The Higher Education Commission (HEC) would launch a programme to facilitate public sector universities and degree awarding institutions of the country with access to scientific instrumentation, HEC sources said on Wednesday.
The aim of this programme is to allow all private and public sector institutions and laboratories in Pakistan to have access to scientific laboratories available in the country.
The other objective of the programme is to enhance research collaboration and interaction amongst the country's scientists and to provide high class institutions and laboratories of the country financial resources to keep all its sophisticated instruments running to their maximum utility.
The sources said that the programme is going to be implemented to link universities and research and development institutions of the country to share one another's instrumentation facilities available within the country.
The cost of sharing of these scientific instruments would be paid by HEC, the sources told in response to a question.
They said, it is hoped that this programme would not only provide a sources of funding to those institutions which make their instruments available through the provision of analytical charges but also would give Pakistani scientists access to a majority of the facilities and instruments available.
On a whole, the sources said, this nation-wide programme to be managed and executed by HEC would exist within the country on a cost plus basis, for which HEC has kept aside a reasonable amount for the current academic year, the sources added.