MULTAN: Pakistan Science Foundation Chairman Dr Muhammad Ashraf said on Thursday there was a need to adopt international research standards to put the country on the road to progress.

At a seminar on `Horizon 2020` by theBahauddinZakariyaUniversity`s (BZU`s) Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialization (ORIC), Delegation of European Union (EU) to Pakistan and the Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF), Dr Ashraf said scientists andresearchers should improve their capabilities by learning new methods for research and improve their links with the institutions of international standards. He said the PSF was giving a special attention to research activities and was encouraging and providing support to promote research projects.

ORIC Director Dr Saeed Akhtar said the university was focusing to promote the research culture and for that reason, training workshops and seminars were being held.

He said that during very short span of time a positive change had been observed by the universityresearchers and scientists. He said the BZU would soon be among the leading universities of Pakistan because of its research work.

`We are mal(ing efforts to arrange the link of researchers from our university with the researchers of leading international institutes,` he said.

Miss N Marshall from the EU said the EU was willing to work with Pakistan on a number of projects of research and to initiate scholarship awards to Pakistani researchers.

`We are interested to work in the sectors of education, village development, energy, innovation and research,` she said.