What is HEC’s GSN and how will it help Pakistani universities?
News Desk
Islamabad: The Higher Education Commission (HEC), through its National Academy of Higher Education (NAHE), has launched the Global Scholars Network (GSN), a digital platform aimed at connecting Pakistani diaspora scholars, researchers, professionals and international experts with higher education institutions across the country.
According to the HEC, the platform will serve as a centralised hub to promote academic collaboration between global experts and Pakistani universities.
Through the GSN, scholars and professionals will be able to contribute voluntarily by supervising PhD students, conducting collaborative research, delivering guest lectures, organising workshops, supporting faculty development programmes, enhancing curricula, promoting innovation and strengthening industry-academia linkages.
HEC has invited Pakistani diaspora academics, researchers, industry leaders and international experts to join the network by registering through the official GSN portal.
The platform allows experts to create verified professional profiles detailing their qualifications, research interests, publications, experience and areas of expertise. Once approved by HEC, these profiles will be accessible to universities across Pakistan, enabling institutions to identify and engage suitable experts for academic and research collaborations.
According to the commission, the Global Scholars Network introduces a structured, transparent and technology-driven mechanism for academic engagement, replacing fragmented manual processes with a unified national platform.
Universities will be able to search for experts by discipline, specialisation, country and experience, submit collaboration requests, manage engagements and monitor outcomes through an integrated digital system.
Speaking about the initiative, HEC Chairman Prof Dr Niaz Ahmad Akhtar said the Global Scholars Network marks an important step towards the internationalisation of Pakistan’s higher education sector by leveraging global expertise, strengthening research collaborations, improving academic quality and deepening ties between Pakistani universities and leading experts worldwide.
Managing Director of NAHE Dr Noor Amna Malik said the platform has been designed with scalability, security and transparency in mind. She added that it provides HEC with comprehensive dashboards and analytical tools to monitor national engagement, assess impact and support evidence-based policymaking for the higher education sector.
HEC also acknowledged the technical collaboration of the Institute of Space Technology (IST) in developing the platform. The commission thanked Maj Gen (Retd) Dr Syed Najeeb Ahmad, Vice Chancellor of IST, for his leadership and support throughout the project.
The commission further recognised the efforts of the IST development team, led by Rizwan Majeed, Director of Information Technology, for successfully designing and developing the national-level platform.
