International Network for the Availability of Scientific Publications (INASP) and Bangladesh Academy of Sciences organized a two day discussion on equitable research system to make it more focused and target oriented, the event was held on 5-6 Nov. 2018 at BRAC Center Inn. Professor Aparna Islam of Biotechnology Program of MNS Dept attended the event to put forward the idea of having an intense collaboration through public-private partnership on targeted research activities. The challenges with balancing different research priorities, funding allocation and complex higher education landscapes actually cause difficulty in having sustainable research system which will give tangible result for human benefit. To overcome this, a road map was suggested at the end of the event. The workshop were participated by a multi stakeholders ranging from researchers, academicians, librarian to fund donors and policymakers.
Dr. Hasibun Naher, Associate Professor of Mathematics, Coordinator of Mathematics Program, was invited to deliver her thirty minutes speech on her particular research topic at the 21st Century Education Forum @ Harvard, the Martin Conference Center, Harvard University, Boston, MA, USA on 15 - 16 November 2018. The Conference Committee accepted her oral presentation proposal after a blind peer review process with a score of 32/36.
The 21st Century Academic Forum (21CAF) is a global group of researchers and educators devoted to assistant research that has the prospective to influence the shaping of educational strategy and practices to more excellently prepare students for exclusive challenges of the 21st century. At the center of the 21CAF Outline will prepare pupils for progressively complex life and work environments. The skills include: Critical Thinking, Problem Solving, Communication, and Collaboration.
Dr. Hasibun Naher discussed on Active Learning Strategies in Mathematics and Science. It is important to mention that authors have two publication opportunities: (1) as a chapter in an edited book entitled "Education 2030: Preparing Students for an Uncertain Future," published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing and (2) a paper in the 21CEF@HARVARD Conference Proceedings, published by 21st Century Academic Forum.
Dr. Naher was alone from Bangladesh in this renowned International event. Organizer and other Scientists/Researchers appreciated to attend as well as delivering her important motivational and guide line speech for 2030. A lively discussion was taken place after her presentation.Many distinguished Scientists and Academician Participated in the Conference from all over the World. They shared the new technology, advanced research methods, and other exciting new ideas to prepare our students for future. The certificate was provided in every session.
Two students of BS in microbiology program defended their undergraduate theses on 22 nd November, 2018 in Room UB21511 of the MNS Department. Sarah Khurshid presented the results of her study in the field medical microbiology titled “ Prevalence of Skin Disease Causing Pathogens in Surface Water of Dhaka”.
Five student of BS Microbiology program presented her internship report on the same day. The students were Nowrin Hossain, Faria Ferdous Noor, Saiful Islam Shanto and Abu Nowroz Rafin.
The Viva-Voce Examination for the presentation was chaired by Professor AFM Yusuf Haider, Chairperson, Department of MNS, Professor M, Mahboob Hossian, Mahbubul Hasan Siddique, of the Microbiology program and Ms Fahareen-Binta Mosharraf Senior lecturer of the Microbiology program and Nazneen Jahan, lecturer of the same program, Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, were also present as members of the Examination Committee. The committee highly commended the work carried out by the students.
Four students of BS in Biotechnology program defended their undergraduate theses on 22 November, 2018 in Room UB21511 of the MNS Department. All of them presented their work on environmental and industrial pathogens and their probable after effect on human being. Md. Mahmudul Hasan showed the result of his work on the impact of a skin pathogen Staphylococcus spp that is prevalent in the surface water of Dhaka city. His thesis titled “Is it microbiologically safe to come in contact with surface water in Dhaka city? A case study of Staphylococcus spp as a potential skin pathogen”. Another student Sadia Alam worked on Vibrio species and her research title is “Studying Vibrio species in industrially polluted surface waters : Difficulties and uncertainties during characterization”Two other students-Al Imran Ahmed Ovi and Tanmoy Chakma did their reseach on Salmonella species and worked on the safety issues of rivers and lakes in Dhaka city.
Two students of BS Biotechnology program presented their internship report on the same day. The students were, Muntasirul Hoq and Radia Jamee.
The Viva-Voce Examination for the presentation was chaired by Professor AFM Yusuf Haider, Chairperson, Department of MNS, and Dr.Iftekhar Bin Naser, Mr. Mahbubul Hasan Siddiqee, Ms. Romana Siddique of the Biotechnology program , Department of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, were also present as members of the Examination Committee. The committee highly commended the work carried out by the students.
A team consisting of four graduate students from BRAC University secured the second place in the 2018 Geneva Challenge Award. The event was held on 27 November 2018 at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. The team qualified for this final round becoming champion in the Asian region for their project - ‘A Step towards Sustainable Ecology: Green Urbanization'.
“Our proposed solution is a business model of urban plantation using a mobile application named ‘Shamol’ for providing a platform to encourage and assist Dhaka city residents for rooftop gardening, the most available alternative for plantation in urban area.
A large group of people can easily access our services by installing ‘Shamol’ app and registering their rooftops to the network. There will be two service packages in the application with monetary benefits for both client and Shamol.
This proposed model targets to address the problem of rising temperature due to the effect of greenhouse gases. Our team aimed to establish a responsive citizen network where they will contribute their resources for urban plantation.” stated by Mr Salman Khan Promon, one of the team members and a graduate student of the dept. of MNS who developed this idea as a business model last year (2017) as a student project of the Department of MNS, BRAC University. The business model was successfully incorporated by three graduate students from James P Grant School of Public Health - BRAC University and shaped into a proposal for the Geneva Challenge 2018. The role of the dept. of MNS is mentionable for various extracurricular activities throughout the year which is reflected well in the remarkable number of achievements by the students of this department in various national and international competitions.
This international student contest invites teams of graduate students from around the world to devise innovative and pragmatic solutions to key international issues. This year, the concept of the competition was to address the complex issues arising from climate change and how these challenges can be tackled to foster social and economic development in the context of the sustainable development goals. A total of 66 projects was submitted by 259 students from teams hailing from all over the world. The prizes were given out by Mrs Nane Annan, widow of Mr Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations and high patron of the Geneva Challenge, who passed away recently.
H. E. Mr. M. Shameem Ahsan, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh in Geneva was present at the award ceremony as a guest. He congratulated the Team Shamol (representing Asia) for their outstanding achievement.
Video Link to the 1 min proposal summary:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXhWmM84g2U&feature=youtu.be
A seminar talk in the MNS department given presented by Dr. Muhammad Morshed, a Professor in the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at the University of British Columbia, Canada on Thursday the 29th November at 11:30 a.m. in room number UB 21511. The title seminar was ‘Diagnostic Microbiology: Past, Present and Future’.
The seminar was very informative and was attended by faculty members different universities of the country and students of the MNS Department.