Microbiology Congress, Opportunity for Further Collaborations

The School of Medicine at Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) held meetings with Prof. Willem Van Leeumen from University of Applied Sciences Leiden and the Prof. Drancourt from Micro Bacteriology Department of Aix Marseille University. The meetings resulted in signing MoUs for mutual academic collaborations.

The 15^th International and Iranian Congress of Microbiology, hosted by TUMS School of Medicine during 26-28 August 2014 provided an opportunity for expanding academic collaborations with the experts who took part in the congress. 

Prior to the Congress, on 24 and 25 August, Prof. Willem Van Leeumen, a Microbiologist and Head of TopLab from University of Applied Sciences Leiden and Prof. Michel Drancourt, Deputy Head of Micro Bacteriology Department at Aix Marseille University had meetings with a number of professors at TUMS School of Medicine and some officials at TUMS Office of Vice Chancellor for Global Strategies and International Affairs.

During the meetings, Dr. Akhoondzadeh, Vice Dean of School of Medicine for International Affairs stated that collaborations among faculty members can become operational and fruitful sooner than the collaboration at university level. 

Dr. Feizabadi, Secretary of the congress also expressed willingness for having collaborations in the fields of new methodologies applied in developed countries. He further asked Prof. Van Leeumen to cooperate with TUMS as a visiting professor and in regard with holding short courses.

Prof. Drancourt expressed willingness for accepting two Iranian students per year as the first step and added that grounds are paved for holding PhD, Postdoc and joint degree courses.

Moreover, Dr. Nekoofar, Director of International Relations, Accreditation and Ranking considered visiting professorship as an appropriate solution for expanding international collaborations, saying that TUMS will definitely support holding joint courses.

It is worth mentioning that TUMS signed MoUs with both universities and granted visiting professor certificates to Prof. Drancourt and Prof. Willem Van Leeumen.