Rawalpindi, May 25, 2022 (PPI-OT):U.S. – Pakistan University Partnerships Grants Program (UPGP) follows the success of the University Partnership initiative, through which American universities in 20 partnerships with Pakistani universities received U.S. government grants to establish three-year bilateral relationships. The program enables departments of the universities which participated in the original partnerships described above to apply for grants of up to USD $50,000 for follow-on projects to share their knowledge with universities which were not part of the original partnership program.
FJWU as alumni of the initial partnership has won the grant under 2021 round and most recently for the 2022 round. The University Partnerships Grants Program 2020-23 (UPGP) is funded by the US Government and administered by the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP). The current project titled “Strengthening Teaching and Research Capacity in Pakistani Universities through Collaborative Partnership in Social Sciences” aimed to extend teaching and research capacity building of University faculty to different provinces including Federal Capital, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
The universities are selected on the basis that they have a large number of students and have a greater number of faculty members along with various affiliated colleges and institutes. Along with this, the current project extends to include newly developed universities with a high need of exposure to faculty development programs and have greater number of female faculty and students. In line with the dominant identified needs and priorities, developing and implementing an efficient and sustainable mechanism of teaching and research capacity building of major universities is on our agenda list.
Specifically, we are aiming at a) professional development for early career faculty and their mentorship; b) curricular revisions for establishing scientific and quality standards in selected social science disciplines; c) development of pedagogical skills for critical classroom engagement; d) research capacity building of faculty; e) development of research consortia and webinars for faculty and students across universities for sustained pedagogical teaching and research engagement.
For the current project “Strengthening Teaching and Research Capacity in Pakistani Universities through Collaborative Partnership in Social Sciences” (round 2022), Dr Saima Hamid (Vice Chancellor FJWU) is project advisor and trainer. The project grant is awarded to Dr Aneela Maqsood (Head of Dept. of Behavioural Sciences) as Principal Investigator. Dr. Adeela Rehman (Head of Dept. of Sociology, awardee of 2021 award) is Co-PI in the project. Dr. Shazia Hashmat (Communication and Media Studies) and Ms. Zainab Moin (Dept of Islamic Studies) are project team members and trainers. The project includes US trainers who were part of UPGP exchange programs. The partner universities include seven universities of three major provinces of Punjab, Federal Capital, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Following universities are included in the partnership program:
Partner Universities
University of Sargodha (UOS), Sargodha (Punjab Province)
Govt. College Women University of Faisalabad (Punjab Province)
Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University (PMAS- AAUR), Rawalpindi (Punjab Province)
Kohsar University Murree (Punjab Province)
Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU) Islamabad (Federal Capital)
Women University Swabi (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province)
Hazara University Mansehra (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province)
Fatima Jinnah Women University highly acknowledge the role of US Government and officials of the United States Educational Foundation in Pakistan (USEFP) for the grant award and their role in strengthening Pakistan Universities. We are highly thankful to US trainers for their participation in the program.
We are highly thankful to Vice Chancellors and focal persons of all partner universities for their collaboration and facilitation in the UPGP partnership program and its activities. The online opening ceremony is scheduled on May 31st at 6.00 pm (6.00pm to 7.30pm). The formal activities of the project will initiate after the formal opening of the project.
For more information, contact:
Fatima Jinnah Women University (FJWU)
Old Presidency, The Mall, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Tel: +92-51 9270050 – 54
Fax: +92-51 9271168
Email: publicadmin@fjwu.edu.pk
Website: www.fjwu.edu.pk