Science & Technology
The
Islamic Development Bank announced a new policy in 1426H (2005), under which
will consider approving at least 10 percent of a member country’s annual
programme in the science and technology sector. The Bank supports scientific
and technological development in member countries in three distinct areas:
- Assistance to build physical facilities and infrastructures;
- Forge collaboration and exchange of knowledge through activities such as
short-term exchange of experts, on-the-job training, and conferences; and
- Financing research and development projects by designated centres of excellence.
Special Programmes for Science and Technology
There are a number of initiatives taken by IDB in partnership with COMSTECH
and other centres of excellence in member countries to support the development
of science and technology resources. Five of the major initiatives are presented
below.
- Annual
Workshop Scheme: An annual state-of-the-art workshop scheme with an amount
of $200,000 per year for eight workshops, with $25,000 allocated to each.
- IDB
Prizes for Science & Technology: As part of the Bank’s efforts
to promote excellence in scientific research and education, three IDB Prizes
for Science & Technology were established in 1423H (2002).
- Centres
of Excellence Cooperation Scheme: The IDB facilitates cooperation between
various centres of excellence across member countries by encouraging the formulation
of joint projects between the centres and funding research on joint projects
through grants.
- S&T
Expatriate Nationals Scheme: The S&T Expatriate Nationals Scheme has
been built on the UNDP-TOKEN reference model and is supported by the Bank
with an allocation of $0.2 million.
S & T Scholarship Programmes
The IDB Scholarship Programmes aim to build science-based human capital in
member as well as nonmember countries. There are three types of scholarship
programmes:
Scholarship Programme for Muslim Communities in Non-Member Countries
Merit Scholarship Programme for High Technology for Member Countries
The
M.Sc. Programme for the Least Developed Member Countries
S & T Projects
The
OIC Program on Achieving Self Reliance in Vaccine Production (SRVP) In The
Islamic World