HEC asks universities' faculty to submit research proposals till March 31

ISLAMABAD: The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has invited faculty members of public and private sector universities/degree awarding institutions to submit research proposals that can help address issues pertaining to Pakistan socio-economic development, in general and China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) in particular.

These proposals will be submitted through joint research by the universities of Pakistan and China, drawing upon research potential of academia on both sides.

According to HEC on Tuesday, the CPEC Collaborative Research Grant(CPEC-CRG) is one of the key components of recently launched HEC initiative namely "Academic Collaboration under CPEC Consortium of Universities".

The CPEC-CRG is anticipated to support promising research partnerships between Pakistan and China in specific priority thematic areas of national interest, utilising the research potential and past experience of China in resolving national challenges in these areas, it added.

The CPEC-CRG awards will be selected competitively using a merit-based independent, transparent evaluation and selection process based upon international standards. The amount of funding will range up to Rs 50 million, with a maximum project duration of three years.

In exceptional cases budget may go up to PKR 100 million.

The principal investigators (PI) must be a faculty member (PhD or FCPS/MCPS/FRCS) working on regular/contract basis (contract duration equivalent to project duration) in the Higher Education Institutions (public or private) of Pakistan that are members of CPEC consortium of universities, as per list provided on HEC website.

The project team may include researchers from one or more universities and must include at least one Co-PI from CPEC consortium member Universities of China.

Applications are prescribed template along with the requisite documents must be submitted via HEC online portal, i.e research.hec.gov.pk.

The students are asked for further information regarding proposal submission requirements and evaluation process, to call for proposal guidance available on http:/www.hec.gov.pk/site/cpec-crg.

HEC announced final deadline for full project of proposal submission on March 31.