (2004)
243 Conference Travel Grants by HEC
More grants by PTCL, PSF, and University resources
Research Grants (HEC)
143 Peer Reviewed Projects
IDB Bank Prize for Best Science Institute
in the Muslim World
HEJ Institute of Chemistry, Karachi University

Source: HEC
27 22 March 2005
Conclusions
Knowledge is expanding at an exponential rate
Important to address the knowledge gap between Pakistan
and developed countries in an aggressive manner
Focus on indigenous Research and Development at the
University and Industry level is crucial
Scientific collaborations with reputed Institutes of higher
learning are important
Budgetary allocations for education at all level needs
immediate revamp