Federal Education Minister Mian Shafqat Mahmood said on Monday that Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf government would increase budget for research, besides establishing new universities. Addressing a three-day international conference on Gender, Religion & Culture in Psychology – Issues, Challenges & Prospects at Government College University (GCU), he said the importance of social sciences and humanities could not be ignored even in this age of science and technology. The education minister also shared that he was an alumnus of GCU Psychology Department, saying that he had studied psychology for six years at the GCU and later taught for two years as a young lecturer. The conference was arranged to discuss how theories developed in the west are being adopted in the Pakistani context and how gaps in culturally embedded literature create room for research in non-western societies. American Psychological Association Chief Executive Officer Dr Jaime Diaz Granados, GCU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Hassan Amir Shah and conference chairperson Dr Syeda Shahida Batool also addressed the audience. Students and faculty members from 40 universities of Pakistan, seven illustrious researchers from the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and Iran were also participating in the conference organised by the university’s Psychology Department in collaboration with the federal and provincial higher education commissions. Published in Daily Times, December 18th 2018.