The decision to continue the BAE Systems’ Post Doctoral Summer Research Program (PDSR) was announced following a meeting between Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Ohali, deputy minister for educational affairs at the Ministry of Higher Education, on Sunday.
This year the program will support 26 Saudi academics. Speaking on the occasion, Peter Wilson, managing director of BAE Systems Saudi Arabia, said: “The PDSR program is a significant investment for the BAE Systems. Since the program started in 1991, BAE Systems has extended substantial support, including funds, to promote research, which has been a key objective for the company.”
The meeting to discuss details of the program was attended by Al-Ohali, General Manager of the British Council Adrian Chadwick, several senior Saudi officials and BAE executives.
Chadwick and Wilson explained to Al-Ohali that the program has so far helped 414 Saudi academics to conduct research on a wide range of subjects. Wilson said the program will be managed by the British Council.
The program will enable Saudi specialists to work alongside their UK counterparts, said Wilson, adding that it is designed to support Saudi scholars pursuing research in UK institutions as per the methodology of British academic institutions.
This tie-up between the Ministry of Higher Education and BAE Systems will also help to generate awareness among Saudis about the range and quality of British higher education, especially in terms of world-class research programs.
The British Council will help identify institutions and individuals with relevant research interests and to coordinate the research period spent in a British educational institution.
“Moreover, the program helps to assist with the exchange of knowledge and experience between the two countries. This is just one of the ways the company is continuing to invest in the local community,” said a press statement.
The PDSR program is unique to Saudi Arabia. A researcher nominated to receive an award under it will make contact with an appropriate center for research in the UK. Approximately 20 such awards have been made each year since 1991, using funding from BAE Systems Saudi Arabia and under the administrative management of the British Council.
