The First Kurdish – Italian Seminars on Natural Products Were Held at the University of Zakho

Published Date: Friday, 6 November 2015, 00:00

The University of Zakho in collaboration with the University of Pavia/ Italy (UoP) held from the 20th till the 22nd of October 2015 the First Kurdish- Italian Seminar on Natural Products at the University of Zakho.

Since the University of Zakho established scientific collaboration with more than 35 high- ranking international universities and research centers, and as a part of the scientific activities of the University of Zakho, Prof. Dr. Giovanni Vidari, lecturer at the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pavia, has been invited by the University of Zakho to discuss the possibility of further expansion of scientific collaboration between the two universities, to include in addition to split-site PhD supervision, further short term visits, joint research programs, as well as the realization of scientific seminars, such as the First Kurdish–Italian Seminars on Natural Products.

The President of the University, Assist. Prof. Dr. Lazgin A. Jamil and the Vice President for Scientific Affairs and Postgraduate Studies, Prof. Dr. Omar Al-Habib held a meeting with Prof. Dr. Vidari where at the beginning of the meeting Assist. Prof Dr. Jamil expressed his appreciation about the unlimited support of the University of Pavia to the University of Zakho. Moreover, the President of the University of Zakho focused on the active role of academic staff members of the Italian university by acting as external supervisors to split-site PhD students from UoZ and let them to work in their research labs and get access to the laboratory facilities and the library. It is worthwhile to mention that out of 60 split-site PhD students, about 32 % perform a part of their research projects in Italian universities and about 35 % of them are taken by various departments of UoP. Furthermore, they also discussed the possibility of further development of other aspects of scientific collaboration and both parties are willing to do that.

Afterwards, the opening ceremony started by a welcome word to Prof. Dr. Vidari and other participants for arranging this scientific event and Assist. Prof. Dr. Lazgin Abdi Jamil also gave a short comment on UoZ and its under- and postgraduate programs and scientific activities.

Subsequently, Prof. Dr. Vidari gave a presentation on the University of Pavia and its collaboration with universities in the Kurdistan Region and focused on their distinct scientific collaboration with UoZ. During the seminar sessions, presentations included various aspects of the chemistry of natural products with emphases on the subject Recent Findings of various Bioactive Molecules at the University of Pavia.

Prof. Dr. Vidari also visited the Phytochemistry Laboratory at the University of Zakho and discussed with academic staff members and postgraduate students of the Departments of Biology and Chemistry at UoZ various practical aspects of isolation, purification and identification of natural products. He was delighted by the modern analytical equipment present in the Phytochemistry Laboratory and discussed the possible applications of the available equipments for the isolation of bioactive compounds from plant sources.