THE COMMISSION

COMSATS’ Member States are entitled to the following key benefits:

• The Head of the Government of a Member State or his representative shall be an ex-officio member of the Commission, which is an apex body for the countries of the South to cooperate for the achievement of sustainable socio-economic development using scientific and technological resources;
• The Focal Person from the designated Ministry of the Member State shall be the ex-officio member of COMSATS Consultative Committee;
• The Head of an R&D institution of the Member State affiliated with COMSATS as part of its International Network of S&T Centres of Excellence, shall be a member of COMSATS Coordinating Council;
• Scientists and experts from Member States are eligible for selection to COMSATS’ panel of international consultants, i.e. COMSATS’ Technical Advisory Committee (TAC).

International Thematic Research Groups: Scientists of R&D institutions of the Member States can participate in and become members of the following International Thematic Research Groups of COMSATS that were established with the aim of conducting joint research in a multinational group format:

• Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs);
• Agriculture, Food Security and Biotechnology;
• Natural Products Sciences;
• Climate Change and Environmental Protection;
• Materials Science;
• Mathematical Modeling;
• Construction Materials; and
• Renewable Energy.

Distinguished Professorship Scheme: The R&D organizations and universities of Member States can benefit from COMSATS’ Distinguished Professorship Scheme, whereby they can invite lectures by a group of renowned scientists and professors. The international travel expenses of the Distinguished Professors are borne by COMSATS, whereas local hospitality is offered to them by the host institution.

Panel of Experts on Science, Technology and Innovation Policy: COMSATS’ Member States can seek free consultancy from COMSATS’ Panel of Experts on Science, Technology and Innovation Policy on formulating/reviewing their national policies related to science, technology and innovation.

• Participation in the bilateral technical cooperation projects with any of the internationally renowned Science and Technology Centres of Excellence of COMSATS;
• Participation in technology-transfer programmes as well as Collaborative Research Programmes (CRP) in partnership with international donor/development agencies (e.g. UNESCO, IFS, TWAS, ISESCO, COMSTECH, ICGEB, NAM S&T Centre, etc.);
• Free consultancy by COMSATS’ experts for establishing distance education and tele-health services to bring about socio-economic change for the remote and marginalized communities;
• Participation in high-profile Statutory body meetings of COMSATS, i.e. General Meetings of the Commission, Consultative Committee meetings and Coordinating Council meetings;
• Monetary assistance for scientific and technological research and development programmes;
• Facilitation for technology transfer (sale/purchase) arrangements.

• Financial, technical and administrative support for co-organizing joint international and regional workshops/seminars/conferences in accordance with the needs of the Member States to facilitate technical cooperation;
• Opportunities for expert exchange in order to build a critical mass of scientists, engineers and technicians necessary for accelerating socio-economic progress of the developing countries;
• Opportunities for short-term trainings as well as post-graduate studies (Masters and Ph.D.), in various disciplines, at International S&T Centres of Excellence affiliated with COMSATS;
  o   Post-graduate scholarships at COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Pakistan;
  o   Scholarships and training facilities at International Center for Chemical & Biological Sciences (ICCBS), Pakistan
  o   Scholarships and training facilities at International Center for Climate and Environment Sciences (ICCES), China.

• Opportunities for academicians of the Member Countries to join CUI as Visiting Faculty;
• Travel grants for scientists/researchers from the Member States to attend international workshops, conferences, seminars, etc.

• Selected R&D institutions of the Member States will receive free copies of COMSATS’ publications including:
  • COMSATS Newsletter (bi-monthly);
  • COMSATS’ Journal “Science Vision” (bi-annual);
  • COMSATS’ Series of Publications on Science and Technology;
  • COMSATS Annual Report
  • R&D institutions of the Member States can avail the opportunity of getting their scientific research content/papers published and their articles/activities reflected in the above-mentioned publications of COMSATS.
• Scientific institutions in the Member States will have access to the electronic databases of COMSATS.

In order to gain the membership of COMSATS and avail its benefits, the Member States have the following obligations:

The Founding Members signed an International Agreement to establish COMSATS. Subsequently, any developing country may join COMSATS by signing an accession agreement.

Each Member State of COMSATS is expected to provide financial support in the form of Annual Membership Contribution (AMC). AMC is maintained by COMSATS Secretariat as a ‘Trust Fund’, and is used to conduct the development activities, programmes, and projects, in collaboration with the international partners, in the contributing Member State. The AMC is voluntary and is in no way a pre-requisite for accession to COMSATS or continuation of Membership.

The most relevant Ministry or a high level government institution in the Member State is to be nominated to act as COMSATS’ Focal Point.

In order to keep close contact with COMSATS Secretariat for scientific collaboration, the Focal Points are required to nominate Liaison Officers for coordination with COMSATS Secretariat.

The Member States are expected to designate one or more R&D institutions as COMSATS’ Centre of Excellence. The corresponding Focal Point may convey to COMSATS the technological requirements of the country where cooperation is required and also the specified areas in which they can offer technology for sharing with other Member States.

The scientific community of a Member State is expected to provide inputs for COMSATS’ scientific publications.

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