GUST president participates in discussion panel
KFAS organizes symposium
KUWAIT CITY, Dec 16: In cooperation with the Arab Thought Foundation, the Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS) organized the 10th Annual Arab Report on Cultural Development Symposium, titled: “Innovation and Extinction – Arab Scientific Research: Its Reality, Challenges and Perspectives.” GUST President, Professor Walid Bouhamra, gave a presentation and participated in a discussion panel at the symposium that highlighted the importance of supporting the role of scientists to drive the research process and enhance the capabilities of science and technology.
Moderated by KFAS Director General, Dr Adnan Shihab Eldin, the symposium hosted many other esteemed researchers and scientists including the Arab Thought Foundation Director General Professor Henri Al-Oweit, Secretary General of the National Council of Scientific Research in Lebanon, Dr Moeen Hamzah, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Planning and Development, Dr Khaled Mahdi, Kuwait University Management Professor, Dr Moudhi Al Hmoud, Kuwait University Sociology Professor, Dr Mohammed Al Rumaihi, Kuwait University Assistant Vice President for Research, Dr Laila Maarouf, Executive President of the Energy and Construction Center in the Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research, Dr Osama Abdullah Al Sayegh.
In his presentation, Professor Bouhamra, noted that embracing methodological scientific research to address the problems and issues of modern living has become necessary and inevitable to explore the root causes of the problems and propose suitable solutions for them in order to drive the wheel of sustainable development in our Arab countries.
Professor Bouhamra added that scientific research is undoubtedly the cornerstone for the progress and development of nations and in view of the challenges and political, economic, social, environmental and cultural changes that weigh heavily in today’s unprecedentedly accelerating and dynamic world.
Professor Bouhamra pointed out that the symposium presented a good opportunity for debating and discussing different points of view and new ideas among Arab scholars and academics who are enthusiastic and eager to find solutions to today’s issues, and to highlight the role of scientific research, constructive thinking, creativity and innovation for the future. This entails the necessity of supporting the role of scientists, to drive the research process and enhance the capabilities of science and technology.
He stressed the importance of supporting scientific research in the Arab societies particularly through Arab international cooperation in joint projects with the best universities and research centers in the world. Such research ventures would culminate in notable scientific output which is a major indicator of scientific and cultural achievements. He appreciated the KFAS experiment with international programs and agreements, particularly with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as the best example of the importance of joint research and the resulting added value. The cooperation yielded major projects and gave the opportunity for new project suggestions in the areas of water, energy, environment and health.
Professor Bouhamra also shed light on the major challenges facing Arab researchers in international research cooperation, the most important of which are intellectual property and patents rights, defining the criteria of the rights in accordance with the performance and achievement of the research, variation of expenditure and funding rate, as well as highlighting each researcher’s role when publishing the scientific research according to scholarly performance.
GUST as a university has always been keen on supporting scientific research within its faculty, and even more so today. The university aims to provide its faculty with every opportunity to strengthen and develop research collaborations through KFAS as well as annual fellowship programs with affiliated universities internationally.