Higher Education Commission. PHOTO: FILE.

ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has announced scholarship opportunities for Fall-2020 for a doctorate of philosophy (PhD) studies at top-ranked universities in the United States (US) under a US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor Project.



The HEC has invited applications from Pakistani and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) nationals intending to pursue a PhD in the following priority fields: arts and humanities, design and media, social sciences, engineering, basic sciences, medical and allied health sciences, agriculture, veterinary science, computer sciences, emerging technologies, water resources and energy.



Sources say the scholarships will cover a living stipend, health insurance, settlement allowance and airfare.



"This is a zero-tuition model, hence, applicants need to secure admission along with tuition waiver from the ranked US universities, land grant universities or university systems mentioned on the HEC website," they added.



The project management unit may refer potential candidates, who meet the basic eligibility criteria for the award of HEC scholarships, to the relevant US universities for consideration of admission and award of the tuition fee waiver, the sources maintained.



They said that applicants selected by the host university, after satisfying respective admission requirements, shall be offered HEC scholarships under the ‘US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor’ Project in line with the HEC policy. The last date for applying for an admission is February 20.



They said that under the project as many as 10,000 scholars will be sent to the US ranked universities until 2024, to train faculty resources in the identified subject areas.



So far, only 90 students have been selected by US universities.



In June 2015, US and Pakistan established an education, science and technology working group (ESTWG) under the Bilateral Strategic Dialogue. The two sides had discussed proposals to establish a US-Pakistan Knowledge Corridor and the respective heads of governments had directed to intensify cooperation in this important framework to achieve ambitious priority targets of developing high-level human capital in Pakistan.



NSU admissions



The National Skills University (NSU) has announced its first admissions for diploma and short courses, with the process to take place in March. Admissions for the five undergraduate (BS) degree programmes will be offered from September.



The university plans to start the BS degree programmes in four categories, including automotive engineering, bio-medical engineering, electronics, building technology and environment and computer engineering.



Skills University Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr Muhammad Mukhtar on Sunday said that they will also launch a computer engineering programme with support for an artificial intelligence programme.



Talking to the media, he said that they will take the local information technology industry on board as well while adopting the artificial intelligence programme. He emphasised the future goals of the university and said that a skilled workforce will not only provide employment opportunities in the local industry, and suggested that they could also be exported to other Muslim countries.



"Pakistan has a small number of industries, so the focus will be on the other Muslim countries to adjust our educated skilled youth," he remarked.



He believed that it was the first university dedicated to skills in the country, can play a critical role to bridge the gap between the graduates and employers as academia-industry relation were need of the hour.



He said that all steps were being taken in collaboration with the HEC. The VC added that the curriculum of short courses and diplomas will be prepared by the university through experts, while the preparation of degree-level curriculum would be made possible with the cooperation of national and international level institutes providing quality technical and vocational education.



Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2020.