Senator Memon was impressed that action must be taken quickly to address the ongoing challenges of climate change and shortages in the Indus River Basin.
In accordance with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by Nanjing University of Information Sciences and Technology (NUIST) and NUST to promote collaboration in scientific research and student and faculty exchanges, Prof. Jiang informed Senator Memon of Chinese scientific collaboration with scientific and academic institutions of Pakistan, specifically with National University of Sciences and Technology Pakistan (NUST).
A team of Chinese experts was in town on Saturday, and they were led by Prof. Dr. Jiang Tong of NUIST, who was accompanied by members of his team and Dr. Salman Atif of NUST. Prof. Dr. Jiang Tong is the chairman of the Pakistan Water Environment Forum and a former federal minister and senator.
The senator was pleased to learn that the Chinese delegation was enhancing its partnerships with other universities, including Quaid-i-Azam University, University of Peshawar, Bacha Khan University Charsadda, and COMSATS University Islamabad, as well as organisations like the National Agricultural Research Centre and Pakistan Meteorological Department.
Senator Memon was impressed that action must be taken quickly to address the ongoing challenges of climate change and shortages in the Indus River Basin. He appreciated the much-needed collaboration in joint scientific research. He congratulated NUIST and NUST for winning a project funded by the Chinese National Science Foundation (NSFC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to benefit Pakistan.
Prof. Jiang gave the project teams his word that they would meet again in China in November 2023 to expedite work on the project.
Tang Aoqing, a theoretical chemist, founded NSFC in February 1986 with support from the State Council. It is a body responsible for overseeing the National Natural Science Fund, which was established to support and finance both fundamental and applied research in China.
In 2010, NSFC established a medical division that was comparable to the National Institutes of Health in the US. Although a medical department had been planned since 2001, it wasn’t until Chen Zhu was appointed health minister in 2008 that basic biomedical research received the political backing necessary to advance the department. For 2010, grants from the medical department are anticipated to total around 1 billion renminbi.