The University of Karachi and United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization on Friday agreed to set up a UNESCO Chair on Medicinal and Bio-organic Natural Product Chemistry at the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences. The ICCBS has now become Pakistan’s first UNESCO Centre for Excellence Category 2 Institute.
The chair will promote research, training, information and documentation on natural medicinal and bio-organic product chemistry, said directorInternational Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, Prof Dr M Iqbal Choudhary.
UNESCO’s Category 2 institutes and centres are a global network of institutions that implement the organisation’s strategic priorities, programmes and development agendas. Over 110 member states are part of this network.
A United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization chair promotes education, natural and social sciences, culture and communication. The chair is established for an initial period of four years.
A statement from the university said the chair will participate in United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization programmes and activities to strengthen international academic cooperation. The International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences will also arrange for the chair to engage in the exchange of professors, researchers, and students with other universities.
Prof Choudhary said that this would be “a major landmark” in facilitating collaboration between high-level, internationally-recognized researchers and teaching staff from the university and other institutions in Pakistan, as well as in Asia and the Pacific, Europe and other regions of the world.
