MHESR - Ministry of Higher Education & Scientific Research

The Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research in Egypt was established in 1963. One of the main tasks of MHESR is to determine the research strategies at national levels, to design plans, develop programs, launch initiatives and implement strategies to support and promote scenic and innovation in Egypt as well as to contribute to the advancement of the theoretical and applied scientific research.

Recognizing the need for international cooperation in STI, Research, Development and Innovation (RDI), and in particular with Europe, MHESR has established a designated unit for International Cooperation, which deals with all S&T and RDI actions on a regional/bilateral level. This unit is instrumental in implementing the Science and Technology agreement, and its Action Plan, that Egypt has signed with the EC in 2005.

Through Egypt-EU S&T agreement an RDI Programme (ENPI/2009/21866) has been setup, with the aim of enhancing Egypt’s participation in EU framework Programmes and establishing an Innovation fund in Egypt. In pursuing the above objectives, MHESR assigned an active network of thematic NCPs in almost all FP7 themes coordinated by a NCP coordinator who is part of the Ministry in addition to a network of institutional Focal Points in all Egyptian Universities, Research Centers and relevant Ministries and Industrial organizations.

MHESR is actively involved in regional and international STI policy dialogue through several platforms, particularly with Africa especially being the current chair of African Ministerial Conference of Science and Technology (AMCOST), which is the primary body responsible for S&T and for the promotion of bi-regional S&T cooperation. Within the framework of FP7, MHESR is actively involved in 7 projects, 2 INCO-NETS addressing the following regions respectively: Mediterranean (Deputy Coordinator of MEDSPRING project), Sub Saharan Africa and Gulf, 2 ERANETs Projects for both African and Mediterranean region (ERAfrica & ERANETMED), INCO NCPs Network Project in addition to being the coordinator of Egypt BILAT Project (ShERACA and ShERACA Plus) and last but not least, MoSR is taking an active role in the recently funded H2020 Project MERID addressing the role of Science Diplomacy in the middle east.

MHESR is playing and instrumental role in strengthening and advancing the policy dialogue in the region for reinforcing STI cooperation through its active role in the AMCOST, the Mediterranean Group of Senior Officials (MED GSO) (Formerly named Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation in Research, Technological Development (MoCo)) and the Union for the Mediterranean as well as in High Level Policy Dialogue Bureau (HLPD). Currently, Egypt is chairing the committee of Science and Education in the African Union

Activities

MHESR is will mainly contribute to the project through WP4, contributor to task 1 and co-leader of the other two tasks (task 4.2. “communication” and Task 4.3 “dissemination”).

People

  • Prof. Dr. Mohamed El-Shinawi, M.D, FACS is Professor of General Surgery- Ain Shams University, Egypt. Advisor to the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research. He is the Regional Lead Trainer of the Sequential Trauma Educational Programm in collaboration with Maryland University, USA. He is the President of Ain Shams Medical Student Research Association “AMSRA” and a member of a several prestigious associations and societies. He is pursuing a career in breast cancer surgery and research. He also pursues a career in trauma and emergency care and in the area of injury research. He has more than 40 peer reviewed publications and more than 50 oral and poster presentations worldwide in the fields of breast cancer, trauma and general surgery. He supervised more than 70 junior physicians in master’s and doctoral programs. He is directing breast cancer awareness programs at Ain Shams University and is an investigator on several projects regarding breast cancer, trauma, injury prevention and Responsible Conduct of Research in collaboration with different institutes, academes and universities in the United States and Europe .He was the Chair for 2 Institutes about Responsible Conduct of research in collaboration with the National Academy of Science, USA. His Biography was included in Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare. Currently, Dr. El-Shinawi is also serving as Co-Chair of PRIMA initiative of Euro-Mediterranean.
  • Dr. Tarek F. El-Arabi, graduated from the department of Agric. Microbiology, Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams University back in 1999 and appointed as teaching assistant. In 2003 he obtained his master’s degree in agricultural virology and traveled to Canada in 2006 for his PhD, which he obtained from University of Guelph in 2011 in Food Safety. He spent one year as a marginal postdoc research scientist at University of Guelph, Canada and Wageningen University, Netherlands. Dr. El-Arabi also worked part-time as food safety consultant to some Egyptian and International food companies, business development director to Pharmacia pharmaceuticals as well as Biotechnology research director at Heliopolis University. He taught and teaching numerous graduate and undergraduate courses at University of Guelph in Canada and Ain Shams University,Heliopolis University and AUC, in Egypt. Dr. El-Arabi joined the core committee of the Institute of Teaching of Responsible Science in partnership with US National Academy of Science and Bibliotheca Alexandrina he co-organized several workshops on teaching of responsible science. Also, he has led the office of innovation and patency at Ain Shams University. Currently, Dr. ElArabi is directing the EU-Project’s unit at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research. His research is directed in the area of enhancement of organic agriculture as well as food safety. He has more than 20 different publications in those areas. He led and leading several international and national scientific projects and on the advisory board of 3 Masters’ students and one PhD student.