Prof Dr Asghar Zaidi, the Vice Chancellor of GC University Lahore, sees the critical role of educational institutions especially universities to get Pakistan out of the social, political and economic crisis.

“A nation or a country sans excellence in research and innovation can’t progress. The kind of situation Pakistan is passing through, a strange kind of chaos and severe economic crisis; it’s time for educational institutions to do self-accountability to see where they lacked and how they can play their role now to improve our economy and intellect,” says Prof. Zaidi.   

He was addressing the 17th National Symposium on Frontiers of Physics that began on Thursday began at the Government College University Lahore with deliberations on new technologies and challenges for Pakistan in the field of science.

Nobel Laureate Sir Roger Penrose is also scheduled to address the three-day symposium organized by the GCU Physics Department in collaboration with the Punjab Higher Education Commission and the Pakistan Academy of Sciences.

GCU VC Prof. Asghar Zaidi called upon the participants to also discuss the societal impact of research being presented at the conference.

Dr Shoaib Ahmad from National Centre for Physics seconded Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr Asghar Zaidi said something wrong happened which detracted us from science and education, and undermined the role of educational institutions.  

In his keynote address, noted plasma physicist and mathematician Prof. Dr. G. Murtaza noted that the world of science was witnessing rapid developments and knowledge was accumulating at very fast pace and physicists are making great progress in uncovering the deep mysteries of nature. He explained the recent major breakthroughs in physics which have resulted in the development of quark model of matter. He explained to the students the technological advancements which have won the Nobel Prize in the last two decades.

GCU Dean Prof. Dr Raiz Ahmad said a large number of physicists from Pakistan’s leading universities and R&D organizations are participating in this three-day event which will have more than 20 technical sessions on different topics including condensed matter physics, high energy particle physics, nanotechnology, cosmology, atomic & molecular physics, lasers, plasma physics & controlled fusion.

About 50 physicists are presenting talks and papers at the symposium highlighting the recent important developments in physics and the impact of these developments on various aspects of our lives.