Damascus University researches can serve society even during crisis, but this requires active management
Higher Education Minister has underscored that linking scientific researches with needs of society is a key issue for developing countries, including Syria which is currently undergoing a crisis.
Dr. Mohammad Amer al-Mardini, who was speaking during the opening ceremony of the 2nd workshop on ‘ linking Damascus University researches with society’s needs and aspirations’, clarified that the main goal of the higher education system and scientific research centers and institutes in Syria is to link results of the scientific researches with reconstruction process.
“Annually, Damascus university, which includes more than 2000 staff members , carries out about 1800 researches,” Dr. Jamal al-Abbas, Deputy Chancellor of Damascus University for Postgraduate Studies and Scientific Research Affairs told the Syriatimes e-newspaper’s reporter on the sidelines of the five-day workshop kicked off on December 7.
5000 theses
He indicated that annual spending on direct funding for scientific researches in Damascus university has reached up to 100.000.000 Syrian pounds (SYP), whilst the annual spending on equipping libraries of faculties has been estimated at SYP 300-400 million over the past few years.
“Some projects are being funded through cooperation programs with the Higher Scientific Research Commission and international and local cooperation programs via Higher Education Ministry,” Dr. al-Abbas said.
He added that 5000 PhD and Master’s theses are understudy in Damascus university.
“In 2013, about 1000 master’s theses plus 120 PhD theses were done besides researches of university staff members. Some of the researches include solutions to a lot of society’s problems in several sectors,” Dr. Abbas asserted, pointing out that the workshop aims to encourage rapprochement between Damascus University and government ministries.
” It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness,” he said.
400 participants
About 400 persons representing the public and private sectors and Damascus University took part in the workshop that discussed six main topics related to climate and geological changes and environmental impacts, investment of up-to-date technology in local industry, Renewable and alternative energy, developing food and medicine industries and improving medical and dental care, regional planning and sustainable development, cultural and political building of society and the effect of mass media on it , and legislative and administrative development.
In fact, 18 hours were not enough to discuss proposals presented by the participants on the above mentioned topics. So, the details of each proposal were written and submitted to the secretariat of the workshop. The proposals serve society during the ongoing crisis and in the post-crisis stage.
Dr. Nayef al-Yaseen, a professor at the Faculty of English Literature, sees that it is extremely important to build on the workshop and to use its outcomes to further develop the strong relationship between Damascus University and other government institutes and ministries.
“The workshop touched on a key issue to develop our society on sound scientific principle. Scientific research in principle is not only theoretical and unless other sectors of our society benefit from this scientific research it remains only theoretical and nobody benefits from it,” he added.
Win-win relationship
Dr. al-Yaseen pointed out that it is a key function of Damascus university to keep communicating with other government ministries to see their needs. ” We know that many sectors in the economy, the culture, the media and etc.. need scientific researches to develop their own work . Damascus University’s researchers and professors can provide their expertise in developing other areas of society.”
He stressed that relationship between the Damascus University and other ministries can be profitable to both sides and to the society in general. ” Many companies rely on researches done at Damascus university; however this put a great responsibility on the university which needs to develop its technical expertise and infrastructure that are needed for a number of industries. So, the contribution of the private sector is valuable and its already there. “
According to him, cooperation between Damascus university and private sector is a win-win relationship because it is based on agreement. ” Since in Syria we have a large public sector so it is even more important to develop the cooperation between public universities and the other stockholders in other public sectors.”
Joint researches
On her part, Dr. Saja Taha al-Zoubi, Head of Socio-Economic Studies Research Department at the General Commission for Scientific Agricultural Research underlined the need for coordination between public universities.
“There are no joint researches between universities of Damascus, Aleppo and al-Baath. the cooperation between the universities is restricted to exchanging visits,” she said, noting that it is important to benefit from private sector’s offers to fund some researches in order to serve society.
She presented several proposals in the workshop, one of them is to start studying the impacts of the crisis on the environment in order to reach solutions.
“The absence of supervision has caused many problems in many sectors including water and agriculture,” Dr. al-Zoubi added, asserting the importance of activating and evaluating development projects in all areas.
Regional planning
Eng. Abeer Arkawi, Deputy Dean of Architecture Engineering Faculty, sees that regional planning is very important to achieve development and integration at economic and social levels.
“Syria has established the Regional Planning Institute which carried out studies at local and regional levels. These studies were done in cooperation with all concerned circles.. But now we need in-depth studies to be done as soon as possible to overcome the problems,” she added.
Eng. Arkawi stressed that there are a lot of studies at regional level in the faculty, adding that there is a cooperation between the faculty and concerned ministries but it must be more active.
“In the faculty of Architecture Engineering, we are carrying out projects needed by the General Housing Establishment according to an agreement between the two sides. This year, I am supervising researches on Hama position and St. Paulus. These researches are important for the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums ,” She concluded.
To sum up, The real investment of scientific researches in Syria requires sustainable partnership between outcomes of researches and market’s needs.
Reported by: Basma Qaddour