The Iranian minister of science, research and technology said the Islamic Republic invites scientists from all over the world to initiate a "collaborative program" with Iranian scientists.
“More than 35 years since the revolution, Iran is embarking on a new era of international interaction and cooperation. On the road to becoming a nation with scientific clout, Iran takes the role of science for peace, progress and dialogue very seriously,” Mohammad Farhadi wrote in an editorial in the journal Science on Friday, ISNA reported.
“Today, Iran is in a position to fine-tune its development model and move toward qualitative improvement of its science and technology.”
Farhadi also said scientific cooperation among countries is most effective by establishing direct contacts among scientists rather than through government-driven pacts.
"Hence, the Iranian government encourages and supports collaborations initiated by individual scientists from within the country or in any part of the world," he said.
“The prospects of collaboration in the natural sciences, humanities, engineering, medical and biosciences are all on the horizon.”
Farhadi further wrote that Iran wants its universities to become international in all aspects of science and education.
According to the science minister, Iran has about 4.5 million university students, 2,500 higher education institutions, 36 science and technology parks, 400 nongovernmental scientific associations, more than 800 research centers and 1,000 scientific journals.
Farhadi noted that Iranian scientists publish about 30,000 international scientific papers annually, a growth of at least 20-fold since the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
