Higher Education Min., UK Amb. talk scientific cooperation

CAIRO – 13 November 2018: Minister of Higher Education Khaled Abdel Ghaffar met with the UK ambassador to Egypt Geoffrey Adams, who took office in September, to discuss cultural and scientific cooperation between the two countries.

During the meeting, Abdel Ghaffar affirmed Egypt's keenness to strengthen cultural and scientific cooperation with the UK and enhance partnership between the two states' scientific institutions. The two officials have also discussed enhancing mutual scientific cooperation between Egyptian and British universities.

Abdel Ghaffar praised the Newton-Mosharafa fund, which was established to allow Egyptian researchers to start their scholarship in the UK, as a form of scientific cooperation between the two countries.

Newton Mosharafa offers PhDs and research partnerships in 5fields, including sustainable food production, renewable energy, affordable and inclusive healthcare, archaeology and cultural heritage, and sustainable water management.

In a conference held at the British Embassy in Cairo in July, former UK Ambassador John Casson said that Newton-Mosharafa is a £50-million joint project ($66 million), funded by the two states.

Newton-Mosharafa has funded 170 PhD scholars and 31 remotely-studying fellows, according to the embassy’s statement during the conference. Moreover, the fund established 53 research partnerships and held 30 workshops for Egyptian researchers.

Earlier in June, Casson pointed out that 20,000 Egyptians are studying in UK, expressing his wishes to see more Egyptians benefit from the opportunities offered by the British government.

Adams worked as Britain’s ambassador in The Hague, Netherlands from 2013 to 2018 after working as Britain’s ambassador in Tehran, Iran from 2006 to 2009.

In addition, he worked as a political director in the British Ministry of Foreign Affairs and a director of the FCO in the Middle East and North Africa. Moreover, Adams worked as vice ambassador in Egypt from 1998 to 2001.
Additional reporting by Ahmed Shahin