The British Council has organised a three-day International Researcher Links Workshop in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The theme of this workshop is ‘Building Sustainable and Peaceful Cities: Bangladesh in Comparative Global Perspective’.
Researcher Links is an important new initiative by the British Council that connects early career researchers from the UK and internationally to build long-lasting research collaborations. Forty young and talented researchers from the UK and Bangladesh are participating in this workshop.
In Bangladesh the British Council aims to use this workshop as a platform to create strong bi-lateral engagement with the UK, connecting young researchers, providing them the opportunity to learn from each other’s work, fostering collaboration, inspiring the creation of new projects and joint research studies.
The inaugural ceremony of the international Researcher Links Workshop was held on Tuesday, 4 March 2014. The workshop will run until 6 March 2014 at the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel, Dhaka.
Mr. Nurul Islam Nahid MP, Honourable Minister for Education, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh inaugurated the workshop as the Chief Guest. Nick Low, Deputy British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, attended the event as the Special Guest. Professor Dr. A K Azad Chowdhury, Chairman (State Minister), University Grants Commission of Bangladesh, presided over the session.
The British Council, in partnership with the Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath, UK and the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), has organised this workshop.
Sanjiv Malhotra, acting Director of the British Council Bangladesh, welcomed the participants and gave a brief outline of the programme and Dr Mustafa K Mujeri, Director General, BIDS gave the vote of thanks to the participants.
Many eminent researchers, academicians, policy-makers, influencers, think-tanks, entrepreneurs, development partners, and members of the donor community were present at the inauguration.
Dr S M Zulfiqar Ali, Senior Research Fellow, Bangladesh Institute for Development Studies (BIDS); Dr Graham K Brown, Associate Dean (Research), University of Bath, UK were also present at the event.
International collaborations are useful for cross-border research programmes fostering focus on mutually beneficial areas. This initiative will also help to improve the quality of research by encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration in all areas of research, including the Arts and Humanities, and Social Sciences.
The main objective of this three-day international workshop is to utilise the common ground of shared research interests to provide a forum for young researchers from the UK and Bangladesh to interact, share and learn from each other. This will also enable them to make initial contacts internationally, which will further their career development through international experience, collaboration and networking. The initiative will also work with established researchers with existing international reputations, who will mentor early career researchers and provide guidance and access to their scholarly networks.
The British Council’s extensive network of experienced personnel in over a hundred countries across six continents work as catalysts to encourage the ‘people to people’ interactions that form the most successful long-lasting scholarly collaborations.