Staff Reporter
National University of Modern Languages (NUML), Islamabad has achieved the prestigious Jean Monnet Chair of the European Union, first-ever in Pakistan. It will be established at the Department of International Relations, Faculty of Social Sciences. A ceremony in this regard held at the University; in which Rector NUML Major General (Retd) Muhammad Jaffar, Director General NUML Brig Muhammad Ibrahim, Dean Social Sciences Dr. Shahid Siddiqui, Director Administration Brig (Retd) Ahmed Salman and Head of Department International Relations NUML and Chair Holder Dr. Muhammad Riaz Shad were also present.
Rector NUML, Major General (Retd) Muhammad Jaffar expressed immense pleasure on this success and felicitationg the chair holder, Dr Muhammad Riaz Shad, Head IR, said that the Chair as a platform would serve to build capacity of faculty and students for achieving Erasmus+ scholarships and research projects. He said that NUML faculty members are doing all efforts to make university a best research place of the country and soon NUML will get this status.
Dean Social Sciences, Dr. Shahid Siddiqui, hoped this success would lead to motivate and guide the faculty to compete for international research projects.
Dr. Muhammad Riaz Shad, the chair holder, successfully competed for Jean Monnet Chair under Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. Dr. Shad holds PhD degree in politics of the European Union and has significantly published in the area of contemporary European politics and European Union-Pakistan relations. He got selected among 240 successful applicants out of 1447 eligible applications for Jean Monnet Activities received worldwide. In our region, China secured 3 chairs, India 2, and Pakistan 1.
Jean Monnet Chair spans three years with focus on teaching, research and policy debate. It is named after the founding father of the European Union who gave political vision of the supranational European integration in 1950. Title of the Jean Monnet Chair being established at NUML is ‘The European Union as an Actor in South Asia.’ Along with the core focus of the chair—teaching, research and debate—NUML intends to take advantage of this opportunity to train faculty and students in availing the Erasmus+ programmes, particularly scholarships and research projects.
