LINKS BRADFORD AND PAKISTAN
FROM THE CHANCELLOR - IMRAN KHAN When I was asked to become the Chancellor of the University of Bradford I realised very quickly that this would be a partnership that would benefit both Britain and Pakistan. Prior to being offered the Chancellorship I had been on a social development tour across Mianwali in 2002, where I discovered the appalling reality of high-levels of youth unemployment. I resolved there and then to change this and make the youth of Pakistan employable. Parents in Pakistan are dedicated to their children receiving the best education possible. It s clear that with setting up Namal College for less privileged students and the opportunity for the youth of Pakistan to gain degrees from the University of Bradford that the next generation of Pakistan has had a brighter future paved for them. FROM THE VICE-CHANCELLOR - PROFESSOR MARK CLEARY The University has a long history of links with Pakistan that have been driven by our academic expertise and our international research, and by our links to local communities in the city of Bradford. For many years the University of Bradford has attracted students to study here from Pakistan. Often it is the first time they have been to the UK or even out of their own country and region. The University prides itself on having facilities in place to assist with these students arrival and time studying on our campus. Validating degrees to Pakistani students at Namal College and awarding degrees to graduates at the University of Bradford give us a real sense of pride that we are assisting the youth of Pakistan to gain the skills that they need for high-level graduate careers in their own country. Image Above: Chancellor Imran Khan and Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark Cleary 1 www.bradford.ac.uk 2
ACADEMIC LINKS Over 200 students from the University of Bradford s population are from Pakistan. Our most popular courses for them to study here are Business and Management, Computing and Engineering. The campus and city of Bradford provide both a vibrant home and multicultural atmosphere for them to be a part of, and many of them are sad to leave at the end of their studies. Our links with Pakistan don t stop at Bradford and our academic partners continue to grow each year. Namal College was made an Associate College of the University of Bradford in 2005. It is one of the fastest-growing colleges in Pakistan. It offers an exciting programme of cutting-edge courses in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of Bradford. Students graduating from the College do so with a University of Bradford degree and, like students studying at Bradford, graduate with enhanced skills ready for graduate employment. There are over 200 students studying University of Bradford degrees at Namal College from wide geographical areas including South Waziristan, Swat, Bannu, Lahore and Karachi as well as Mianwali and the surrounding district. Its first cohort of students will graduate in Summer 2012. The School of Health Studies at the University joined forces with the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre to offer a 3-year BSc (Hons) in Medical Imaging in 2007. The course provides students in Pakistan with the opportunity to be part of an exhilarating world of new technology in Diagnostic Medicine while on a fully paid training programme. Those students are based in the hospital in Lahore but registered with the University of Bradford and have full access to the University s online facilities to assist with their studies. The University has been working with and supporting the University of Azad Jammu & Kashmir for a number of years particularly with regards to their Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies, established in 2006. Fatima Jinnah Women s University s (FJWU) vision is to promote and facilitate studies and research in various fields of higher education. As part of the British Council Inspire Programme, the University s Department of Peace Studies has been working with FJWU to build capacity among female parliamentarians. Our academics also have links - in a range of roles including advisory, PhD examination and editorial positions - with various other universities in Pakistan including Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, Government College University in Lahore, and universities in Karachi and Peshawar. 3 www.bradford.ac.uk 4
RESEARCH LINKS Saira Saleem has recently returned to Pakistan after completing her PhD at the University of Bradford s Institute of Cancer Therapeutics. Saira was the first researcher from the Chancellor s Cancer Research Studentship and works at Imran Khan s Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre (SKMCH&RC), the only free cancer hospital in Pakistan which also requires its staff to be trained internationally in areas of research. Saira researched a particular stage of cancer with the hope of discovering and developing a new way of isolating and recovering specific proteins of therapeutic interest from cancer cell lines and biopsies. When Saira arrived in the UK it was her first time in the country and also her first time out of Lahore. She benefited from a great studying environment and working in the Institute of Cancer Therapeutics, which is recognised in Pakistan as having innovative research ideas and techniques in the field of cancer research. She will now return to SKMCH&RC to put her research into practice. 5 www.bradford.ac.uk 6
CULTURAL LINKS The University has not only embraced both academic and research links with Pakistan but has also developed excellent cultural links between the two countries. In the past we have welcomed Pakistani Sufi singer Sain Zahoor to our campus to perform a sell-out show. Winner of the 2006 BBC World Music Voice of the Year Award, his music emanates from the Sufi tradition and was honed singing in dargah (shrines) and mela in his native Ojara district of Pakistan. Sain s performance is just one of many cultural activities that the University has been proud to host. Others include an exhibition (Gup Shup), showcasing the work of Chitrali women s textiles, and The Influence of Heritage exhibition of work showcasing the work of Pakistani artists, Jamal Shah, Iqbal Hussain and Naheed Raza and British Pakistani Muslim artist Shahida Ahmed. Image: Sain Zahoor a sell-out performance, 2008. 7 FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Alison Darnbrough Director of Academic Administration & University Ambassador for South Asia Telephone: +44 (0)1274 233090 Email: a.darnbrough@bradford.ac.uk