Many higher education institutions in Pakistan offer PhD degree programmes in various fields of knowledge. Nevertheless, the well-established global norm of offering a postdoctoral position after ending a doctoral degree still needs to be realised in our part of the world. Customarily, the postdoctoral position is a logical step necessary for transforming a PhD degree holder into an independent researcher.
In principle, someone with a post- doctorate is eligible to attain a tenured academic position. Moreover, it is also possible for postdoctoral fellows to pursue non-faculty careers with duly optimised professional training they get while working in the capacity of a postdoctorate.
To introduce the postdoctoral fellowship programme in our country, there is a need to devise policies for the training scheme and support system.
This is necessary to set up a frame-work for postdoctorate, faculty members and administration staff, and to build linkages involving universities, other academic and research institutions in the country and industries that are active across the country.
Initially, the Office of Research Innovation and Commercialisation (ORIC) may be given an additional role to achieve institutional recommendation and support. It is essential to make policies pertaining to employment and training, and to establish industry-academia linkages, especially regarding technical issues that industries need to resolve with the help of academia.
With an increasing trend of enrolment in PhD programmes, it is necessary to motivate young scholars to adopt a path that might lead to a successful academic/research career. The postdoctoral programmes will lower the faculty burden, enhance the quality of research, and lead to an overall projection of industry-academia linkages and motivation of young researchers.
The state must consider supporting postdoctoral fellowship programmes in local universities in consultation with the trained professionals working in various institutions of higher learning.
DR INTIKHAB ULFAT
KARACHI
