It is with tremendous honor that Antonine University (UA) has provided premises for the forum entitled “Prospects for Scientific Research in Lebanon under Crises”, which was organized by the Universities Association of Lebanon (UAOLB), in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MEHE), the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS-L), and the Regional Directorate of the Middle East in the Francophone University Agency (AUF), on Thursday, June 9, 2022 from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM, at Hadat–Baabda main campus, bringing together honorable panelists and distinguished guests.

The forum started with Fr. Jalakh’s word of welcome in which he highlighted that the Lebanese academic and scientific community members deserve praise for their unshakable determination and resilience, as they are always stepping up their engagement, despite Lebanon’s multifaceted crisis, in support of the development of innovative initiatives aimed at planting the seeds of opportunity for the long-term sustainability of the education sector. In line with the UA’s mission, Fr. Jalakh emphasized the importance of conducting contextualized research in Lebanon and meeting the community’s needs and priorities. He added that the journey to Lebanon’s resurrection begins with a crucial step that must be followed by national and international actors to restore the country’s leading role as beacon of culture and civilization: to unite their efforts and build a genuinely knowledge and value-based society and economy, for education and economic growth are inseparably linked.

The welcome speech was followed by three addresses respectively delivered by Prof. Antoine Samarani, Chair of the Scientific Research Committee at the UAOLB; Prof. Salim Daccache, President of the UAOB and Rector of the Saint Joseph University (USJ); and H.E. Minister of Education and Higher Education, Dr. Abbas Halabi. The forum comprised two sessions, the first one focused on “the role of donors and international organizations in enhancing the research and researchers in Lebanon under the economic crisis” and was chaired by Prof. Salim Daccache, while the second one covered “the role of the Lebanese government and research institutions in enabling scientific research to continue in light of the economic collapse” and was presided by the Secretary General of the National Council for Scientific Research, Prof. Mouin Hamza.

As research is the cornerstone of educational quality, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the prominent universities affiliated with the UAOLB, with the aim of promoting and facilitating inter-university research cooperation.