Staff Report

Lahore: The Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC), so far, has awarded 122 International Travel Grants to the scholars of the province for presenting their research work at various international conferences.

This was stated by Director (A & R) PHEC Sidra Maqsood during the 9th meeting of the International Travel Grant Reviewing Committee held at the PHEC Secretariat, Lahore. The meeting was chaired by Prof. Dr. Mohammad Nizamuddin, Chairperson PHEC, VC GCU Prof. Dr. Hassan Amir Shah, Dean PU Prof. Dr. M. Zakria Zakar, Rector LSE Prof. Dr. Shahid Amjad Chaudhry, DG (S.I.) PHEC Dr. Shahid Soroya and Director (A&R) PHEC Sidra Maqsood participated in the meeting.

Dr. Nizamuddin, Chairperson PHEC  reiterated his resolve to uplift the standards and quality of higher education and research in the province by facilitating students of public and private sector universities and public sector colleges, with international scholarships and grants in their respective fields. “We encourage students to learn the modern, innovative and up to date knowledge in their fields, through their exposure to such venues where they can present their work and interact with the global scholars”, said the chairperson.

PHEC is working towards development of research culture in Punjab, as it is imperative that our faculty members and PhD scholars engage in intellectual analytical work and then share the newly-gained knowledge and experience with a diverse audience. International conferences provide ample opportunities for knowledge sharing.

PHEC offers international travel grant to public and private sector universities and public sector colleges of the province, to facilitate participation of faculty members, non-teaching staff and PhD scholar in international conferences. The applications are evaluated on a variety of parameters such as scope of the conference, repute of the organizers, professional standing of invited keynote speakers, relevance of the conference with the applicant’s professional career, relevance of the paper with current job and research/publication track of the applicant in peer reviewed journals.

The grant is awarded purely on merit which covers the registration fee, airfare, accommodation charges and daily living expenditures up to a specified limit. 70% of the awarded money is granted in advance prior to participation in the event, in order to make the arrangements smoothly. On return of the awardee 30% of the remaining amount is reimbursed.

Concluding the meeting, the Chairperson said, “We are more committed to bring quality rather than the quantity in higher education sector. Our goal is to bring the Institutions of higher education (HEIs) at par with the international standards.”