Punjab University (PU) Vice Chancellor (VC) Prof. Dr. Niaz Ahmad Akhter has stressed the need of promoting modern research in the higher education institutions for addressing the problems faced by the industry. Addressing the opening ceremony of first ever three-day international conference on “Advances in Functional Materials” at Al Raazi Hall here on Monday, he said there is need to spend more money on modern research in order to bolster country’s economy. More than 200 delegates from Pakistan and abroad will present 50 oral and 30 poster presentations during the three-day conference which is organized by the Department of Physics PU. Chairman Department of Physics Prof. Dr. Mahmood-ul-Hassan, faculty members, scientists, researchers and students were present. Dr. Niaz said the science departments of Punjab University are getting the services of the best experts and scientists. He said PU departments should work together to improve industry-academia relations. He congratulated the organizers for organizing the conference on a good topic and hoped for good results. He advised the students to play a role in practical life by learning from the experiences of experts in such events. Dr Mahmood-ul-Hassan said that the purpose of organizing the conference is to provide a platform to theoretical and applied physics experts.