Umran S. Inan, the resident of Koç University, and a 2019 Mustafa (PBUH) Prize laureate, in a video interview with the Mustafa Science and Technology Foundation, said that COVID-19 is “a massive global problem,” confronting which requires the technology and knowledge of different countries around the world.
“I don’t think any institution, either in developed countries or developing countries, has the full range of resources to fight this alone,” he said.
Underscoring the importance of intramural interdisciplinary collaborations, he asserted that “also within the scientific centers, there is a great need for interdisciplinary and cross-boundary collaborations.”
As a “massively research-oriented university,” 15 to 20 research projects in Koc University are focused on COVID-19 right now, covering a broad range “from the development of test kits, to development of possible vaccines, and engineering efforts for ventilators,” he said.
According to Inan, due to the international connections, these projects were put together in the course of two months only.
“The online international connectivity is working quite well in this crisis and I think that research is the name of the game now,” he continued.
One of the salutary impacts of the current global crisis, he contended, is that a lot of brilliant researchers will stay local and the substantial brain drain will decrease.
Umran S. Inan was awarded the 2019 Mustafa (PBUH) Prize for his outstanding achievement: understanding of whistler-mode wave-particle interaction in near-Earth space, and the electrodynamic coupling between lighting discharges and the upper atmosphere.
MR/PR
Your Comment