A message from Prof. Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, President of University of Tehran to UT international partner universities

The outbreak of COVID-19 forced us to take the necessary national measures to tackle the spread of the virus which has caused a significant disruption to the provision of regular education, training and mobility opportunities for learners, teachers and educators. Expressing sincere sympathy with the families of victims of COVID-19 pandemic, I wish every nation to overcome this pandemic very soon and hope that we could all witness a return to normal life.

Meanwhile, to ensure continuity in education and training activities, University of Tehran has taken some necessary measures to overcome the challenges and we have offered a wide range of learning materials that are available online in order to keep the continuation of education to students. 

Our biggest challenge, however, was how to abruptly move from mostly traditional to all e-learning education and how to overcome the problem of practical courses and trainings.  Fortunately, we learned that a great number of our academic community could adapt themselves with these new ways of offering courses and programs.

While traditional on-campus learning will inevitably return to prominence once the coronavirus abates, universities and higher education centers can use this crisis as an opportunity to learn more about new digital tools and how to best leverage them.   

Our e-Learning Centre took great steps to offer online programs, to establish a robust platform  to enhance the quality of education  and also providing internet with a discounted rate through negotiations with national providers for our academic community.

Moreover, in line with these ideals, University of Tehran in coordination with Tehran University of Medical Sciences and a number of other universities, has encouraged scientific networks among national and international researchers and experts through the formation of a number of scientific working groups to study the spread and prevention of virus infections, the creation of reliable and faster detection kits, the analysis of medical images and data related to patients suspected of COVID-19, producing effective vaccines and medicines to combat the virus and also to look beyond the post-corona period Moreover, University of Tehran Press has also provided free access to digital version of its published books.

We have also created a panel of experts to oversee the crisis for a better management of the university responsibilities. We believe that through a collective effort, our communities will be able to pass this stage with less harm as possible. To this end, it seems necessary to share the latest findings of the spread of the virus and the mechanisms for prevention, treatment and control of the virus among national and international researchers. In addition, two other working groups have been formed on the task of studying the social and economic consequences of the spread of the COVID-19 virus in Iranian society and also Iran's commercial link with foreign countries.

Globally, the higher education community is facing vital challenges to ensure that education, learning, and research would not come to a halt and that the future generations will continue to have the knowledge and the means to make communities a better place for all humanity. University of Tehran is pleased to continue mutual partnership with your prestigious university and to share resources and initiatives. We are confident that together we will be able to overcome the consequences of this disaster and avert the speed of the spread of virus to keep losses to a minimum and wish the outbreak will soon be placed under control.

I take this opportunity to send you my best wishes.

Truly yours,

Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, (Prof.)

President,

University of Tehran