The Pakistan Academy of Sciences () (

abbreviated An abbreviation () is a shortened form of a word or phrase, by any method including shortening, contraction, initialism (which includes acronym), or crasis. An abbreviation may be a shortened form of a word, usually ended with a trailing per ...

as: PAS), is a

learned society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

s, which described itself as "a repository of the highest scientific talent available in the country." Established in 1953 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

, the academy acts as a consultative forum and scientific advisor to the

Pakistan government The Government of Pakistan () (abbreviated as GoP), constitutionally known as the Federal Government, commonly known as the Centre, is the national authority of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, a federal republic located in South Asia, cons ...

on important aspects on the affairs of all forms of

– the

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

and physical sciences. Regulating affairs of by its Charter and laws approved by the fellows, the academy is governed by a council that is chaired by its

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

. Due to its utmost importance, the

fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

of the academy is extremely restricted, only to the scholars of the high merit who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of scientific knowledge.

History

The idea of establishing the academy was mooted in November 1947 when the first national education conference was organized by the

Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

Sindh Sindh ( ; ; , ; abbr. SD, historically romanized as Sind (caliphal province), Sind or Scinde) is a Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Pakistan. Located in the Geography of Pakistan, southeastern region of the country, Sindh is t ...

, which was inaugurated

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...

– the founder and the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. No immediate actions were taken at that time, though the discussion to establish the academy continues between the senior scientists and the

. After an extensive discussion took in 1948–53, the academy was established and materialized in a concession reached by the senior scientists and government, with the assistance from the foreign scientists and the foreign learned societies. Many scholars and scientists emigrated from India to Pakistan in the 1950s that would give foundation to the academy, including

Salimuzzaman Siddiqui Salimuzzaman Siddiqui, ( ; 19 October 1897 – 14 April 1994) was a Pakistani organic chemist specialising in natural products, and a professor of chemistry at the University of Karachi. Siddiqui studied philosophy at Aligarh Muslim Univers ...

, Nazir Ahmed, and Raziuddin Siddiqui. Eventually, a draft was written by Raziuddin Siddiqui and approved by the council in 1950. After considerable planning and deliberations, the inauguration of the academy was fixed, and it was established on 16 February 1953 by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Khawaja Nazimuddin Sir Khawaja Nazimuddin (19 July 1894 – 22 October 1964), also spelled Khwaja Nazimuddin, was a Pakistani politician and statesman who served as the second Governor-General of Pakistan from 1948 to 1951, and later as the second Prime Minister ...

who was the chief guest at the inauguration. The ceremony took place at the

University of the Punjab The University of the Punjab (UoP) is a public university, public research university in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded in 1882, its international influence has made it one of the most prestigious universities in South As ...

and was witnessed by a gathering of over 1,000 scientists, including from the

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(

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

(India), Academy of Science and Letters (

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(

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), Academy of Sciences (

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

), and

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

. Dr. Nazir Ahmed delivered an honorary message to Prime Minister Nazimuddin for helping the cause of the academy. At first, the academy was sited in

and considerations were made to establish the headquarters of the academy in

—a temporary

federal capital A federal capital is a political entity, often a municipality or capital (political), capital city, that serves as the Seat of government, seat of the federal government. A federal capital is typically a city that physically encompasses the offices ...

at that time. An additional office was established in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

to support scientific activities in

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

. In 1965, the headquarters of the academy was permanently shifted to

Islamabad Islamabad (; , ; ) is the capital city of Pakistan. It is the country's tenth-most populous city with a population of over 1.1 million and is federally administered by the Pakistani government as part of the Islamabad Capital Territory. Bu ...

the federal capital and was located near the

Quaid-e-Azam University Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU), founded as the University of Islamabad, is a Public university, public research university in Islamabad, Pakistan. Founded as the University of Islamabad in 1967, it was initially dedicated to postgraduate educat ...

until 1976. In 1976, the headquarters was shifted to a rented building in Islamabad, with financial assistance from the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF). The rented building contained the library of the academy, a committee room, office rooms for the Secretary, the editor and officestaff, and a couple of guest rooms for visiting fellows. Special initiatives taken by senior scientists in 1978,

Zia-ul-Haq granted a federal land for the purpose of academy's headquarters near the

Constitution Avenue Constitution Avenue is a major east–west street in the Northwest, Washington, D.C., northwest and Northeast, Washington, D.C., northeast quadrants of the city of Washington, D.C., in the United States. It was originally known as B Street, and ...

by allocating ₨. 700 million which commissioned CDA Engineering for designing and constructing the headquarters. In 1979, the headquarters of the academy was inaugurated.

Fellowships

The Fellowship of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences is dominated by the

physical sciences Physical science is a branch of natural science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a "physical science", together is called the "physical sciences". Definition ...

, and has 132 fellows . Due to its importance, the Fellowships of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences are tightly restricted to the scientists who met the criteria of their qualifications. Only scientists of the highest merit, who have made outstanding contributions to the advancement of scientific knowledge, are elected as Fellows of the academy. Not more than five fellows can be elected during any one year; the maximum permissible number of fellows is one hundred. Majority of the fellows of the academy are Pakistani scientists eminent for their original contribution to science, who are elected by the General Body according to the procedure laid down in the bylaws. The foreign fellowship has been bestowed upon the foreign scientists of eminence who have made contributions towards scientific development in Pakistan in one way or the other.

Research

The academy has a rich tradition of organizing conferences promoting the work of researchers from multiple fields of science. The academy's Lahore chapter recently held a National Research Conference in Lahore on 29 and 30 June 2007.

Publications

The academy regularly publishes a quarterly journa
The Proceedings of the Pakistan Academy of Sciences
since 1963 that is distributed to international scientific organizations and universities by subscription and on exchange basis.

Past Presidents

References

Inline citations Bibliography * *

External links

*The academy is a signatory o
IAP Statement on the teaching of evolution
{{authority control Educational organisations based in Pakistan Learned societies of Pakistan Science and technology in Pakistan Scientific organisations based in Pakistan National academies of sciences 1953 establishments in Pakistan Scientific organizations established in 1953 Pakistan Academy of Sciences Scientific societies based in Pakistan