Punjab Minister for Higher Education Raja Yasir Humayun Sarfraz chaired the inaugural session of the symposium which was also marked by a key note address by eminent physicist Prof Dr Asghar Qadir.
Speaking on the occasion, the education minister said the Punjab government would increase the budget for higher education from the next fiscal year besides establishing the department of student services as one-window operation to provide scholarships, career counseling and placement opportunities to students. He said that their government was fully committed to investment in human resource.
Raja Sarfraz also recalled, "Today, the opening day of Symposium, is the 93rd birthday of Pakistan's only Nobel Laureate in Science i.e. Prof Dr Abdus Salam, who has not only studied but also taught at of Government College Lahore here for a long period of time."
Addressing the inaugural ceremony, Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Hassan Amir Shah, who is also the current President of Pakistan Physical Society, requested the government to expedite the process for appointment of the chairman of Punjab Higher Education Commission (PHEC), saying that the commission was a vital source of funding for provincial universities for such important conferences. He also highlighted that this was the sixth conference being held at GCU during the current academic year.
The Vice Chancellor hoped that the symposium would provide an opportunity to students and young faculty to interact with senior physicists and to learn from them. He also appreciated the efforts of noted plasma physicist and mathematician Dr G Murtaza, who is the Professor at Salam Chair at GCU and last president of Pakistan Physical Society, for organizing this large symposium almost every year.
Earlier, in his opening remarks, Prof Murtaza said that the world of science was witnessing rapid developments and the knowledge was accumulating at very fast pace and physicists were making great progress in uncovering the deep mysteries of the nature. He explained the recent major breakthroughs in physics which have resulted in the development of different new technologies.