Daily Times

Great nations diagnose the issues and work with full potential to address them. To address the issues of any nature, technical and human resources, time and finance matter a lot. Globally, the issues are addressed through systematic planning, strong consortia and productive research. There is no denying the fact that key recommendations of research play a significant role in solving an issue. They may be helpful in the provision of genuine impact on society. This is how great nations focus on the research, which gives an impact to society and consequently invest major finances on research.

Currently, one of the elements of Higher Education Development in Pakistan Project (HEDP) is Grand Challenge Fund (GCF), which is supported by World Bank and implemented by Higher Education Commission in Pakistan and is of vital importance. This financial assistance is a great opportunity for researchers, academicians and faculty members of Higher Educational Institutes (HEIs) to address the grand challenges that our country is facing at the moment.

Broader thematic areas are food security, sustainable energy, water management and sustainability, climate change and environment, development economics, information technology, telecom, sociology, philosophy, innovative governance, reforms as well as urban planning.

It is high time that multiple stakeholders, ranging from academics, private sector and industries to the government, build strong consortia and linkages with local and international collaborators and come up with strong proposals, which may pass peer reviews and the competitive evaluation. Consequently, the research proposals based on practical and applied approaches may help benefit society at large.

It is high time that multiple stakeholders build strong consortia and linkages with local and international collaborators

Furthermore, the intention of proposals, having a genuine impact on the society, may be productive and hold great significance in the overhaul of competitive evaluation.

Keeping the volume of funding for each research project in view, the range is between Rs 15 to 225 million.

The expected number of grants is 25 per annum with the maximum duration of three years. Leading higher education institutions can set exemplary precedence for the rest of the institutions by addressing the grand challenges of our country.

Currently, there remains a dire need of focus, thinking beyond the vested interests and “genuine research will.”

The capacity of human resource at the university level may further be enhanced through linkages with skilled labour, technical manpower from industry and government. Besides, the said approach paves way for the amalgamation of theory and practice simultaneously, which will, in turn, produce productive results.

Higher educational institutions may also learn from the example of Grand Challenges Canada where under the umbrella of “integrated innovation,” scientific/technical, business and social innovations were established to solve issues through interdisciplinary research.

As far as funding to address the grand challenges is concerned, global agencies are passionately waiting for strong and impactful proposals to facilitate them in terms of finance and technical ground.

More importantly, the close liaison among funders, implementing agencies and grassroots researchers is worth mentioning. It is because we have recently experienced by visiting the universities in the provincial headquarters of Pakistan and come across the queries and technical issues faced by the Principal Investigators during research.

The university administration must provide a conducive environment for researchers to avoid technical hurdles and ensure smooth sailing of research projects.

It is time to utilise our expertise and full potential for the betterment of society, coordination and collaboration with different stakeholders and to strengthen the bond of academia and industry. Above all, we should work for research, which has a genuine impact on the society and helps addresses the grand challenges we are facing in modern times.

The writer is Assistant Director (Research and Development), Higher Education Commission, Islamabad