Introducing the new Vice President for International Affairs at University of Tehran

In a ceremony which was held in the presence of Prof. Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, President of University of Tehran, UT officials and a number of faculty members and the staff of Office of Vice President for International  Affairs, Prof. Mohammad Hossein Sarrafzadeh, was introduced as the the new UT Vice President for International Affairs.

In this ceremony, Prof. Mohamamd Hossein Sarrafzadeh, the new UT Vice President for International Affairs expressed his gratitude to the President of University of Tehran for his trust and appreciated Dr. Ghahramani, the former Vice President for Internaitonal Affairs for his efforts in establishing a well-organized context for developing international activities in UT.

He further emphasized on the importance of extending international relations of University of Tehran and added, “In order to convert the present threats to opportunities, an internal reorganization would be helpful, which enables us to recognize active academic staff and utilize their valuable experiences in international activities. University of Tehran should play a more effective and constructive role in scientific networks, such as international organizations, conventions, scientific associations, etc... rather than merely participating in them.”

Referrring to the challenges of internationalization in higher education, especially at the period of  Corona pandemic crisis which has paralyzed international mobilites among higher education institutes globally, Prof. Sarrafzadeh stated that, “Some of other problems we face, such as sanctions are not specific of UT and are felt in the whole country. However, internally, we observe less communication between the existing international organizations and research centers which roots in the lack of understanding of the concept, absence of definition and monitoring mechanism for internationalization and related protocols.”

He expressed his hope that the existing potentials and motivation of UT students could be utilized more effectively to promote international affairs. He also stated that to achieve UT international objectives, it would be necessary to establish the prerequisites such as the establishment of international culture, institutionalization and develop specific instructions and even physical structures, which could be fullfilled with the help of the whole university body.