The initiative aims to expose PhD scholars to various fields in order to improve the calibre of the research they will conduct in Pakistan.
The Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) International Research Support Initiative Program (IRIP) has up to 150 PhD students waiting for funding to continue their studies abroad. The HEC is providing Pakistani students enrolled in full-time PhD programmes with a six-month research fellowship abroad.
The initiative aims to expose PhD scholars to various fields in order to improve the calibre of the research they will conduct in Pakistan. It also offers chances to establish connections between local and international higher education institutions.
The program’s goals include enhancing the standard of doctoral research in Pakistan to contribute to the development of a critical mass of highly qualified human resources and to make it easier to assimilate, absorb, and transfer scientific and technological knowledge and information for quick economic growth.
To bring doctoral research up to par with international standards, it also includes giving doctoral students the chance to complete training and research projects at cutting-edge research labs at reputable universities abroad. It also includes giving them the chance to interact with foreign scientists and explore opportunities for future international collaboration.
During a competitive process at the HEC for this fellowship, an IRIP student told media that she received acceptance from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and received her award letters by January 11, 2023. By March 2, 2023, she claimed to have begun working for UCLA and received her visa stamp.
“We were informed by IRIP representatives that we could apply for funding as soon as we received our visas, on a first-come, first-served basis. She claimed that she had finished all the necessary paperwork within a month, but IRIP officials made her wait longer than a month by making excuses about a lack of funding.”
She claimed that because the dates listed on the DS-2019 form and visa were rigid, she needed to secure the funding to arrive at the host university in time. The process to release the funds had begun, according to HEC spokesperson Ayesha Ikram, and the students of IRIP would receive the money close to their departure date.