According to the public relations and information center of the Vice-Presidency for science and technology affairs, before holding the first round of the Mustafa Prize, holding the science and technology exchange program (STEP) in Islamic countries was put on the agenda to realize the goals of the Mustafa science and technology foundation regarding the formation of a space for cooperation and interactions among scientists and experts of the Islamic countries.

In addition to explaining the science and technology discourse and developing the communication network of Muslim scholars, this program lays the foundation for increased synergy and development of scientific collaborations and scientific and technological activities in member countries of the Islamic cooperation organization.

In addition, the Mustafa science and technology foundation financially supports the applied studies and the connection of researchers and professors of the Islamic world to a network of prominent scientists, aiming to improve the scientific interactions at the international level.

The first round of the series of STEP meetings was held in January 2015 in Tehran along with holding the first round of the Mustafa Prize in the presence of 60 prominent scientists from Islamic countries and with the cooperation of Academy of Sciences of the Islamic World, Academy of Sciences, University of Tehran, Tarbiat Modares University and Red Cross Organization.

The second step of holding the STEP meetings is taken with the cooperation of Universiti Putra Malaysia and Academy of Sciences and the Young Scientists Network of Malaysia.

This event was held in the presence of Omar Yaghi as the main instructor and lecturer and Jackie Ying professor and was attended by more than 200 faculty members and researchers of the host country, and 26 prominent scientists in the field of nanotechnology from 12 countries of Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Iran, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, Oman, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, and Turkey.

In this meeting, in addition to strengthening and developing the network of scientists of the Islamic world, a suitable opportunity is provided to increase interactions. In this meeting, some of the areas of cooperation were discussed and evaluated, including joint scientific projects, cooperation on publication of scientific articles in valid international journals and use of administrative experiences of other countries.

The third round of STEP meetings was held along with the second round of the Mustafa Prize in various universities of Iran. In this round of STEP meeting, more than 90 scientists from 25 countries attended meetings in eight prominent universities of Iran to discuss topics related to the scientific and technological growth of the Islamic world.

The fourth round of the STEP meeting will also be held by the suggestion of Oman country in Sultan Qaboos University of Oman. This meeting will be held for four consecutive days in the presence of winners of the Mustafa Prize and top researchers and scientists of the Islamic world in three fields of energy, water, and health.

According to the executive document of the Mustafa Prize, Sorena Sattari (the vice president for science and technology affairs) and Mahdi Safarinia (president of the Pardis Technology Park) are the head and secretary of policy-making council, respectively.