The Directorate for Science and Technology (DoST) at the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Institute of Integrative Biosciences (IIB) at CECOS University of IT and Emerging Sciences have signed an agreement to support biotechnology innovations and build local capacity for biotechnology entrepreneurship.
Under the agreement, IIB through government support will conduct capacity building workshops on selected regional campuses in order to train faculty and students in innovation and entrepreneurship and will also ‘incubate’ biotechnology innovations by offering them mentorship, laboratory bench-space, access to equipment and 0.5 to 2 million rupees in seed funding to every innovative startup idea. Applications are expected to open in early April, with startups from all over the country being eligible.
“Science and Technology is a fundamental ingredient for sustainable socio-economic development and it has cross-sectoral implications as well. We are always keen to work with competent partners to attain the full potential of our department”, said Zahoor Ul Haq, Director, DoST.
Dr Faisal Khan, an Oxford-trained scientist and Director of the Institute of Integrative Biosciences at CECOS said, “This is a bold step by the government and all credit goes to them. The global economy is already exploiting the great potential of biotechnology across different industries. This partnership will help us build a critical mass of scientists and innovators here in KP and put us on track to join the leading bio-economies of the world.”
