Meeting with a Group of Distinguished Scientific Figures and University Professors

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

First of all, we wanted this meeting to have a symbolic aspect above all else. I want the respect I hold for professors and scholars to be reflected in society. We need our scientists and professors to feel dignity in society. The best encouragement for the expansion of knowledge is the honoring of its bearers. Our university professors, the distinguished and elite figures of our research centers, are among those who are considered the scientific elite. Therefore, this meeting is primarily for this purpose, and this goal is, God willing, achieved through our gathering. Dear friends, brothers, and sisters, know that I have a heartfelt respect and reverence for knowledge and scholars, and I wish that throughout the country, all of us—from officials to the general public and various management levels—share this feeling and express it in practice, which, of course, is already being expressed. However, alongside this, there is also the purpose of this meeting, which is to present the concerns of our distinguished and elite figures regarding issues of science and education in various sectors in a public space; this is very necessary and important. If it were possible and appropriate, I would have deemed it necessary for not only those who have prepared themselves to speak but also a larger group of you present to speak and express your thoughts here. Unfortunately, this is not feasible in this meeting. However, what has been said today has been very useful and beneficial for me; especially some friends and speakers have expressed very important points that need to be observed. These points will be useful in an open space and exposed to the scrutiny and judgment of scholars themselves, as well as the managers and officials of scientific and research executive bodies, and later, when broadcasted, will be available to the public and for those who are sensitive to issues related to science.

Now, it has come to my mind here—friends should consider this—that if we can hold public gatherings of university professors and researchers throughout the year, and invite some from this group as speakers to express their concerns in those gatherings, it would help in decision-making; both in the government, in the Islamic Consultative Assembly, in the Expediency Discernment Council, and in the decision-making levels of executive bodies like ministries and so on.

Well, what I intended to convey are points that, of course, some of them we must mention; because there is no time.

One point is that whatever we present must be considered with these premises. We have several premises. One is that scientific progress is a vital necessity for the country in various sciences; of course, we will discuss the ranking of sciences later, which is one of the important tasks.

The second premise is that this scientific progress, although it will undoubtedly be achieved through acquiring knowledge from more advanced countries and scientific centers—part of it is undoubtedly this—however, acquiring knowledge is one issue, and producing knowledge is another issue. We should not tie our wagon to the locomotive of the West in the matter of science. Of course, if this dependency is created, some progress will be made; there is no doubt about that; however, following along, lacking initiative, and being spiritually subordinate is an inevitable consequence of such progress; and this is not permissible. Therefore, we must produce knowledge ourselves and cultivate it. Every step that a person ascends in the ranks of knowledge prepares them for taking the next step and moving to a higher level. This movement must be continued from within ourselves, utilizing our intellectual resources and the treasures of our cultural heritage.

Thirdly, this scientific progress must be accompanied by self-belief, first; hope for success, secondly; and a jihad-like movement, thirdly. Because we have assumed that scientific progress must be based on a local perspective and rely on our own culture—our culture means Islam and our cherished national legacies—and also be responsive to the needs of the country. This must constitute the entirety of our scientific movement. Some may question whether this is possible. We must find this belief—as some gentlemen have now stated—that we can. We must know that when movement occurs, there is hope for success.

And fourthly, in this movement, laziness and complacency and shifting responsibilities to one another are not permissible; a jihad-like movement must be made. Jihad is not only in the battlefield; in the field of science, just like in other fields of life, jihad is necessary. Jihad means relentless effort, accompanied by reasonable risk-taking, and progress with hope for the future.

These are our premises, which we have discussed extensively, have repeatedly stated, and have been accepted by scholars and professors—today you also observed that some friends who spoke here referred to the demands of recent years—indicating that as a thought, this scientific progress, the conquest of new peaks in science, innovative perspectives at the frontiers of knowledge, and advancement at the borders are part of the thoughts of our scientific community today, which is indisputable.

Now, based on this, what is the role of the professor? This must be taken into consideration. The professor has a significant role. In universities and also in research centers—namely research institutes and research centers—the professor plays a substantial role. Just as executive and governmental bodies also have roles. We cannot only address governmental bodies; we cannot overlook the role of the professor, who is the active force present on the scene, nor can we address the professor or the educational manager or the educational group manager without acknowledging the role of the governmental executive bodies, which are essentially the contractors of this grand project of science and scientific progress. A grand project is to be executed in the country, which is scientific progress, elevation in the field of science; its contractors are the governmental bodies; the Ministry of Higher Education, the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, and the relevant scientific bodies. They must take charge of the work, plan for it, and provide the necessary groundwork; that what friends mentioned as demands, some of which I noted, is part of the tasks that governmental bodies must undertake; they have other responsibilities as well. Therefore, each has a role. I do not want to elaborate on the role of the professor or the role of the executive bodies; because it would be lengthy—of course, there are notes here—but in this regard, I want to offer some recommendations.

One recommendation is that both the management bodies and professors should promote self-belief within universities. The youth who are under your training and education must have confidence in themselves—that national self-confidence we mentioned. This is not about an individual having confidence in themselves; it is about having a general national self-confidence in our national traits, our national capabilities, and our cultural treasures, which we call national self-confidence—this state must manifest in each of our youth; meaning that when our youth stands here and speaks, they must have national self-confidence; because the youth is the embodiment of hope. I will meet with students in a few days; the youth come here, stand, and speak. There should be no sign of despair or doubt in achieving goals in this speech; it must be filled with hope. As the realities also confirm this. You are responsible for this. Of course, there are various social factors: political, social, etc.; but the professor has a very significant impact in the classroom or laboratory or educational workshop. You must instill belief in oneself and hope for the future in the youth.

Secondly, one of the things I recommend—since officials are also present here—is that we identify the scientific needs and priorities and incorporate them into our educational planning. Now regarding the humanities, basic sciences, various sectors of experimental sciences, or different levels of research, certain priorities may become clear in study and investigation; these must be considered and incorporated into planning. With limited resources and numerous needs, we should not allow ourselves to invest intellectual, financial, temporal, and human resources in matters that do not have priority. This is also an issue.

One issue is the need to strengthen the spirit of research and inquiry in students. Now, the discussion of reforming the educational system of the country and the higher education system is a very important and lengthy discussion that must be raised in these sessions, which there is no time for now. I want to say that in this area of educational reform, one of the tasks that must be undertaken is that the educational system should be designed in such a way that our youth become interested in research and deepening knowledge. Memorization is wrong. Unfortunately, we still see in our universities—sometimes I encounter some of the youth who are connected with us—we see that the teacher has assigned several hundred pages of a book for a single course for the student to read. Why? Memorizing words and writings that it is unclear how beneficial they are and engaging the youth's mind with something unnecessary. We must think; selected and distinguished individuals must sit down to design a system that encourages our youth towards research, depth, and inquiry; with the talents that our youth possess. Honestly, the talents of our youth are outstanding. The average talent of the country is very high.

Now, I think time is up. One of our common discussions is the issue of the veteran professor and the fresh professor. Let us not allow this to become a point of contention. If I were asked, I would say we need veteran and experienced professors; we also need young and fresh professors full of energy; we need all of them. Of course, I do not support the formation of closed circles in the teaching world that prevent young individuals who are the children of those professors from entering the field; no, we must prevent the formation of closed circles at the levels of our academic and educational staff; we must allow the youth to come in. However, veteran professors, experienced professors, and those with a long history in various fields are treasures of the system; we must make maximum use of them. The design of how we can combine the experienced professor who has worked in this field for many years, matured, gained experience, and is a resource for the country, with the young fresh professor who has just completed their doctorate at a distinguished university and is now ready and eager to teach in the same field—neither can we overlook one. We need both the experienced veteran and the fresh, vibrant, scientifically active young person who is eager to work and strive—we must do it in such a way that we can benefit from both. We need human resources, and in my opinion, if we place the development of educational and research centers on our agenda, we can utilize both groups and additionally provide scientific employment for ready-to-work students and attract elites. This is also one of the tasks.

I think the call to prayer must have been raised; I did not hear it; but surely the prayer time has passed, and we cannot continue any longer.

Thank you very much to the dear friends, brothers, and sisters who attended today and held this good meeting. God willing, the collection of opinions from the gentlemen should be extracted here in our office; what pertains to us that we must follow up on, we will take it; what pertains to the executive bodies, it should be given to them so that, God willing, the executive bodies will follow up.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.