The University of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (UAJK) Thursday held 19th Convocation at its King Abdullah Campus and awarded a total of over 1000 degrees to the graduates in various disciplines. President Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Barrister Sultan Mehmood Chaudhry who is also chancellor of the University was Chief Guest on the occasion and awarded gold medals to 49 distinctions holders, said a press release issued here . The president conferred degrees to 25 Ph.D, 201 M.Phils, and 774 M.A. /MSc, BS, B.Com, and LLB students. In his address, he congratulated the students and their parents on the highest achievement of their life and encouraged them to move forward in their respective fields. He said that it was truly a memorable occasion for the graduating students, their parents, and their teachers. ” It is also a memorable moment for the nation as another batch of professionally qualified people has been added to the national talent pool,” he emphasized. He advised the student to prepare themselves for playing their role for the freedom and liberty of their brother and sisters living on the other side of the Line of Control (LoC) and facing barbarism at the hands of occupation troops. He said that the enslaved people of Indian Illegal Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK) were looking towards the youth in the liberated territory for the realization of their supreme struggle for freedom and liberty. Prof. Dr. Muhammad Kaleeem Abbasi, Vice-Chancellor of the university presented academic, research, and curricular and extracurricular facets of the past year in the report. He congratulated the successful graduates and appreciated dedicating efforts of the university teachers to producing the young graduates and scholars, who were the pride and source of pleasure for their parents, the university, and the community. Highlighting the significance of the event, he said convocation was a landmark in the academic and professional life of a student. The university as an academic nucleus in the state, provides education in multidisciplinary academic domains, ranging from Engineering to Medical Sciences – and from Social to Basic and Applied Sciences is currently offering 86 degree programs in 29 disciplines under its four faculties. The student enrollment in the university has gone up to about nine thousand, which is a strong indicator of the services and competitive quality of education provided by it. Sharing some brilliant successes and accomplishments, the vice chancellor said that the construction of a new state-of-the-art King Abdullah campus at Chattar Klass with financial assistance from the Saudi government was a big leap forward. He said that the acquiring Rs 2.22 billion additional funds from the Saudi government and getting approval for a project worth Rs 400 million from HEC to provide the missing facilities in the new campus and enhancing the quality of education were some of the many milestones that university had achieved in the past couple of years. Describing research as critical for better ranking of the university as well as national needs for local technology development and skilled human resource production, Abbasi said the progress of the university in research publications in the Year 2021-22 remained remarkable. The Total IF of the publications published in the year 2020 was 571 while the IF of the publications published in the Year 2021-22 jumped up to 944.696.