THE HUSSAIN EBRAHIM Jamal Research Institute of Chemistry (H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry) was established in 1967 as a "Postgraduate Institute of Chemistry" affiliated with the Department of Chemistry at Karachi University.
In 1976, the institute received a generous donation from Hussain Jamal Foundation, and was subsequently given its present name. Dr Salimuzzaman Siddiqui was designated as the institute's first director. Additional research staff was provided by PCSIR. Prof Dr Atta ur Rahman is the director of the institute and has been affiliated with it since 1969.
In 2001, the institute became part of the establishment of the International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences under the auspices of Executive Committee of the National Economic Council. The institute maintains research collaboration with Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, Germany. H.E.J is the country's most well-known research institute, and a number of prominent scientists have worked there. H.E.J is also responsible for producing notable scientists active in the fields of Biochemistry, Biomedical sciences and biotechnology.
A number of projects were prepared and submitted to foreign-aid giving agencies, which were funded to the tune of 4.8 million DM from Germany, 1 million pounds from the U.K., 8 million dollars from Japan, 3.5 million DM from Germany and, more recently, 3.0 million dollars from U.S.A. which have transformed the institute to one of the finest centers of natural product chemistry in the world. The dedicated efforts of the faculty members, students and employees of the institute played a vital role in these developments. Having the single largest doctoral program in the country, the institute provides a place of work to about a hundred bright young scientists who are enrolled for Ph.D. level studies on various aspects of organic chemistry, biochemistry and pharmacology. Pakistan produces about 30 PhD's in the sciences annually from its 24 universities and 130 research centers, of which more than half are now produced by H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry alone.
A number of goal-oriented projects relating to the chemistry of natural products and protein chemistry are being vigorously pursued which have led to the award of over 100 doctorate degrees, 30 M. Phil. degrees and 35 M.Sc. degrees and the publication of over 800 research papers that have earned international recognition.
The areas of research covered in the programs of the institute broadly relate to isolation, structural, synthetic and pharmacological studies on novel natural products as well as various aspects of protein chemistry. To get a clearer idea of the wide range and orientation of the basic researches carried out at the institute would need careful reference to the topics covered in over 800 research publications in international journals. In order to ensure international standards the doctorate degrees are awarded to students of the institute on the recommendations of two eminent scientists from abroad after their assessment of the doctoral theses referred to them. The scientists trained in the institute are now serving the country in industry and in various R lit D and academic institutes. The quality of the researches being pursued in the institute are reflected from the fact that all the Professors in the institute have been awarded D.Sc. degrees (Prof. Salimuzzaman Siddiqui: Leeds University; Prof. Atta-ur-Rahman: Cambridge University; Prof. V.U. Ahmed: Karachi University and Prof. Zafar H. Zaidi: Leeds University), a unique achievement for a research institute in a Third World country.
Various collaborative researches have been undertaken jointly with scientists of the developed as well as Third World countries including those with Prof. Al Sayed Alashry (Egypt), Prof. Azad Choudhury (Bangladesh), Prof. Jon Clardy (USA), Prof. Ermias Dagne (Ethiopia), Prof. K.T. DeSilva (Sri Lanka), Prof. Victor Fajardo (Chile), Prof. Leslie Gunatilaka (Sri Lanka), Prof. Jim Hanson (U.K.), Dr. W.H.M.W. Herath (Sri Lanka), Dr. Masood Parvez (Canada), Dr. David Rycroft (UK), Prof. Salim Sabri (Jordan), Prof. Bilge Sener (Turkey), Prof. Maurice Shamma (USA), Prof. Asifuzzaman Siddiqui (India), Dr. David L. Smith (USA), Prof. Wolfgang Voelter (Germany) and Prof. Bing Nan Zhou (China), which have led to exciting new results published in leading international journals.
http://www.technologytimes.pk/mag/2011/jan11/issue01/hej_research_institute_of.php
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