On Monday, Dec. 17, 2018, Mr. Gerard Seeber & Ms. Elin Aryan from the Australian Embassy in Iran visited Sharif and had a meeting at the International Affairs Office with Dr. Arash Simchi, Director of International Affairs Office, and IA Office’s specialist, Mr. Pooria Soltani.
During the meeting, Mr. Seeber briefly talked about his new position as Commissioner of the Victorian Government, Trade and Investment in the Middle East. He also expressed his desire to strengthen the academic ties between the universities of Monash & Melbourne with Sharif University of Technology.
Dr. Simchi then shared his views on the subject, mainly that any agreement between universities should have specific steps toward each type of collaboration such as dual degree programs and faculty sabbaticals. He stressed that MoUs without a definite plan, are rarely implemented and have no value.
In the end, both parties agreed to follow up the matter until they reach satisfactory agreements.
It is worth mentioning that SUT currently has signed MoUs with four universities in Australia, including the University of Sydney, Curtin University, Melbourne University, and Macquarie University, the last two of which are implemented in terms of establishing a joint water research center and Ph.D. dual degree programs, respectively.