The Minister of Industry Eng Vrej Sabounjian and the President of Lebanese Association, Eng Neemat Frem and General Secretary of CNRS, Dr Mouin Hamze have signed conventions between the Universities and LIRA program to support the industry-oriented projects of PhD and MSc (strategic research projects) and FYP (developing production lines). The project aims at building effective cooperation between industry and academia to address the research and development needs of the industry.

The objective of the agreements is to provide a framework of association and cooperation between the parties in carrying out common activities including:

Conduct of joint industrial research projects and joint senior year graduation projects as well as suitable MSc and PhD projects between industry and university;
Performance of feasibility studies whenever needed;
Exchange of information and expertise;
Soliciting or providing needed funding for common activities, and relevant conferences and seminars;
Involvement with other similar parties especially industrial institutions and international organisations with common goals and interests;
Encouraging industries to allow students into their facilities to gain practical experience and insights into production technology;
Alignment of academic curricula in the field of Engineering, Sciences and Technology with the needs of Industry and the labor market;
Participation in fund-raising activities to provide the university laboratories with instruments and supplies needed to perform applied industry-related research.

Universities that officially joined the LIRA consortium to date:

Lebanese University, on 17/1/2012
Lebanese American University, on 5/4/2012
American University of Beirut, on 15/5/2012
Beirut Arab University, on 15/6/2012
Saint Joseph University, on 6/7/2012
Lebanese International University, on 12/7/2012
Islamic University of Lebanon, on 24/7/201
Notre Dame University, on 16/10/2012
Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, on 30/10/2012
University of Balamand, on 24/04/2012
American University of Science and Technology, on 06/12/2017
Rafik Hariri University, on 15/03/2018

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