UK-Iran Academic Collaboration

Introduction

UK and Iran share good bilateral relations and since 2013, both countries have taken significant steps towards strengthening their bilateral ties. In 2014, the two countries have re-established direct diplomatic contacts with each other. The UK was also an important member in the negotiations on Iran’s nuclear deal framework and, played a role in lifting of decades-long sanctions against Iran. These are all positive changes in the bilateral relations between the two nations and there is scope for more positive changes in the right direction.

One area where both UK and Iran can both gain from better diplomatic ties is in academic collaboration. Iran like other countries in the Middle East is now making serious efforts to becoming a knowledge economy. Since the lifting of sanctions from Iran, there has been some positive growth in the Iranian economy. This positive growth is attributed to near-capacity oil exports and the gradual integration of Iran’s banking sector with the global banking system. Despite the reliance on oil, there are indicators that Iran would benefit from diversification from oil. One of the indicators is the recent situation with sanctions against Iran by the Americans, which has compromised Iran’s oil exports to some countries. Therefore, diversification from oil would be a step in the right direction. Some of this diversification can happen towards the becoming of a knowledge based economy.

This brief suggests that there is space for possible collaboration in this direction and also gives recommendations to make it happen. The brief discusses the background of the issue as centred on Iran’s quest for becoming a knowledge based economy. It identifies the benefits of such collaborations between Iran and the UK. The brief also identifies some obstacles to achieving this collaboration and makes recommendations for removing these obstacles to academic collaboration between the two countries.

Background

Iran recognises the value of being a knowledge based economy. It has already set goals from shifting from a resource-based economy to a knowledge based economy in its 20-year development plan called Vision 2025. Vision 2025 was adopted in 2005 and this document prioritises the move from oil based to knowledge based economy. One of the reasons why Iran wants to make this shift to knowledge based economy is the application of international sanctions against itself. Since 2006, Iran has faced hardening of economic sanctions. This motivates the Iranian government to start strengthening its economy on factors others than oil. This is also reflected in the February 2014 statements by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei for creating an ‘economy of resistance’, where the economy would depend more on innovation and less on imports.

Vision 2025 emphasises on the value of Iran’s human capital for wealth creation and incentivises the measures for increasing the number of university students and academics, and industrial research and problem solving. The Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2010–2015) of Iran has prioritised problem solving by incentivising academic research oriented towards socio-economic needs and problem-solving. In the past decade, Iran has invested in research and technology centres within universities and encouraged linkages between universities and industry.

Many changes within Iran suggest that it is gearing up to be a knowledge based economy. These changes are reflected in policy decisions. For instance, in 2006, Iran’s government raised its commitment to higher education to 1% of GDP. Higher education spending has been prioritised in Iran. Higher education enrolment in Iran between 2007 and 2013, rose from 2.8 million to 4.4 million. More importantly, there is a high aptitude for research as indicated by the numbers in Masters and PhD programmes. One in eight Bachelor’s students go on to enrol in a Master’s or PhD programme.

Iran is interested in collaborated with other countries in research and higher education. The Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2010–2015) targeted 25 000 foreign students to Iran by 2015. By 2013, it had reached more than halfway for the target with 14 000 foreign students attending Iranian universities. President Rouhani is on record stating that collaboration is essential to knowledge development as he said in his speech at the University of Tehran in October 2014. He specifically noted: “Scientific progress is achieved, if we are related to the world. […] We have to have a relationship with the world, not only in foreign policy but also with regard to the economy, science and technology. […] I think it is necessary to invite foreign professors to come to Iran and our professors to go abroad and even to create an English university to be able to attract foreign students.”

Benefits of collaboration to Iran and UK

From the above made points, it can be surmised that there is scope for active collaboration between UK and Iran and UK can play a role in Iran’s ambitions to become a knowledge based economy. Academic collaboration can be an important aspect of diplomacy between two nations. Recently, there has been much literature and discussion on Science Diplomacy, where two and more countries use scientific collaboration as a way to mutually gain from the collaboration and also strengthen diplomatic ties.

The use and experience of science diplomacy can provide a blueprint for the way forward for the UK and Iranian collaboration on academics. Science and technology is already a part of academic collaboration in many countries around the world. As a collaborative method, science and technology has helped countries to identify solutions to common human or social problems, and build constructive partnerships that have also positively affected diplomatic relations between the countries collaborating. Examples of such collaborations are already there between European and Middle Eastern nations. The experience of such collaborations has shown that academic collaborations and collaborations on science and technology can be useful for all parties concerned, provide meaningful solutions to populations in the different countries collaborating and also help in strengthening of diplomatic ties between nations.

The UK and Iran have made significant improvements in their bilateral relations since 2013. Diplomatic efforts that are centred on the collaboration between the two countries in the academic area will only help improve their ties. Both countries stand to benefit from such efforts. Specific benefits to UK and Iran include: enhancement of scholarly collaboration; establishment of stronger research base; increased competitiveness of the domestic research systems; mutually beneficial and collaborative approach on shared or global challenges. With the shifting of Iran from resource based to knowledge based economy, both Iran and UK stand to benefit. Iran can experience enhanced economic prosperity that will come with diversification from oil to knowledge.

The UK firms will also get access to Iran’s developing knowledge economy. Iran has already proved itself to be a significant contributor to research and knowledge. For instance, Iran has a high scientific output, improved citation ranking and global visibility. Iran is ready and willing as is UK to create mutually satisfying academic collaboration. Thus, they both stand to gain from such efforts.

The UK and Iran already have a shared historical background of academic relations going back more than two centuries. Both countries have already experienced mutual scholarly mobility and research collaboration in social sciences, humanities, and natural and medical sciences. Therefore, they only have to build on this shared history and take it forward in this modern age.

Obstacles in the way of collaboration

There are some obstacles that may come in the way of UK and Iran’s academic collaboration. The obstacles are political in nature and are driven more by international pressures rather than issues specific to these two countries. Some of these obstacles are of the nature that may not be bilateral concerns or resolvable at bilateral point. Others that can be addressed bilaterally are more important to address.

Two important obstacles that can be addressed bilaterally are those of visa restrictions in place in the UK and Iran, and the application of the existing sanctions regime by UK financial institutions. Visa restrictions and sanctions against Iranian financial institutions comes in the way of academics and scholars from UK and Iranian universities, museums and other research-active organisations to form partnerships and provide academic services. For the UK and Iran, these are policy issues that can be tackled at a policy level.

Recommendations for removing obstacles for facilitating collaboration between UK and Iran academic institutions and researchers and academics

At the policy level at this time, the following steps can be taken by the UK government for the improvement of the academic collaborative efforts between UK and Iran:

• Institutional academic waiver system: Iranian scholars visiting recognised UK higher education institutions, research-active organisations and associated entities may be enabled a smoother and quicker processing of visas. The institutional academic waiver system will be useful for both countries’ scholars and researchers as it will help to reduce travel time for them. This will also have the impact of lessening some of the financial burden and decreasing uncertainty for Iranian scholars and their UK host institutions and vice versa. Such an institutional academic waiver system already exists in the US and a similar system in the UK will be useful.
• Online visa application system: Iranian scholars coming to the UK and UK scholars going to Iran may be allowed to collect their visas online. For Iranian applicants in particular, this is important because they have to make multiple trips to Turkey or the UAE for visa processing. This eats into valuable time and resources for the scholars or their institutions.
• Detailed guidance for UK and Iranian financial and banking institutions: Iranian and British scholars in the other country can gain from such information because when they are applying to universities and other research-active organisations, academic and related administrative transactions are getting affected due to sanctions against Iranian financial systems. Moreover, scholars may be allowed to open bank accounts in the other country where they involved in academic or research work and receive payments from their hosts. There is a need for our financial institutions to understand and know the application of sanctions to academic and related administrative transactions. Due to the sanction regime, the scholars and academicians have had many problems in getting their work done in time.

Conclusion

The removal of these obstacles will go a long way in making the process of academic collaboration between the UK and Iran easier and more accessible. Due to the shift towards knowledge economy, Iran presents exciting opportunities to the UK in terms of academic collaboration. There is a history of such collaboration between the two nations that goes back 2 centuries. In recent times, continuance of this collaboration has been impeded due to political factors. Two of these factors, that is, visa processing, and sanctions against Iranian financial institutions can be resolved for academic collaboration purposes. Easing visa processes and clarifying sanctions norms for the financial institutions can go a long way in ensuring more participation from the scholars on both sides. That academic collaboration is worth thinking about is also justified by the recent successes in science diplomacy between European nations and Middle Eastern nations. Science and technology collaboration and the successful outcomes of such collaborations indicates how academic collaborations can serve two important goals. First, such collaborations can result into improvements and growth in knowledge that can be put to use for the benefit for people. Second, such collaborations can have the impact of improving diplomatic ties. Both these purposes and goals are useful and worth achieving. Iran is moving towards knowledge economy, and UK can collaborate with Iran in this process through academic collaborations in higher education and research.