ICGEB-COMSTECH Scientific Cooperation Program
COMSTECH-ICGEB program, launched in January 2022, offering research grants, fellowships and visiting professorship scheme to organize workshops in emerging technologies for capacity building of OIC states in various aspects of biotechnology and genetic engineering.
Under this joint program, 11 Collaborative Research Projects (CRPs) have been funded in 2022-23, worth 200,000 euro. Out of these 11 grants, 5 received 20,000 euro each, while 5 granted 17,000 euro each, and 1 project got 15,000 euro. Some of these projects have been successfully completed and others, which are in progress will complete by August 2025. These grants were received by the researchers from Algeria (1), Egypt(1), Iran(1), Jordan(1), Kuwait(1), Malaysia(2), Pakistan(2), Tunisia(1), and Turkiye(1). The gender balance was given particular attention and 45% (5 projects) of women scientists have won the grants out of 11.
The second segment of this program was fellowships. This segment was divided into two parts – one short-term fellowships under which fellows joined ICGEB component laboratories to do their research work and, second one was to benefit from south-south mobility schemes.
In the short-term fellowships at ICGEB, 8 fellowships were awarded to the researchers from Cameroon(2), Egypt(1), Iran(1), Jordan(1), Nigeria(2), Pakistan(1). Five out of eight fellowships were granted to women scientists. Due to personal reasons, 3 fellows renounced the opportunity. Remaining 5 are in progress and will complete by August 2025.
In the second tier of fellowships offer – SMART Fellowships (south-south mobility), six fellowships were offered. Researchers from Cameroon, Egypt, Iraq, Nigeria, Sudan, and Tunisia secured these fellowships to join institutions for research work in Hungary, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Zimbabwe, and Turkey. Due to unforeseen reasons one fellow renounced the opportunity. Two female scientists won fellowships out of these six.
In the fellowships segment, a total 14 fellowships were awarded out of which 4 fellows renounced the opportunity, and 10 are in progress, out of which some have completed and the remaining will complete by August 2025.
The third segment of this joint program was to organize workshops in emerging technologies for the capacity building of OIC states. Three workshops were planned to be organized in Malaysia, Nigeria, and Pakistan. Two events (to be held in Nigeria, and Malaysia) have been organized successfully in February and August 2024 respectively, and the third event could not be organized.
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) is based in Trieste, (Italy), Durban (South Africa), and New Delhi (India). COMSTECH is an OIC Ministerial Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation based in Islamabad, Pakistan.
