CIIT International Office
Delegates from COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan (CIIT), comprising the following, paid a visit to the Embassy of Brazil on 16th April, 2018 and met with His Excellency Mr. Claudio Lins, The Ambassador of Brazil in Islamabad:
- Dr. Arshad Malik, Head International Office
- Dr. Gustavo H D Tonoli Associate Professor, Department of Forest Science, Federal University of Lavras, Brazil (who is currently visiting the Department of Biosciences, CIIT, Islamabad under Visiting Foreign Faculty Program of HEC)
- Dr. Muhammad Zeeshan Hyder, Associate Prof, Department of Biosciences,
- Mr. Muhammad Abbas, Senior Program Officer, International Office
The meeting was requested to focus on the ways and means for strengthening the academic and research linkages between CIIT and the research institutions in Brazil. After the exchange of pleasantries, a brief introduction to CIIT was made and a desire was explicitly expressed that CIIT keenly wished to foster closer ties with Brazilian research institutions and universities with active support of the Brazilian embassy in Islamabad. Several ideas were shared, discussed and agreed on which follow up actions were to be taken by all the involved parties including the Brazilian Embassy.
Meeting ended with a group photograph and exchange of the good will.
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CIIT International Office
The Ambassador of France, H.E. Dr. Marc Barety, along with his Higher Education Attaché Mr. Sebastien Cartier, were accorded a warm welcome upon their arrival at CIIT Islamabad campus on Monday, March 26, 2018. The purpose of the visit was to further bolster CIIT’s linkages with France and strengthen the engagement with the French Embassy in Islamabad. It is worth mentioning that this was the first visit of the newly appointed French Ambassador to any university in Pakistan.
A brief meeting took place between the visiting diplomats and the Rector CIIT and Head International Office where, besides, the exchange of pleasantries, a brief introduction to CIIT was made and a desire explicitly expressed that CIIT is extremely keen to foster closer ties with French academic institutions through the support of the French embassy. The Ambassador was also apprised about the current engagements of CIIT with French universities namely EPF, EESIE, University of Nice, Sophia Antipolis, University of Cote d’Azur and Paris Sorbonne and Chamber of Commerce in Paris.
Afterwards, the French Ambassador delivered a talk on Pakistan-France Relations. He said that France is a country which has a deep history dating back to ancient times when the first settlers made the present-day France as their home. France then traversed its journey from the medieval times through to Renaissance era and finally turning into the present-day Republic. The Ambassador further stated that France is a country which established relations with Pakistan right after its independence from the British Rule in August 1947 and has been cooperating with Pakistan on a number of fronts including Science and Technology and in the field of higher education. At present, France has around 160 universities most of which do not charge tuition fees making them most attractive destination for foreign students.
After the talk, questions regarding the lifestyle of students in France, scholarships opportunities in France, etc. were raised which were aptly addressed by the French Ambassador. Subsequently, Mr. Sebastien Cartier delivered a detailed and comprehensive presentation on “Educational opportunities in France” in which it was informed that it is possible to do higher studies in France in the English language and the fees are generally quite nominal. Students are allowed to work part time to finance their living expenses. Later on, two French alumni namely Dr. Bushra Sadiq from Department of Humanities and Dr. Abdul Rauf from Department of Biosciences shared their experiences of living and studying in France.
In his closing remarks, Dr. Arshad Malik, Head IO profusely thanked the Ambassador for sparing his precious time to visit CIIT. He also informed the audience that CIIT has 66 young French Alumni in its various campuses. He then gave a comprehensive briefing on CIIT, its impressive growth, national and international standing and outreach. Talking about CIITs fast growth, he said that the Times Higher Education (THE) latest rankings have placed CIIT amongst 301-400 range in the world in the subject of Engineering & Technology and among 401-500 both in Physical Sciences and Life Sciences; while in the world universities rankings, CIIT has been placed in the range of 601-800, and in Asian region at #125. In Pakistan, CIIT has been consistently performing above par in producing impact factor international research journal articles in excess of 1,000 in 2015, above 1,500 in 2016 and last year above 2,000. Dr. Malik also said CIIT has good relations with France and wishes to further build upon them by cooperating through student mobilities and visiting professors under institutional framework agreements.
The function ended with a group photograph after which the Ambassador departed close to 1.00 PM on a positive note of his availability whenever invited again to the campus.
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CIIT International Office
A 16-member senior delegation comprising of VC’s and international office representatives from the following universities of Italy visited CIIT on 20th March 2018 to learn more about Pakistan’s higher education sector in general and CIIT in particular:
- University of Rome-Tor Vergata
- La Spienza University-Rome
- Ca’Foscari, University of Venice
- University of Iuav, Venince
- Politecnico Di Milano
- Conservatory of Milan
- Albertina Academy of Fine Arts Torino
The Rector CIIT warmly welcomed the Italian delegation at the Rector’s Conference Room where other senior academics and Italian alumni had gathered to interact and exchange views with the visiting delegates. Through a brief power-point presentation, CIIT was introduced to the delegates as a young, reputed, fast growing, research focused and international oriented institution.
The Rector CIIT emphasized that CIIT is now chanting the mantra that we produce job providers and not job seekers. In this regard we are focusing on Entrepreneurship and have an Incubator at CIIT Islamabad which has already graduated 20 companies. He told that we also plan to build more incubators in other campuses and an S&T park also. CIIT is also adopting the hybrid mode of teaching, combining online lectures with virtual discussion boards and physical interaction on campus.
The Rector said that we have linkages with a number of Italian universities and have also availed number of mobilities to University of Padova under Erasmus Mundus program. In future we wish to work with Italian universities and benefit from Erasmus +, have split site or even full time PhD programs, Sabbatical leave, joint projects under Horizon 2020 and Italian participation at our international conferences.
The head of the Italian delegation Prof. Federico Cinquepalmi, in return said that we have a lot of room for cooperation and at the government level a framework agreement is being worked out, which can then be used to develop secondary agreements with top universities at both sides. Further the Italian side is interested in holistic interaction in a number of disciplines i.e. STEHAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Humanities, Arts, & Mathematics).
After the meeting the delegates, continued the discussions with CIIT academics and staff over lunch. A visit of EE labs, Architecture department and SSBC was also arranged for the delegates. After the visit, the delegated marveled at a painting exhibition exhibited by CAG, especially for them. The visit came to a conclusion through a group photo at the entrance of the library.
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CIIT International Office
On Tuesday the 06 March, 2018 a 14-member delegation from Maldives under SAARC umbrella visited CIIT-Islamabad under the aegis of Higher Education Commission. The visiting delegates comprised of senior academics from the higher education sector of Maldives as well as the government representatives.
Dr. Arshad Malik, Head (IO) along with other officials welcomed the delegation to the campus after which they undertook an elaborate visit of the EE labs and class rooms, conducted by Dr. Junaid Mughal, who briefed the delegates about the research projects being undertaken in the labs and discussed in detail about other academic aspects of his department.
The delegates also visited the department of Management Science. Dr. Aneel Salman briefed the delegation about the department’s activities. Further, they visited class rooms and interacted with the Management Sciences students.
Subsequently, the delegation was led to the Rector's Conference Room where Deans of Sciences, Business Administration and Engineering had gathered. The meeting was chaired by the Rector, Prof. Dr. Raheel Qamar. A round of brief introductions of all the participants took place and a brief presentation about CIIT was delivered by Rumla Tahir. Subsequently discussion focused on the factors behind the remarkable growth and progress of CIIT. Different aspects of potential collaboration between the Maldivian HEIs and CIIT. The delegates appreciated the CIIT growth in short span of time and asked about the strategic plans of CIIT. After the meeting souvenirs were exchanged along with a group photo.
The delegates along with the hosts then moved to the Faculty Cafeteria for lunch. After lunch the delegation visited the JZ Library where the Pakistani Ambassador to Maldives, Vice Admiral Khawar Ali, also joined in. Since he knew the members of the delegation a lot of pleasantries were exchanged. In the end, a group photograph outside the Library was taken. The delegates expressed gratitude over warm reception and hospitality of CIIT. They were hopeful that the Maldivian side would try to make the best use of the offer of support from CIIT and the HEC for synergistic growth.
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CIIT International Office
Prof Stephen E. Onah, Director /Chief Executive National Mathematical Centre (NMC), Abuja, Nigeria visited COMSATS Institute of Information Technology (CIIT), Islamabad from 18-21 January, 2018 in order to explore opportunities of collaboration with the Mathematics Department. The visit took place upon the invitation of COMSATS Headquarters. He showed keen interest in the research work being carried-out at CIIT especially in the areas of Mathematics to pave the way for enhanced future collaboration.
A welcome/brief meeting was held between Director (NMC) and the Rector, joined by Dr. Arshad Salim Bhatti, Dean Faculty of Sciences, Prof. Dr. Moiz ud Din Khan, Chairman Mathematics Department, Dr. Arshad S. Malik, Head International Office, Dr. Ishtiaq Ali, Associate Head, Mathematics Department, Muhammad Taj Arsal, Assistant Registrar.
Prof. Dr. Raheel Qamar (T.I) Rector, briefed the Director regarding different achievements of CIIT in academics and research and with reference to its enviable international rankings among the world and regional universities. Rector offered expertise of CIIT in fields of Mathematics, e-Learning, Biotechnology, Environmental Sciences, Physics and Computer Science. Director NMC welcomed the suggestions. Director NMC acknowledged the efforts and contributions of CIIT in the field of education and research.
Dr. Malik apprised that overall 55 Nigerian students have benefited from CIIT, of which 25 are from NMC alone. Director, NMC informed that Minister (Education) of Nigeria was willing to visit the CIIT. Dr. Moiz suggested that CIIT could offer more opportunities for Post-Doctoral researchers. He further informed that one project of “International Thematic Research Group” is going on under the joint funding by ISESCO – COMSATS and more such tangible projects could be submitted in the future. NMC can send Senior Fellows for 1 to 3 months under HEC scheme for “Visiting Foreign Faculty Program”. Later on Dr. Bhatti joined and briefed about all departments i.e. Physics, Environmental Sciences, Pharmacy, Computer Science & Statistics and extended invitation to more researchers to come to CIIT. Director NMC expressed interest to enrich the research collaboration.
Further Director NMC attended the following different meetings:
- Meeting with Department of Mathematics
- Meeting with Executive Director COMSATS
- Meeting with Nigerian High Commissioner, Islamabad
- Meeting with Nigerian Students
- Meeting with Senior Faculty Members of Mathematics Department for Research Collaboration
A dinner hosted by the CIIT in the honor of Prof Stephen E. Onah, Director NMC and finally a short city tour was arranged for the guest.
The Director NMC expressed his gratitude over warm reception and hospitality of CIIT. He was hopeful that both institutions would keep on chasing new opportunities of mutual interest and growth of their respective organizations.
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