Iranian Scientific Developments

[Persian Gulf]

I think it will be a good idea to make a thread dedicated to Iran's current standing (and future developments) in scientific fields. This can include medicines, nanotechnology, scientific research in general and specific applications of this knowledge, e.g. space programme developments.

Iran has a rich history in science/mathematics, from Avicenna, Omar Khayyam, Tusi, Khwarizmi, Biruni, Farisi etc. This rich heritage is reflected in contemporary life, as Iran has made huge strides in science and reported the fastest global growth in scientific output in 2012. Also, Iran boasts the first female Fields Medal (Nobel Prize for maths) winner in Maryam Mirzakhani. In 2009 Iran became the 9th country in the world to send a domestically-built satellite into orbit.

Iranian culture is very pro-STEM subjects, and Iran has a very high rate of tertiary education in science-related fields. Sharif University of Technology is well-known for producing some of the best scientific graduates in the world.

Modern science in Iran includes nanotechnology, stem cell technology, cloning, nuclear science, biotechnology, robotics and many more fields.

 

[Persian Gulf]

Iran remains on 4th place in publication of nano-articles

Tehran (ISNA) – In 2018 compared with 2017, Iran remained on its previous spot, ranking 4th place by publication of 9662 nano-articles and Islamic Azad University carried the largest number of nano-articles last year, according to a report released by StatNano.

StatNano, a comprehensive statistical database portal, which has been compiling and releasing the data and statistics related to nanotechnology using scientific methodologies since 2010, is today one of the most reliable references of researchers and policymakers around the world. The statistics of the nano-articles published by each country are reported by StatNano on a monthly basis, which collects them by searching the appropriate terms in the search engine of the WoS.

In terms of local share, which is the ratio of the nano-articles carried in a country to the total articles of that country, Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, and India, took the top 4 places on the list compiled using this indicator, respectively. Iraq having only 463 nano-articles in 2018, which interestingly comprises nearly 17% of its total scientific publications in this year, could surprisingly reach the 5th spot on this list.

Iran remains on 4th place in publication of nano-articles

Tehran (ISNA) – In 2018 compared with 2017, Iran remained on its previous spot, ranking 4th place by publication of 9662 nano-articles and Islamic Azad University carried the largest number of nano-articles last year, according to a report released by StatNano.

en.isna.ir

 

[Persian Gulf]

Iran ranks first in Chemistry, Chemistry Engineering, Applied Mathematics in Middle East

Tehran (ISNA) - In its newest ranking based on scientific articles and documents published in 2017, SCImago Journal & Country Rank announced that in Middle East, Iran ranks first in the category of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering and Applied Mathematics.

According to the SJR index, Iran ranks first among Middle East countries in scientific documents published in the category of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in 2017.

With 7100 and 4649 documents in the category of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering respectively, Iran ranks first and Saudi Arabia with 3153 documents comes after in Chemistry and in Chemical Engineering, Turkey ranks second with 1813 documents.

According to the SJR index, among Middle East countries, Iran ranks first in scientific documents published in the category of Applied Mathematics in 2017. With 1528 documents in the category of Applied Mathematics, Iran ranks first and Turkey comes after with 866 documents, ranking second.

Iran also stands in 8th place in Chemical Engineering and 11th in Chemistry in SCImago’s world ranking.

Iran ranks first in Chemistry, Chemistry Engineering in Middle East

Tehran (ISNA) - In its newest ranking based on scientific articles and documents published in 2017, SCImago Journal & Country Rank announced that in Middle East, Iran ranks first in the category of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering.

en.isna.ir

 

[Persian Gulf]

Iran exporting Nano products to 50 countries

Tehran (ISNA) - Director of Iran’s Special Nanotechnology Headquarters Market and Industry Workgroup, Reza Asadi-Far announced that Iran exports nanotechnology products to 50 countries around the world.

Mentioning the achievements of Iranian researchers in the technology, the official said, “Number of products based on nanotechnology has increased from 13 in 2008 to 494 in 2018”.

“We predict that the nanotechnology products sale will reach to 3000 billion tomans in current Iranian year (started March 21, 2018),” Asadi-Far said, adding that the amount of the sales was 1374 billion tomans until 2017.

According to the official, countries such as Iraq, Turkey, Georgia, India, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Armenia and China are some importers of Iranian nanotechnology products.

Iran exporting Nano products to 50 countries

Tehran (ISNA) - Director of Iran’s Special Nanotechnology Headquarters Market and Industry Workgroup, Reza Asadi-Far announced that Iran exports nanotechnology products to 50 countries around the world.

en.isna.ir

 

[Persian Gulf]

Iran exporting biopharmaceuticals to 17 countries

Tehran (ISNA) - Vice Presidency's director of biotechnology development department, Mostafa Ghanei said about the condition of biopharmaceuticals produced in Iran, “Iran’s condition in this area is very good and currently Iranian biopharmaceuticals are exported to 17 countries across the world”.

“One of the honors and achievements of Iran in scientific field is to train young professionals that could fill available gap in the country in the field of producing biological medical products. One of the significant areas is to produce biopharmaceuticals that faces high growth,” he added.

Describing Iran’s scientific growth in field of biopharmaceuticals as significant, Ghanei stressed, “Nobody imagined, Iran which once was a country that imported biopharmaceuticals, to become an exporter and home-grown biopharmaceuticals to be exported to 17 countries across the world”.

Iran exporting biopharmaceuticals to 17 countries

Tehran (ISNA) - Vice Presidency's director of biotechnology development department, Mostafa Ghanei said about the condition of biopharmaceuticals produced in Iran, “Iran’s condition in this area is very good and currently Iranian biopharmaceuticals are exported to 17 countries across the world”.

en.isna.ir

 

[Persian Gulf]

Iran’s internationally registered patents increase two-fold in first-half of year

Tehran (ISNA) - “Iran’s internationally registered patents during the first half of the current Iranian year have been increased two-fold, comparing to the total number for last year,” Iranian vice president for science and technology, Sorena Sattari said.

“We expect the internationally registered patents to be increased three or four-fold by the end of the year, comparing to last year,” the official said.

Iranian vice president for science and technology also expressed hope for reaching the level of Turkey in registering patents within a year. He also indicated that a detailed plan is under operation in the field of patent registration.

Iran’s internationally registered patents increase two-fold

Tehran (ISNA) - “Iran’s internationally registered patents during the first half of the current Iranian year have been increased two-fold, comparing to the total number for last year,” Iranian vice president for science and technology, Sorena Sattari said.

en.isna.ir

 

[Persian Gulf]

Iran’s space technology grows 134%

Tehran (ISNA) - Head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) Morteza Barari announced that the space technology in Iran has grown 134 percent.
Announcing that space economy in Iran has grown 134 percent over past 10 years, Dr. Barari said, “However, the average growth of space economy in the world is 17.4 percent”.

Dr. Barari said the share of space economy in world’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 0.45%, reminding, “The number will reach 4 to 8 percent in the next 20 years”.

While he emphasized that Iran is facing challenges in developing space technology, expressing hope that the challenges will be solved with the cooperation of researchers.

Iran’s space technology grows 134%

Tehran (ISNA) - Head of the Iranian Space Agency (ISA) Morteza Barari announced that the space technology in Iran has grown 134 percent.

en.isna.ir

[last update for today ]

 

[Scorpion]

Has the sanctions slow scientific growth in Iran by any means?

 

[Persian Gulf]

Has the sanctions slow scientific growth in Iran by any means?

They have definitely posed a lot of problems affecting ordinary scientists and virtually all students in Iran. For example, I have many friends at top universities that cannot get papers published in US/European journals purely because they are Iranian. The biggest problem of sanctions is that all international co-operation is almost impossible. It is also very difficult to import necessary equipment for lab purposes for example. Ordinary Iranians also are barred from accessing online learning platforms like Coursera etc, which is ridiculous.

However, Iranians have adapted to sanctions and found creative solutions. Also, an unintended consequence of the sanctions is that there is a big impetus for everything to be produced locally in Iran, and to be self-sufficient in every area. As a result, Iran builds a lot of its own medicines, X-ray machines, SLVs, rifles, submarines etc - everything from a very basic level up. This was from the Iranian experience of the Iran-Iraq war. Previously, Iran had access to all the best US weapons such as the F-14, but after 1979 the US imposed sanctions and Iran learned the dangers of being totally reliant on US for spare parts for example. So this programme of self-sufficiency in every area (in food to military to technology etc) started in the '90s.

Also Iranians are very pro-STEM subjects and produce millions of excellent universities graduates in this field. Iranian students have an excellent record at International Olympiad competitions and in scientific research, for example. Unfortunately, many of them go abroad and there is a big brain drain because they do not have good working opportunities in Iran (partially) because of the sanctions.

Overall, the sanctions pose a lot of problems affecting ordinary students etc and this limits Iran's progress a lot, but it also forces Iran to adapt and be totally self-sufficient in many fields, so progress is harder but still very impressive in my opinion (Iran is the top scientific power of the region behind only Israel on a qualitative level I would argue).

Some good sources to read more about science in Iran:

Will Iran win the technology war?

Israel urgently needs a strategic plan to maintain the technological advantage over nations dedicated to wiping out the Jewish state.

www.jpost.com

https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/full/10.1063/1.3480068

Iran’s “brain drain” ranks first in the world.

Iran ranks first in the world, in brain drain; with around 25% of its educated people currently living in developed countries.

vip.politicsmeanspolitics.com

 

[Persian Gulf]

Iran celebrates World Telecommunication Day by unveiling 4 projects [worth $43 million]

MNA – Iran hosted a ceremony Sun. to mark the 50th anniversary of World Telecommunication Day, during which four telecommunication projects were unveiled in the presence of ICT minister.

The ceremony was held at the Iranian Ministry of Information and Communications Technology on Sunday to celebrate World Telecommunication Day, which is marked on May 17 every year. ICT Minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi and a number of other officials took part in the event.

Four telecommunication projects were unveiled during the ceremony, including the one on the connection of 7,200 rural areas to the National information network, which is an ongoing project to develop a secure and stable infrastructure network in Iran.

Speaking at the ceremony, the ICT minister also announced the installation of an indigenous firewall on Siemens industrial control systems in the country. He said the firewall will be soon compatible for other brands as well.

Iran celebrates World Telecommunication Day by unveiling 4 projects

MNA – Iran hosted a ceremony Sun. to mark the 50th anniversary of World Telecommunication Day, during which four telecommunication projects were unveiled

theiranproject.com

 

[Persian Gulf]

Iran Unveils 7 New Knowledge-Based Products

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran on Wednesday unveiled 7 new home-made knowledge-based products in a ceremony participated by Vice-President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari and Health Minister Saeed Namaki.

"Today, I am pleased that we have unveiled 7 new knowledge-based products," Namaki told reporters in Tehran today. "Fortunately, our scientists think of progress under the hard conditions of sanctions," he added, noting that the embargos have led the knowledge-based companies produce medicine and raw materials to manufacture drugs.

Iran had also on Tuesday unveiled 9 new indigenized medicine to treat depression, skin, blood and infertility problems as well as cancer. The drugs were unveiled in a ceremony participated by Namaki in Alborz province near Tehran. They include hi-tech drugs to treat depression, male infertility, blood platelet adhesion, skin infections, skin diseases, advanced breast cancer, lung cancer and motor neuron diseases, and a medicine to stretch bone marrow tissue. All the drugs have been produced based on the highest international standards using state-of-the-art technologies.

Iran has taken long strides in producing different types of drugs and medical equipment.

Also, last month, Sattari attended a ceremony to unveil 4 home-produced drugs for cancer and diabetes treatment. Four Iranian-produced drugs for cancer and diabetes treatment, including Regorafenib and Sorafenib, were unveiled during a ceremony this morning at Eshtehard Industrial Town in Alborz Province.

The anti-cancer drugs included the highly important and expensive Regorafenib and Sorafenib, while Empagliflozin and Dapagliflozin were unveiled for the treatment of diabetic patients. Regorafenib, under the trade name chemotherapy drug Stivarga, was first developed by Germany in 2012 for treatment of colorectal cancer, gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST), and liver cancer. Iranian researchers managed to obtain the highly complex know-how for the production of this pricey drug after seven years of relentless research and experiment. A 28-tablet pack of Regorafenib costs $5,870 on the global market. The Iranian version is sold at only 5% of the value of the German product.

Sorafenib, known by its brand name Nexavar, is used to treat kidney, liver, and thyroid cancer. The product was produced only by Germany and the US until now. The Iranian version of the product is sold at less than one-tenth of its price on the global market, which is as high as $4,880.

Empagliflozin, sold under the trade name Jardiance, is used to treat type 2 diabetes. Iran is now the third producer of the medication, after Germany and the US. Dapagliflozin, sold under the brand name Farxiga, is also used to treat type 2 diabetes. Iran managed to obtain the technology to produce the medication after the UK.

It is predicted that the two Iranian anti-cancer drugs would potentially generate $1 billion worth of revenues for the country.

FarsNews Agency - Iran Unveils 7 New Knowledge-Based Products

Producing such drugs and medicines indigenously allows them to be sold to consumers and those in need at much cheaper and affordable rates, great news.

 

[Persian Gulf]

Iran, Russia to Jointly Produce Surgeon Robot

TEHRAN (FNA)- Two Iranian centers and a Russian body signed an agreement to start the joint production of Cenna surgeon robot in Russia.
According to a new agreement sealed between Iran and Russia in Moscow on Saturday, Cenna (named after renowned Iranian physician Avicenna) surgeon robot will be jointly manufactured in Russia.

The Head of the Center for Knowledge-Based Enterprises and Iran's Vice President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari made up the Iranian side of the agreement with the Head of the Russian Center for Research and Development.

Based on the agreement between the two sides, which at the end of the meeting reached the Iranian knowledge-based companies with their counterparts in Moscow, the robot will be built as SKD (semi-complete parts) in Russia.

The construction and mass of this robot are being implemented in collaboration with the Institute for Advanced Medical Technology, the Knowledge Foundation, the Sina Institute of Robotics and Medicine, and the Russian Research and Development Center (R & D).

On Friday, Representatives from scores of Iranian and Russian knowledge-based firms and innovation companies, in a meeting in Moscow, discussed ways to increase mutual cooperation.

The 1st meeting of Iranian and Russian knowledge-based and innovative companies started work with the attendance of Iranian Vice-President for Science and Technology Sorena Sattari and Iran Ambassador to Russia Mehdi Sanayee.

Over 70 Iranian knowledge-based companies are accompanying Sattari in his visit to Russia.

FarsNews Agency - Iran, Russia to Jointly Produce Surgeon Robot

 

[Persian Gulf]

 

[Persian Gulf]

AUT is doing fantastic things in science these days, good rivalry with SUT forming