TEHRAN – Some 200 foreign researchers have been selected and recruited to communicate with top Iranian scholars for scientific activities, deputy head of the Vice presidency for Science and Technology, has said.

The program of “cooperation with non-resident Iranian experts and entrepreneurs” was implemented in 2018 in line with achieving the long-term goals of the scientific vision of the country and exploiting the scientific reservoirs of top Iranian graduates.

It has been designed to exchange knowledge, experience, and technological ideas inside the international affairs and technological exchange center and with the cooperation of universities, science and technology parks, knowledge-based companies, and selected growth and innovation centers.

Special residency is granted for a limited period of 3 to 10 years, depending on the scientific and professional background of the applicants. To date, more than 450 international professionals and entrepreneurs have been identified through this program, and over 200 applicants have been able to benefit from the “Special Residence” card, Mehr reported Seyed Ali Hosseini as saying on Friday.

Special residency is granted for a limited period of 3 to 10 years, depending on the scientific and professional background of the applicants. By receiving special residency, applicants enjoy all citizenship rights in Iran except participation in elections, he explained.

So far, some 30 Afghans have received special residency cards, he added.

The primary objective of this plan is establishing an effective interaction between experts and top science and technology centers of the country in the form of supporting research and technology projects, such as post-doctoral, sabbaticals, visiting and selected professors, creating technological businesses and occupation in knowledge-based companies and holding specialized workshops and lectures.

Iranian elites return 

Iran has also implemented a plan to return elites from the top 100 universities in the world. Through a national model, the facilities are provided for their return by creating technology parks, innovation centers, and factories.

The plan was able to bring back 2,000 Iranian students from around the world over a three-year period.

About 500 Iranian researchers have returned home over the past four years to transfer their knowledge and expertise to the country's universities, according to the vice presidency for science and technology.

With the support of the National Elites Foundation and Science and Technology Vice Presidency, universities, knowledge enterprises, technology parks, and incubators launched a plan titled ‘cooperation with Iranian expatriate entrepreneurs and elites’ in 2015.

The plan aims to attract Iranians abroad to share knowledge in different forms including postdoctoral research, research opportunity, and visiting fellows, in addition to being faculty members.

So far, it has attracted more than 500 prominent Iranian researchers living in other countries as faculty members of the country's top universities, which has had a significant impact on raising the quality of research, educational and international activities of universities.

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