Mr. Mario Damas Nunes, Ambassador of Portugal to Iran met with Prof. Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, the President of University of Tehran on 3rd November, 2015.
Mr. Mario Damas Nunes, the ambassador of Portugal to Tehran in his meeting with Prof. Mahmoud Nili Ahmadabadi, the President of University of Tehran stated: It is a time which we should start our cooperation within the general cultural and academic agreement between the two countries and between University of Tehran and University of Lisbon. We can work on exchange of students, professors, etc. You can inform us the timetable of your proposals. In addition to University of Lisbon, we have other prestigious universities in Portugal which can work with you such as Universidad de Coimbra or institute of Camoes named after the greatest poet of Portugal. In response to Ambassador’s remarks, Prof. Nili Ahmadabadi, President stated: Our focus is on implementation of the contents of cooperation MoU’s. We should work on one or two subjects. We can have a program of student mobility such as that of the International Association for the Exchange of Students for Technical Experience (IAESTE) [http://www.iaeste.org/] in which students spend one or two months in each country and gain experiences through university or industry. Our Ph.D. student can spend 6, 9 or 12 months abroad and we can have them in Portugal. If we focus on national projects, it will be suitable since we will have the support of our governments as well in issues such as water, environment, Nano, etc. We can exchange ideas on the fields which each university is strong. We can also cooperate in joint degree (dual degrees). We also believe that the most difficult part is the part of implementation.
In this meeting, Dr. Maryam Haghroosta, Dean, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literature also put: We have good experience on teaching foreign languages. We can have the Portuguese language as the second language. Your government can send a teacher of Portuguese language and they can teach for our student of Spanish language as the Spanish is closer to Portuguese language.
Dr. Mohammad Bagher Ghahramani, Vice President of International Affairs also stated: We would like to request you to include cultural and academic people in the economic delegations coming to Iran, so that we can have mutual benefits. Portuguese students can also learn Persian and we can help with that. Also we have Office of Vice President for Cultural Affairs which can arrange mutual cultural and artistic programs such as student film festivals, photos, social activities and sports events.
Mr. Abdolmajid Eskandari, Director General, Office of International Relations emphasized on the necessity of further cooperation and stated: We have enjoyed good cooperation with University of Algarve in Portugal through Erasmus Mundus program and we can extend these kinds of ties. We also need the support of visa in the side of Portugal embassy.
In response to the above mentioned views, Mr. Mario Damas Nunes stated: I am happy to hear that you have had fruitful ties with that university. As for visa, we definitely support. Concerning the Schengen visa, we need the confirmation of 26 member countries but we can issue exclusive visa of Portugal sooner and you have our support and finally, Prof. Nili Ahmadabadi, President of University of Tehran had the concluding remarks as follows:
The presence of your Minister of Foreign Affairs in University of Tehran was a turning point in the history of bilateral relation and his speech was received warmly. We are ready to cooperate and we will inform the related units to give us more specific programs and will send you any feedback.
