Argentinian Ambassador to Pakistan Visits LUMS to Discuss Scientific Collaborations

To strengthen bilateral scientific cooperation between Pakistan and Argentina, the Ambassador of Argentina to Pakistan, His Excellency Leopoldo Francisco Sahores and Deputy Head of Mission, Camilo Ernesto Silberkasten, visited LUMS on Thursday, December 2, 2021.

Ambassador Sahores was welcomed by the LUMS leadership, including Vice Chancellor, Dr. Arshad Ahmad; Provost, Dr. Farhat Haq; Vice Provost, Dr. Tariq Jadoon; Dean, Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE), Dr. Sabieh Anwar and Director, Office of Advancement, Ms. Nuzhat Kamran.

Dr. Ahmad shared an overview of LUMS and research geared towards tackling the grand challenges of the world, currently underway at the University. Connections between academia and industry are essential, said Ambassador Sahores. “There is a lot of potential for collaboration between academic and research institutions in Argentina and Pakistan. We would like to explore and connect labs, institutions and universities to come together to help make agriculture in Pakistan more efficient.”

The Ambassador expressed interest in a project by Dr. Khurram Bashir, Associate Professor, SBASSE, titled, ‘Establishment of automated non-invasive plant phenotyping system and screening cotton germplasm for drought and/or heat stress tolerance.’ The project aims to address how optimising chemical application methods could improve stress tolerance and enhance crop production, by establishing a plant phenotyping facility in Pakistan to enhance crop yield under challenging environmental conditions.

Talking about research at LUMS, Dr. Ahmad said, “Through our strength drawn from the diversity and excellence in teaching, we want our presence to be felt in South Asia in the next 3 decades.” He explained that indigenous solutions are needed to solve the issues facing the world. “We need expertise from multiple areas to solve complex issues. At LUMS, we are trying to direct the productivity of our greatest asset — our faculty. We cannot work in silos with regards to our disciplines, and so we promote interdisciplinary programmes.”

This meeting and future collaborations with Argentina will further the untiring efforts of faculty to make headway in diverse areas, particularly agricultural biotechnology.

After the visit, the Department of Biology at SBASSE also hosted a webinar, “Cooperation in Agriculture Biotechnology between Argentina and Pakistan”, in collaboration with the Argentine Republic Ministry of Science and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Pakistan.