Professor Dr Atta-ur-Rahman received 'Friendship Award of China’ to develop strong linkages between China and Pakistan

Former chairman of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) Professor Dr Atta-ur-Rahman will be conferred on the ‘Friendship Award of China’ in Beijing on September 29.

The award is the People’s Republic of China’s highest national award for foreign experts who have made outstanding contributions to the country’s economic and social progress. The formal award giving ceremony will be held in Beijing on September 29.

The award is being given for the tremendous contributions of Professor Atta-ur-Rahman to develop strong linkages between China and Pakistan in various fields of science and higher education.

He was responsible for initiating a major programme of academic collaboration and linkages with Chinese universities and other institutions as federal minister for science and technology and later as Higher Education Commission chairman. Under these programmes, some 400 students were sent to various Chinese universities and research institutions for PhD level training.

Professor Rahman has initiated strong collaborations with many Chinese Institutes. He signed an Executive Protocol for Scientific Cooperation between Chinese Academy of Sciences and Pakistan Academy of Sciences under which many workshops have been organised in Pakistan and China. These included a major international conference titled ‘IUC South Asia Summit Meeting on Vistas in Structural Chemistry’ during April 28-30, 2014, Karachi, Pakistan to celebrate the International Year of Crystallography.

Dr Atta-ur-Rahman has also initiated a nationwide project for training students in universities of Pakistan in Chinese language through video-conferencing. Dr. Atta-ur-Rahman’s book, ‘The Wondrous World of Science’ has been recently translated into Chinese language. Professor Atta-ur-Rahman has recently been awarded International Cooperation Award from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on January 10, 2014. He has 976 publications in several fields of organic chemistry including 720 research publications, 37 international patents, 151 books and 68 chapters in books published largely by major US and European presses. Prof. Rahman is the most decorated scientist of Pakistan, having won four civil awards including Tamgha-i-Imtiaz, Sitara-i-Imtiaz, Hilal-i-Imtiaz, and the nation’s highest civil award, Nishan-i-Imtiaz.