Ship Out to Shape Up: Pakistan Sending 15,000 Students Abroad

While many regions, states and countries are lamenting a drain of talent from their area, the Pakistan Higher Education Commission is taking an opposite strategy to strengthen the nation's science and research capacity: sending up to 15,000 of its brightest students to study selected disciplines abroad through its Foreign Ph.D. Scholarship Program.

Students may choose from selected programs in science, engineering and technology at universities in Austria, China, France, Germany, Netherlands or Sweden. In return, scholarship recipients must commit to serve in Pakistan for a minimum of five years after completion of study, preferably in an institution of higher education.

To make the offer even more attractive for young scholars, the Pakistan national government increased spending on research, science and technology by 6,000 percent in recent years and now offers several research grant programs through the Higher Education Commission to support young researchers, new faculty and university-industry research.

More information on Pakistan's strategy to become a more competitive player in the knowledge economy is available at: http://www.hec.gov.pk