Hyderabad: Senior Lecturer at the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka, Dr Amani Mannakkara visited the University of Sindh, Jamshoro under the Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) Pak-Sri Lanka Faculty Exchange Program and held discussions with Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Fateh Muhammad Mari (T. I) on expanding academic and research collaboration between the two institutions.
According to the SU spokesperson, during the meeting, Prof Dr Fateh Mari briefed Dr Mannakkara on the scholarship opportunities available to international students at the University of Sindh and highlighted the university’s academic vision, focus on research development and commitment to internationalisation. He also emphasized the importance of strengthening linkages with international universities through faculty and student mobility, joint research and other academic initiatives.
The two sides expressed a keen interest in developing long-term academic and research collaboration between the University of Sindh and the University of Ruhuna, particularly in faculty and student exchanges, joint research projects, collaborative publications, training programs and biodiversity and conservation studies.
Dr Mannakkara also visited the Department of Zoology, where she toured the Zoological Museum and examined its collection of rare and endangered species. Chairperson of the Department Prof Dr Riffat Sultana briefed the visiting scholar about important specimens preserved in the museum including species falling under various conservation categories of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), as well as species still found in Pakistan.
Dr Riffat Sultana also apprised Dr Mannakkara of the department’s academic programs, ongoing research activities, biodiversity studies and conservation-related research.
The visiting scholar also toured the Institute of Sindhology and was briefed about its collections and scholarly resources.