In a virtual meeting held on September 12, 2023, members of the International Committee of the Young Scientists Festival engaged in a productive discussion with Dr. Saeid Shojaei, the Director of International & Academic Cooperation Directorate of University of Tabriz, to explore collaboration opportunities between the two esteemed institutions.
Dr. Moaddab, the YSF Executive Manager, provided an overview of the festival’s activities over the past six years. He emphasized the festival’s core objective of promoting science and facilitating the commercialization and production of innovative ideas.
YSF Executive Manager also highlighted the festival’s international initiatives, including the establishment of the UNESCO Basic Sciences and Technology Club. He noted that participants in the international section of the festival may include a foreign expert or consultant in their teams, and they receive 20% additional funding compared to national winners.
Dr. Moaddab expressed the festival’s readiness to organize educational events and foster constructive interactions and scientific collaborations with international colleagues from Tabriz University.
Dr. Saeid Shojaei, the Director of International & Academic Cooperation Directorate of University of Tabriz, commended the Young Scientists Festival as an excellent platform that incentivizes students in the field of basic sciences. He emphasized the significance of science festivals in identifying and nurturing young talents in this domain.
During the meeting, Dr. Shojaei emphasized that the University of Tabriz serves as the focal point for Iran’s scientific collaboration with Turkey, underscoring its pivotal role in facilitating and fostering mutual cooperation between the two countries. He shared that the university has successfully organized three national announcements for research projects of both Iran and Turkey, known as “Shams Tabrizi Call MSRT-TUBITAK Joint Research Program”. This joint effort is supported by the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology (MSRT) of the Islamic Republic of Iran and Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBİTAK). Dr. Shojaei further revealed that Tabriz University is preparing to host the fourth announcement in the near future.
As a result of this fruitful meeting, several decisions were made, including the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the University of Tabriz and YSF, the implementation of necessary measures to facilitate collaboration between the festival and TÜBİTAK, the participation of distinguished Turkish researchers in the festival, the organization of international educational events, the invitation of prominent professors from Tabriz University to serve as evaluators of the Young Scientists Festival, and extending invitations to the president and/or vice presidents of TÜBİTAK to participate in the 7th YSF.
This new alliance between the University of Tabriz and the Young Scientists Festival holds great promise for fostering scientific advancement, knowledge exchange, and promoting the achievements of young scientists on an international stage.
