Collaborative agreement to bring more African students on scholarships from Kenya into Pakistan for higher studies has been signed between the University of Nairobi (UoN) and the Karachi University.

The agreement was signed between the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences (ICCBS) of the University of Karachi and the Vice Chancellor of UoN when the Director, ICCBS, Professor Dr Iqbal Choudhary, called on the former according to a press release received by WealthPK.

The presser said that the Kenyan students are grossly underrepresented in the African diaspora in Pakistan and to remedy the situation 200 more scholarships will be provided for the Kenyan students with financial help from the Standing Committee for Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) of the OIC.

Chaudhary was of the view that when more Kenyan students will come to Pakistan, cross-country collaboration will increase in various areas of scientific research.

He told the UoN Vice Chancellor that ICCBS is equipped with state-of-the-art research equipment and both Pakistan and Kenya have been working closely since the 1960s on genomes.

Vice Chancellor of the UoN expressed his utmost gratitude to the ICCBS for hosting Kenyan students. He said he was looking forward to increased collaboration between the scientific communities of the two countries. He was hopeful that Kenyan students will benefit a lot from the scientific laboratories of Pakistan.

The virtual signing ceremony was also attended by the Executive Secretary of Natural Products Research Network for East and Central Africa (NAPRECA), and NAPRECA Egypt Chair and NAPRECA Kenya Chair, Dr Cathering Lukhoba, said the press release.

According to the press release, the University of Karachi has been hosting the NAPRECA-COMSTECH summer school symposium at the Confucius Institute, since Monday, 31st October 2022, which will end on Friday, 4th November 2022.

It is pertinent to mention here that NAPRECA was conceived by East and Central African scientists who attended the 14th International Symposium on the Chemistry of Natural Products in 1984 in Poland with 13 member countries.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk