Author: International Affairs

12^th June 2017: Dr. Frens Stoeckel, Director of DAAD in Tehran, gave a lecture to Sharif’s students on the opportunities provided by DAAD for Iranian students and scholars.  Afterward, Dr. Soeckel along with Mr. Maleki, Senior Advisor of DAAD Office in Iran had a meeting with Dr. Movaghar, Dean of International Affairs, Dr. Javadi Professor at Aerospace Engineering Department and Dr. Movahhedi, Vice-President for Research. During the meeting, the possible lines of cooperation between SUT and DAAD were discussed.  The parties decided to define the specific goal plan for the cooperation and hold a meeting in the near future.

The deadline for applying for DAAD scholarship for doctoral internships is August 31. Students should send the required documents to the Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) for the initial evaluation and MSRT will introduce the selected students to DAAD. For more information on the DAAD scholarship programs please use this link.

It is worth mentioning that DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austausch Dienst), German Academic Exchange Service, is one of the biggest international institutes working on academic exchange between German universities and prestigious universities all around the world.

Professor Harve Sabourin, Regional Director of Middle East Office of Francophone University Agency, along with Mr. Laurent Criquet, Cultural Attache of France Embassy, paid a visit to Sharif on June 10, 2017. In this meeting which was held at SUT’s International Affairs Office, Professor Fotuhi, President of SUT, and Professor Movaghar, Dean of International Affairs hosted the delegation. After a brief introduction of SUT by professor Fotuhi, the parties discussed the possible lines of cooperation. As Dr. Sabourin pointed out, Francophone University Agency is an international association consisting of more than 850 universities worldwide which facilitates the scientific and cultural interaction of these universities. To be a member of this international association, apart from professional considerations, universities must have some links with the francophone culture, which can be a French language department, some courses taught in French, some francophone professors among faculty members, or some ongoing projects with francophone universities. Professor Sabourin continued that because of SUT’s international profile and reputation, SUT is more than welcomed to join Francophone University Agency.
On the other side, Professor Fotuhi noted that many good professors of Sharif University, in different departments, have graduated from francophone countries, and French universities have been among the most longstanding scientific partners of SUT. Moreover, the French language is taught in SUT’s linguistic center and there are many ongoing projects and agreements between different prestigious French universities and Sharif.
Finally, SUT decided to apply for the Francophone University Agency to start its membership from next year. It is worth mentioning that members of the Francophone University Agency are able to get in touch with more than 850 universities worldwide and get support for scientific and cultural activities like seminars, conferences, student and faculty exchange and joint projects. Furthermore, currently the University of Tehran, Shahid Beheshti University, University of Tabriz, and Tarbiyat Modarres university are members of this international association.

Dr. Mahmoud Fotuhi, President of SUT, participated in the meeting of university presidents of countries involved in the “One Belt, One Road” initiative held on May 22, 2017 in Shanghai. In the meeting, Dr. Fotuhi gave a presentation of Sharif University of Technology, including its current achievements and future aspirations, to the participants consisting of university presidents and deputies of countries involved in the mentioned Initiative. On the sidelines of this meeting, Dr. Fotuhi and Dr. JIN Donghan, President of Shanghai University, signed an MoU for academic and research cooperation. In this MoU, the intention of both parties to promote the exchange of faculty and students, along with joint research activities and joint degree programs have been stressed.  Moreover, the Chinese party noted that since Iranian students of Shanghai University are among the best of its students, Shanghai University is more than willing to expand its scholarship quotas for Iranian students in the coming years.
It is worth mentioning that Sharif University of Technology was the only university from Iran invited to, and thus Iran’s sole representative in, this prestigious international Forum. Furthermore, a high-ranking delegation from National Natural Science Foundation of China (NNSFC) visited Sharif last month. “One Belt, On Road”Initiative, which has been introduced by President XI Jinping in 2013, is a revival of the historic Silk Road Trading Route and Iran is one of the 65 countries which will be along the Belt and Road.

On Tuesday, 16^th May, 2017, a high ranking delegation from Danieli Persia Company came to Sharif. In this meeting, which took place in SUT’s International Affairs Office, Dr. Movaghar, Dean of International Affairs, Dr. Massoumian, International Affairs Consultant, Dr. Mokhtari, Dean of Industrial Relations, Dr. Halali, Associate Professor at the Department of Material Science and Engineering, and Ms. Benmorad, Head of Strategy at International Affairs Office, hosted the delegation. The delegation consisted of Mr. Michael Cottin, Managing Director of Danieli Persia and Mr. Mehdipour, HR Manager of Danieli Persia. During the meeting, the previously signed MoU between SUT and Danieli was discussed and the parties decided to plan a long-term roadmap to implement the MoU.

The lines of cooperation discussed and agreed upon in this meeting were the establishment of an R&D center at Danieli Company with the cooperation and consultation of SUT, training the managerial team of Danieli Persia in MBA programs by SUT, and providing internship programs for SUT students at Danieli Company along with scholarship.

It is worth mentioning that Danieli Group, having its headquarter in Italy, is a leading company in the metal industry which is active and well-known worldwide. Danieli Persia is the official agency of Danieli in Iran which has been established recently and produces state of the art metal equipment. Moreover, SUT and Danieli Group have signed MoU last year.

Dr. Jane Knight, Associate Professor of Comparative, International, Development Education, at the University of Toronto, came to Sharif on May 3, 2017. Professor Movaghar, Dean of International Affairs, Dr. Massoumian, International Affairs Consultant and Dr. Ahmadian, Professor at Mechanical Engineering Department hosted Dr. Knight in this meeting. During the meeting, the participants discussed the internationalization strategies of Sharif University of Technology with Dr. Knight, as the expert in this field. The next IHES, Internationalization of Higher Education Seminar, which will be held at SUT in the 2018 was another topic of the meeting. Dr. Knight shared her ideas about Internationalization of SUT and the participants discussed the general framework of the next IHE Seminar with her.

In a meeting that was held on May 1, 2017 at SUT’s International Affairs Office, Dr. Ren Yi, the Executive Director of International Research Training Partnerships of Macquarie University came to Sharif. From SUT, Dr. Mokhtari, Dean of Industrial Relations, Dr. Massoumian, International Affairs Consultant, Dr. Mehrany, professor at Electrical Engineering department, and Ms. Benmorad, Head of Strategy at International Affairs Office participated in the meeting. During the meeting, the recently signed jointly supervised PhD agreement between SUT and Macquarie University was discussed. As Dr. Yi stated, Macquarie is keen to start this program and he asked SUT to introduce several PhD students to enter into this program. As he put it, this program is research-based. Following the meeting, Dr. Massoumian suggested the establishment of a joint research center at Sharif with the cooperation of Macquarie. She pointed to a similar cooperation that has happened with the University of Melbourne- another prominent Australian university. Dr. Yi accepted the suggestion happily but said that it can be done after SUT’s students come to Macquarie and do some research. This can help to build trust between the two institutions which can, in turn, lead to the establishment of such joint research centers.

Moreover, Dr. Khashayar Mehrany, professor at SUT’s Electrical Engineering Department, was chosen as the SUT’s representative to take care of issues related to SUT-Macquarie relationships. Finally, Dr. Yi said that in a near future, he will introduce Macquarie University and its opportunities for SUT’s PhD students through a webinar via SKYPE.

It is worth mentioning that SUT and Macquaire have already signed an MoU and a Dual Degree Program Agreement. The details of this agreement can be found here