ATU President meets the Syrian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research

Report by the Directorate for International Academic Cooperation–

During the visit ATU President, Dr Abdollah Motamedi, and a delegation of academic officials from Iran had to Syria in June 2023, the Iranian delegation met the Syrian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

In his meeting with Dr Bassam Ebrahim, the Syrian Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, ATU President, Dr Abdollah Motamedi, highlighted the importance of strengthening the cooperation between ATU and Syrian universities.

Apart from the Deputy Minister for Science, Research and Technology, and Deputy Minister for HeaIth and Medical Education, the Iranian delegation consisted of ATU President; Presidents from the University of Isfahan, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, and Imam Khomeini International University; the Charge d'Affaires in the Iranian Embassy in Damascus; Iran's Cultural Adviser in Syria; and Director-General of Foreign Students at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

During the meeting, held at the Syrian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the parties agreed to form joint committees to follow up and implement the MoUs signed between the universities in the two countries and increase academic partnerships. 

The two sides also pointed to the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran's visit to Syria and the positive outcomes it will have for the two counties and emphasized the importance of implementing the agreements signed and exchanged during the travel.

Besides, the parties discussed the grounds for cooperating in the areas of higher education and scientific research and agreed to conclude Sisterhood Agreements, with regard to existing regulations, for the exchange of scholarships at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Academic mobilities of students and professors from the two countries to participate in academic and cultural activities and training courses, especially for the students and professors at Persian Language Departments in Syrian universities, were among the other topics discussed by the parties.