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481 Iranians among world’s most cited researchers

mahla — Sat, 25 Dec 2021 12:40:21 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – The Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC) has listed 481 Iranian scientists among the top one percent of the highly cited scientists worldwide in 2021.

ISC is the third internationally accredited citation center established in Iran based on a resolution adopted in 2008 by the 4th Meeting of the Islamic Ministers of Higher Education (ICMHESR) in Baku, the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan, to index, evaluate and publish scientific productions in Islamic countries.

One of the main tasks of ISC in order to introduce the most cited authors, researchers and top scientific countries in the Islamic world, is to provide the possibility of identifying and examining the influence of scientific articles of researchers and elites, ISC head Mohammad Javad Dehqani said.

“Developed countries have planned and invested in attracting researchers from all over the world, which makes them the largest destination for the migration of elites.

The world’s top one percent of elites produce 14 percent of the world’s science, and the same group receives 24 percent of the world’s citations. The criterion for selecting top researchers is the number of citations made to their articles.

Accordingly, researchers who have been able to achieve the highest level of international credibility based on their research are among the top 1 percent and 20 percent of researchers in the world. However, based on the principles of scientometrics, up to 20 percent of the world’s top researchers can be considered among the top elites in the world. In fact, the top 20 percent of researchers produce 66 percent of the world’s science, and also receive 85 percent of the world’s citations.

The list of highly cited researchers in the top 1 percent is a report of highly cited researchers in 22 subject areas of science in the WoS (Clarivate Analytics) Database of Basic Science Indicators over a 10-year period.

The criterion for selecting the top one percent of researchers is the number of citations made to their scientific articles. A total of 481 researchers from Iran were identified and introduced as “highly cited researchers of the top one percent”.

Some 170 scientists (about 35%) are working in the field of engineering. The field of agricultural sciences with 58 top researchers (about 12%) and the multi-disciplinary subject field with 57 scientists (about 12%) are the most influential scientific fields in the country,” he explained.

Most recently, Eight Iranian scientists have been listed among the top two percent of the scientists with the greatest impact in technology in 2021 worldwide, according to Stanford University and global indicators.

Iran’s significant contribution to world’s scientific growth

The share of Iranian articles with international participation has had significant growth of 209 percent during an eight-year period (2013-2020), becoming the Islamic world’s leading country in science diplomacy, according to the Scopus International Citation Database.

This improvement is not limited to the number of articles and the country’s share in terms of top articles (the quality) grew from 0.95 percent in 2013 to 4.28 percent in 2020, which indicates a 350 percent growth in the production of the world’s top articles, he explained.

The growth has not been limited to the field of research and has been very significant in the field of technology; for instance, the creation of 13 science and technology parks, 4,553 technology units, and 1,653 new knowledge-based companies during the last eight years could provide employment for 34,707 university graduates.

In November 2020, scientific studies and analyses extracted from the Scopus International Citation Database showed that the rate of scientific contributions of Iranian researchers to the world increased from 17 percent in 2011 to 31 percent in 2020, becoming the world’s leading country in science diplomacy with 14 percent growth.

The development of international scientific partnerships and diplomacy is one of the main policies of Iran, which is also emphasized by the country’s higher education system, Mohammad Javad Dehghani, head of the Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC), said.

One of the most important indicators of scientific participation is the share of the latest joint international scientific findings in the total scientific publications of the country, he added.

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Iran Welcomes Foreign Researchers

reporter 1222 — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 09:53:44 +0000

TEHRAN (Iran News) – Hossein Salar Amoli announced that Iran has paved the way for presence of Foreign researchers in the country under a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Science and the Ministry of Cooperation.

Deputy Minister of Science, Research, and Technology for International Affairs broke the news on Wednesday over the issuance of temporary work permits for foreign researchers in Iran.

“ Today, all countries are competing to attract the world’s best elite forces to use their intellectual potentials in the fields of research and innovations for helping the countries’ flourishing,” he said, adding that in our country, we had a series of problems in attracting world’s renowned scientists, and the possibility of issuing work permits to them was limited to some extent.

“By signing a memorandum of understanding between the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology and the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, now Iranian universities can afford for the foreign researchers’ attraction and supply living conditions for these intellectual forces,” he said, adding that the universities can grant those researcher long-term visas as well.

He went on to say that “Previously, we faced problems in paying the salaries and long-term visas of foreign researchers, however, hopefully, those problems were resolved by signing an agreement by the Deputy Minister of Science for International Affairs and Deputy Minister of Development and Entrepreneurship of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare.

It is worth mentioning that the purpose of implementing this memorandum is to provide the necessary facilities for the presence of foreign elites, especially in Islamic countries, to improve the quality of higher education in the country.

According to the memorandum, the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, at the request of the Minister of Science, Research and Technology, will immediately issue a three-month temporary work permit for foreign researchers and its validity can be extended for two years.

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New computer server installed for brain simulation, fast neuroimaging

reporter 1222 — Sat, 04 May 2019 07:41:01 +0000

According to Dr. Reza Khosrowabadi, this server can make the analysis and calculations of brain data, easier and faster.

Installing this server was based on the international Human Connectome Project (HCP).

HCP is a project to construct a map of the complete structural and functional neural connections in vivo within and across individuals.

“The brain mapping data are very large and their analysis in regular computers takes a lot of time, but by using the new calculation server, processing of data will become much faster,” said Dr. Khosrowabadi.

According to him, the project was part of National Brain Mapping Plan and the new server was installed in Iran National Brain Mapping Laboratory (NBML).

The hardware can save large sizes of brain structural and functional images. The Linux software operating system and advanced image processing software also help the researchers in brain mapping, he added.

“Usually when brain images are processed, some noises might interrupt the analysis due to server movement or other reasons, but by using calculation servers, we can clean the process and extract some models to detect many kinds of interruptions,” he said.

“Brain modeling can help us in doing research about a wide range of brain disorders. For example, by designing neuron-feedbacks or using brain stimulations we can better understand brain mechanisms.”

“We are trying to use our findings to find better treatments for disorders such as Autism and Obsessive Compulsive disorders (OCDs),” said Khosrowabadi.

Reza Khosrowabadi is an Assistant Professor at the Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Shahid Beheshti University.

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Prototype Version of Visual Prosthesis 3-D Printed by Researchers

reporter 1222 — Sat, 01 Sep 2018 11:00:45 +0000

An array of light receptors was fully 3-D printed on a hemispherical surface by researchers at the University of Minnesota, marking the discovery a significant step toward creating a “bionic eye” that could someday help blind people.

“Bionic eyes are usually thought of as science fiction, but now we are closer than ever using a multimaterial 3-D printer,” said Michael McAlpine, a co-author of the study and University of Minnesota Benjamin Mayhugh Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering.

Researchers started with a hemispherical glass dome to show how they could overcome the challenge of printing electronics on a curved surface. Using their custom-built 3-D printer, they started with a base ink of silver particles. The dispensed ink stayed in place and dried uniformly instead of running down the curved surface. The researchers then used semiconducting polymer materials to print photodiodes, which convert light into electricity. The entire process takes about an hour, Techxplore reported.

McAlpine said the most surprising part of the process was the 25 percent efficiency in converting the light into electricity they achieved with the fully 3-D-printed semiconductors.

“We have a long way to go to routinely print active electronics reliably, but our 3-D-printed semiconductors are now starting to show that they could potentially rival the efficiency of semiconducting devices fabricated in microfabrication facilities,” McAlpine said. “Plus, we can easily print a semiconducting device on a curved surface, and they can’t.”

McAlpine and his team are known for integrating 3-D printing, electronics, and biology on a single platform. They received international attention a few years ago for printing a “bionic ear.” Since then, they have 3-D printed life-like artificial organs for surgical practice, electronic fabric that could serve as “bionic skin,” electronics directly on a moving hand, and cells and scaffolds that could help people living with spinal cord injuries regain some function.

McAlpine’s drive to create a bionic eye is a little more personal.

“My mother is blind in one eye, and whenever I talk about my work, she says, ‘When are you going to print me a bionic eye?'” McAlpine said.

McAlpine says the next steps are to create a prototype with more light receptors that are even more efficient. They’d also like to find a way to print on a soft hemispherical material that can be implanted into a real eye.

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Iran, India to launch 12 joint research projects

reporter 1222 — Sun, 05 Aug 2018 10:15:50 +0000

Iran and India have agreed to launch 12 joint research projects, said Mohammad Kafi, the president of Iran’s Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.

Based on previous Memoranda of Understanding inked by the two countries to promote academic cooperation, 12 different joint research projects in the fields of biotechnology and water management will be carried out, he added.

He went on to say that during a 45-day period of call for proposals (between Jan. 1 to Feb. 15, 2018) 73 research proposals were received by secretariat of Iran-India academic ties in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad.

After exchanging these proposals with a related secretariat in India, the process of reviewing started independently in both countries, Kafi added.

Finally, he continued, a joint committee was held in New Delhi in July and 8 projects related to biotechnology and 4 projects related to water management were chosen by the officials of the two countries.

Sharif University of Technology, Tarbiat Modarres University, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, University of Maragheh, University of Tabriz, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz University, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology and National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology are Iranian universities which host the research projects, Kafi said, adding that Ferdowsi University of Mashhad will coordinate, support and supervise projects’ implementation .

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Iranian researcher develops cooling system for travel to Mars

reporter 1222 — Sun, 22 Apr 2018 09:40:28 +0000

Cooling the surrounding environment of astronauts has been turned into a major concern due to NASA’s serious planning to send astronauts to the Mars.

For this purpose, a group of Mechanical engineers in Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts state, headed by Jamal Yaghoubi as a top and prominent Iranian researcher, managed to design a new electric cooling system that lacks any moving part.

This electro-hydrodynamic system, which has successfully been tested at the International Space Station (ISS), uses some liquids with an electric charge to cool the environment. The mentioned fluids pass through the narrow pipes to keep the heat away from the surrounding area of astronauts without creating noise or shaking.

Heat is one of the greatest threats to space travel which constantly causes problem for astronauts. Although the space outside the Earth is very cold, but when a spacecraft is exposed to the sunlight, it suddenly becomes very hot and its temperature reaches to a boiling point unless the spacecraft’s surface has a reflective property.

Moreover, it should be kept in mind that electrical, electronic and mechanical systems and even body of astronauts generate heat and activity of all of these devices in vacuum condition causes no air to transmit or convert heat, so that accumulation of this heat can be problematic.

According to Yaghoubi, this system was successfully tested in International Space Station (ISS) in 2017, so that a more complex and advanced sample of it will be constructed by 2021, costing $10 million.

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Iranian researchers make eye drop to improve corneal stem cell growth

reporter 1222 — Sat, 13 Jan 2018 11:02:11 +0000

TEHRAN– Researchers of Royan Research Institute made eye drop which can improve corneal stem cell growth.

With the production of eye drop from amniotic membrane, they [researchers] could improve the growth of Limbal Stem Cell after grafting ring around the cornea.

Limbal Stem Cells are epithelial stem cells that are found in corneous limbus layer (ring around the cornea) which have been tasked with renovating and reconstructing stem cell available in the cornea, researchers stressed.

In the limbal stem cells deficiency disease, the patient enjoys little or non-stem cells which leads to the lack of corneal reconstruction and consequently, bringing about serious defects in it, they said, adding, “eventually, this process can lead to the blindness. Grafting limbal stem cell to the affected patients is considered as one of the ways of treating the disease.”

In order to improve the clinical results of limbal stem cells, researchers of Royan Research Institute succeeded in transplanting a 1x2mm piece from limbal area of healthy eye to the eye of patient suffering from the deficiency of limbal stem cells and finally, they managed to obtain an amniotic membrane.

“Limbal Stem Cell” was developed by Dr. Marziyeh Ebrahimi, Alireza Baradaran Rafi, Niloofar Shayan Asl, etc. in Royan Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, U.S. Illinois University and Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.

The considerable effects of these stem cells have been proven in different studies in the field of healing wounds and transplanting various stem cells, so that relevant articles have been published in prestigious international magazines. This product has been commercialized by Royan Research Institute as well.

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Iran, India to cooperate on joint research projects

reporter 1222 — Sat, 06 Jan 2018 13:30:17 +0000

TEHRAN – Iran and India are after expanding scientific and technological cooperation through announcing a call for proposals with the intention of presenting joint research projects.

Through an agreement between the Center for International Scientific Cooperation of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Indian Republic, the call for proposals on joint research projects between Iran and India is open from January 1 to February 15, 2018.

This joint research endeavor is carried out in order to strengthen and to expand relations between both scientific communities, making possible the exchanges between Indian and Iranian research groups.

Biotechnology and Human Health (with a focus on the improvement of crop productivity), transgenic crops, microbial biotechnology with emphasis on cellulosic biofuel and microbial diversity and bioprospecting, Molecular Medicine focused research on stem cell, cancer, tropical and infectious diseases, Animal Biotechnology (reproductive and nutrition) and resource management are the priority areas for the proposals.

Applications can be made up to the 15th of February, 2018.

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