According to the public relations and information center of the Vice-Presidency for science and technology affairs, Sorena Sattari, the vice president for science and technology affairs, emphasized the importance of demand-oriented and purposeful research on the ceremony for honoring the top researchers and technologists of Shahed University, expressing: at the beginning of the Islamic Revolution, we had about 170,000 students, out of which about 100,000 students were studying abroad. However, today, with four and a half million students inside the country, there are only 49,000 students studying abroad. Evaluation of these proportions reflects the same academic growth and maturity in the country, and how we have been able to experience academic growth.

He pointed out the need of more modern measures by universities, stating: in the oil economy, there are always complicated government structures and a heavily regulated system in terms of personnel and manpower. Moreover, there are numerous legal barriers, which have made research work extremely difficult. As such, the university must deal with these issues by establishing a new structure.

University Must Be a Part of the Culture of the Society

The vice president for science and technology affairs mentioned that lack of ability to gain the mission designed for the country by universities, affirming: while proper developments have been made in science and articles, we cannot say that universities are a part of the society.

The president of the national elites foundation emphasized the importance of the link between university and society, claiming: the university can be part of the culture, society and the economy of the people, when the role of the university in the country is determined. Unfortunately, with all the positive events we saw in the research, universities in the country have not yet been able to find their place.

The First Problem of Research Is Definitely Not Money

Sattari mentioned the current problems in the research field of the country, stating: the first problem of research is definitely not money and research supported with state money is not applicable. However, interactions must be bilateral, meaning that the problems of the country must be solved with the help of research.

He also expressed the considerable costs of research, declaring: unfortunately, high costs are spent on research in the country, which can be said that these costs usually include repeated infrastructure. As we know, research institutes, especially government-owned ones, are affiliated with organizations that hold a bunch of laboratory equipment. Therefore, if we want the university to be a part of society, we must correct our approaches.

Sattari also expressed: during the first days, there was no issue like knowledge-based companies in the Vice-Presidency. Today, these companies have a sales rate of approximately 60 thousand billiard.

He continued: there are about three thousand and 800 active knowledge-based companies and thousands of startups and innovative youth in the country who do not benefit from state finances and only rely on their ideas and technological abilities. This occurred by forming the ecosystem of innovation.

Dependence Is the Biggest Mistake in the Path of Research and Production

The president of the national elites foundation expressed that without a doubt, the government must invest in basic research, asserting: academics, researchers, and technologists must realize that a research that leads to a product will definitely not be applicable with the state money. In fact, this false belief is the biggest mistake in research and product manufacturing not because of spending money but due to the nature of research that cannot growth under the financial support of government.

Sattari emphasized the importance of creating an innovation ecosystem at the heart of the community, affirming: we must be able to generate an ecosystem in the society the origin of which is university and can growth by injecting human resources into it.

Sattari pointed out the demands of the public regarding the issue of research, asserting: people do not care about having the fourth rank in the world in terms of nanotechnology. What is important to them is that there are more than 300 companies in the field of nanotechnology and more than 1400 billion tomans earned from selling nano products. In addition, they care about the production of medical and pharmaceutical products more than before and being free from import of products.

He also marked: we must talk about an industry that does not depend on foreigners and would not collapse at the time of sanctions. This is exactly what has been achieved by knowledge-based companies, that were able to act correctly during sanctions since they rely on their own thoughts and ideas and depend on nobody.

The vice president for science and technology affairs stated: an ecosystem must be created for new ideas in the field of research, education, and industry. In addition, we must have a new attitude toward research and academic affairs of the country in order to prevent the exit of elites from the country.

According to this report, the top researchers and technologists of Shahed University were honored and the clean room of the technical university was opened in the presence of Sorena Sattari, the vice president for science and technology affairs, and Esmaeil Ghaderifar, head of the strategic technologies development center.