Reza Malekzadeh, who was speaking to reporters on Wednesday on the sidelines of national meeting of research and technology deputies of universities of medical science, said that the institute would help create necessary infrastructures for researchers. “The Center’s budget will be allocated in the next year by the cabinet,” he added.
“The national meeting sought to draft a five-year plan where each university accepts responsibility to address specific issues in research,” Malekzadeh told the press. “Now, the main pressing issue in terms of doing research is shortage of resources to fund the research projects; according to the Fifth Development Plan, research budget should be 3 per cent of GDP,” he asserted.
On brain drain, Malekzadeh said that the lack of necessary infrastructure was the main contributing factor to the problem; “The country had had little success in providing this infrastructure; research and elites in industrial countries need advanced laboratories and budget to fund the research activity; when the conditions are not conducive to keep these elites, they would fly, trying to find better grounds to flourish,” said he, adding that “this is a problem we face these days.”
“Those flying overseas to find better places comprise 1-2 per cent of our top brains, which we easily deprive ourselves of; we are in desperate need of a plan to keep these human capital; NIMAD or other centers such as National Center for Development of Medical Research work to bring together these elite brains,” Malekzadeh said. “To establish a center and to collect elites we need budget; we have announced our needs to the Budget and Planning Organization, and wait for the next year to receive resources,” he added.
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