In the 10th Meeting of Universities’ and Research Centers’ International Deputies, 18 May 2020

Dr. Stefan Scholz, Austrian Ambassador to Iran, gave a brief, yet productive, speech at the virtual conference on Iran’s mobilization of international cooperation in science-based COVID-19 responses, organized by Center of International Scientific Cooperation of the Ministry of Science Research & Technology. Expressing his gratitude for linking science diplomacy with Iran’s whole-of-system approach to fighting the pandemic, Dr. Scholz emphasized the importance of allowing science to lead the global response “at a time when trade and transport barriers are impeding the movement of critical materials.”He called Iran belongs to the group of top five research countries worldwide while warmly welcomed Iran’s initiative to reach out and build a “global research platform of senior epidemiologist and clinical pharmacologists on blood plasma therapy to jointly fight the effects of COVID-19.” He referred to the Austrian experts’ readiness for their Iranian counterparts and hoped to link relevant research institutions with prospective Iranian partners. In following, Austria’s Ambassador referred to a new post-2020 architecture for their SRT cooperation. He stated that “the 2017-2020 Partnership Program for Higher Education between the SRT Ministry and its AT counterpart has  stimulated 17 concrete research projects as well as academic mobility through the exchange of students, professors and scientists.”Furthermore, Dr. Scholz pointed to the last meeting of the bilateral Working Group on Higher Education, Research and Academic Cooperation wherein Vienna agreed on the organization of a study visit for Iranian experts to Austria in the field of research commercialization and knowledge transfer upon invitation by the Austrian SRT Ministry.