Ramallah - "Jerusalem" dot com - The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research organized a national workshop to discuss ways to develop and strengthen the scientific research system and its outputs in Palestine, under the auspices of Prime Minister Dr. Muhammad Shtayyeh, with the support of the Palestine Islamic Bank , and with the participation of the Minister of Higher Education, Prof. Dr.. Mahmoud Abu Mowais, and the Undersecretary of the Ministry, Dr. Basri Saleh, and the General Manager of the Palestine Islamic Bank, Dr. Emad Al-Saadi, a number of researchers and specialists, and representatives of higher education institutions.

In this context, Abu Mowais conveyed to the audience the greetings of President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Dr. Muhammad Shtayyeh, pointing out that the strategy of the Ministry of Higher Education focuses on supporting and promoting productive scientific research, so that the ministry prepared a national document for the priorities of scientific research, and worked on the crucible of scientific research in a research system with effective outputs and an influential scientific product.

He continued: "We established the Palestinian research network and it was linked to the Arab network, and a fund was formed to support scientific research, in order to create a research base for academic and non-academic institutions, to support research related to national research priorities, in addition to completing an integrated project proposal for the National Center for Science and Research, and we are proud of the excellence of Palestine At the Arab level in the quality of scientific research.

Abu Mowais spoke about the Ministry's efforts in terms of aligning educational outputs with the needs of the labor market, as a number of useless educational programs were closed, existing programs were updated, and other modern programs were introduced that are in line with market needs and keeping pace with the industrial revolution, as well as supporting technical education to enhance enrollment rates. with it.

The Minister touched on the most prominent obstacles that impede the scientific research process in Palestine. Chief among them is the scarcity of money, and the obstacles imposed by the occupation, including restricting the travel of academics and researchers, obstructing the import of materials and equipment, and direct attacks on higher education institutions.

In his speech, Al-Saadi said that the development of scientific research in Palestine constitutes a national necessity as it is the basis for prosperity and achieving sustainable development in Palestine, indicating that the Bank's support for this national workshop comes within the framework of a strategic vision to support the scientific research process, which is a cornerstone of the Bank's annual plan for social responsibility. It annually launches its prize for scientific research, which aims to promote this culture and encourage researchers to produce original research that adds new value to knowledge.

Al-Saadi called for concerted efforts from various sectors to support the scientific research process so as to achieve integration of roles, increase research production, and reduce the gap between scientific research outputs and national priorities and needs, thanking Minister Abu Mowais and all those in charge of these efforts.

For his part, the Undersecretary of the "Higher Education" spoke about the many starting points that the Ministry is working on to develop the scientific research system in Palestine, pointing to the focus of the Higher Education Law No. 6 of 2018 on supporting and promoting scientific research as a priority, as well as in the sectoral plan for higher education and scientific research.

Saleh referred to the development of a policy "framework" to define national priorities, governance procedures, and scientific research and publishing policies, as well as moving forward in developing the National Research and Quality Fund system, developing the national research network, activating Palestine's presence in the Arab Network and investing in it, developing the national research infrastructure, and investing in Palestine's agreements with the countries of the world as a framework for achieving the contents of developing scientific research, as well as developing a database on researchers and research results.

The workshop included many important axes and sessions. In the first session, Deputy Saleh spoke about the Ministry's directions for developing the scientific research system, while the Director General of Development and Scientific Research in the Ministry, Dr. Shaher Zyoud on the reality of scientific research in Palestine, and Dr. Muhammad Abu Eid on leadership, innovation and patents and their relationship to scientific research.

The second session was moderated by Dr. Owner Zaben The director of the Erasmus office in Palestine, Dr. Abdul Karim Daraghmeh about partnerships with international institutions and their role in supporting scientific research, especially at the level of programs and projects, while Dr. Emad Brik of An-Najah National University talked about promoting and activating the status of Palestine in international programs, as well as the President of Nablus University for Vocational and Technical Education, Dr. Rizk Selimieh about the Sesame Accelerator Project and its role in supporting research activities.

In the third session, which was moderated by Dr. Saed Al-Khayyat from Palestine Technical University "Khadoori", the Executive Director of the Arab Organization for Research and Education Networks, Eng. Youssef Turman on the Arab and international networks and the opportunities to benefit from them, while the Director of the Technology Transformation Department at the Ministry of Higher Education, Munther Salahat, touched on the role of national networks for scientific research and databases, while Dr. Ahmed Al-Dahdouh from the Applied College of Science and Technology in the Gaza Strip about the projects related to linking research repositories and their role in promoting scientific research.

The fourth session was moderated by Dr. Abdul Karim Daraghmeh, and the head of the National Commission for Accreditation, Quality and Quality for Higher Education Institutions, Dr. Muammar Shteiwi, about the classification of universities and their role in promoting scientific research, while Dr. Mazen Qumsiyeh from Bethlehem University spoke about the role of scientific research in achieving the goals of sustainable development. Malek Zaben about students' graduation projects and the need to link them to research priorities, while Dr. Bassam Al-Tayeh from the Islamic University to local scientific journals and their role in supporting scientific research.