16th Research & Technology Festival
Minister urges scholars to address Iran’s challenges
The Minister of Cultural Heritage, Tourism, and Handicrafts urged researchers to apply their studies to address the country’s main challenges.
He added, there are several researches regarding the main challenges, but often remain archived and less applied, which warrants examination, IRNA reported.
Reza Salehi-Amiri, on Monday, January 12, during the closing ceremony of the 16th Research and Technology Festival held at the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI), said that research activities have always been a priority for the organization.
The organization, he said, has a physical structure that provides cultural services, but its soul is research, which ensures its survival.
Salehi-Amiri emphasized that researchers should propose various scenarios in a changing environment and find solutions for gaps, asking scholars to reassess the relationship between research and action.
“We require ideas. For instance, a researcher through scientific inquiry should create ideas and suggest ways to counteract Iranophobia”, he said, adding that with over 360 researchers, I have yet to see such a solution.
The minister acknowledged that the national library’s structure was designed basically with women, who are highly dedicated to performing tasks accurately; similarly, 50% of the workforce in the Tourism Ministry are women, who excel in every task assigned, demonstrating their self-belief and capabilities.
The scientific secretary of the festival also said, out of 161 submissions with 21 ideas, 80 works were deemed worthy of evaluation.
Saeed Molaei added, compared to the past four years, the number of submissions for the festival increased from 64 to 102 in the book category, but we observed no significant change in the research section.
He explained, the festival’s call for submissions was published on October 15, and works in various formats, including master’s theses and books, were submitted to the festival’s secretariat and 99 judges evaluated the works within 40 days.
Molaei added in the category of the selection of researchers, 10 participants included one academic and one non-academic member.
The Head of the NLAI Gholamreza Amirkhani said that research in solving social issues has been overlooked, adding that humanities and history play a significant role in solving social problems but have received little attention.