H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry

Institutional development is an ongoing process without which scientific establishments can not sustain the rigor and quality of frontier research. H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry during the last three decades has achieved a number of milestones and remains at the pinnacle of excellence and sustained growth. Emphasis has been on raising the standards of training of scholars in economically relevant fields of chemical and biochemical sciences, and resources mobilization for the future growth in new disciplines of chemical sciences. The positive impact of this prime research center of Pakistan is far reaching and beyond the scope of this brief document.

The Institute has the single largest doctoral program in the country with over 250 Ph. D. students. The main areas of research and development and training of students include natural product chemistry, protein chemistry, pharmacology, computational medicinal chemistry, and plant biotechnology. The analytical, spectroscopic, computational, and other facilities present in the institute are at par to any good Institution in the world. The Institute also has an Industrial Analytical Center, which is providing analytical and consultancy services to over 350 industries in Pakistan.

A number of goal-oriented projects relating to the chemistry of natural products, protein chemistry, plant biotechnology and pharmacology of herbal medicines are being vigorously pursued which have led to the award of over 300 doctorate degrees, 50 M. Phil. degrees and 200 M. Sc. degrees and the publication of over 2,500 research papers that have earned international recognition.

The areas of research covered in the programs of the institute broadly relate to isolation, structural, synthetic and pharmacological studies on novel natural products as well as various aspects of protein chemistry. In order to ensure international standards the doctorate degrees are awarded to students of the institute on the recommendations of two eminent scientists from abroad after their assessment of the doctoral dissertations referred to them. The scientists trained in the Institute are now serving the country in industry and in various R & D and academic institutions. The quality of the researches being pursued in the institute are reflected from the fact that six Professors of the institute have been awarded D.Sc. degrees (Professor Salimuzaman Siddiqui: Leeds University; Professor Atta-ur-Rahman: Cambridge University, Gomal University and Karachi University; Professor Viqar Uddin Ahmad: Karachi University, Professor Zafar H. Zaidi: Leeds University, Professor Bina S. Siddiqui: Karachi University and Professor M. Iqbal Choudhary: Karachi University), a unique achievement for a research institute in a developing country.

The H. E. J. Research Institute of Chemistry is an integral part of the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences system (ICCS) along with the newly established Dr. Panjwani Center for Molecular Medicine and Drug Research, governed by the same Executive Board under the chairmanship of Vice Chancellor, University of Karachi.

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