Punjab University (PU) Vice Chancellor, Professor Dr Mujahid Kamran and Deputy VC University of Technology Malaysia (UTM) Professor Dr Muhammad Taj uddin signed a 5-year MoU on behalf of their respective universities here on Friday to actively enhance mutual co-operation for achieving a breakthrough in enabling faculty members and researchers to do their PhDs besides promoting exchange of students and teachers delegations between the two universities.
Pro Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Jamil Anwar, PU Registrar Professor Dr Muhammad Naeem Khan, Dean Faculty of Life Sciences Professor Dr Shahida Hasnain, DG Biological Sciences Professor M Akhtar FRS, Professor Biological Sciences Dr Naeem Rashid, Principal College of Information Technology Dr Syed Mansoor Sarwar and Maria I. Maldonado, Director PU External Linkages were also present on the occasion.
At the outset of the signing ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Mujhaid Kamran, welcoming the visiting dignitaries from the UTM comprising Professor Dr Muhammad Taj uddin, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Ms Siti Hawa, Deputy Registrar, gave a detailed briefing about various departments as well as ongoing research projects of the Punjab University.
He expressed hope that the newly signed document of co-operation between both the institutions would open up vistas of new co-operation in the academic and research fields. He said the PU is sparing no efforts to accelerate higher education and ensure increased number of quality PhD faculty in keeping with the international standard.
He said the PU is presently having strength of 30,000 students on Campus with 635 regular faculty members, out of which 32 percent are PhDs. The varsity administration always encourages its lecturers and assistant professors to prefer universities of Islamic world and South East Asian universities where expense of doing PhD is far less in comparison to the universities of western countries.
Speaking on the occasion, the Deputy VC UTM Professor Dr Muhammad Taj uddin said that their varsity's total student population is presently 25,000 with 2000 faculty members, out of which 45 percent are PhD. Malaysia has always given preference particularly to the universities of Muslim world for bilateral co-operation and collaboration, he added. Professor Dr Mujahid Kamran also presented gifts of books and souvenirs to the members of the visiting Malaysian delegation.