De Montfort University: UK University to Help Iraq Solve Crimes

LEICESTER, England - Thursday, June 30th 2011 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- De Montfort University (DMU) in Leicester, UK, is joining forces with an Iraqi university to help solve crimes in the country, which has seen a rise in criminal activity since the war began in 2003.

The university is working with Karbala University, which is situated 100 km from Baghdad, to develop a new forensic science curriculum and to train academics in the subject.

Eleven academics from the university will be visiting DMU next month for two weeks (3-16 July) to begin work on the project.

They will be trained by DMU academics and learn about university and academic structures in the UK to help develop forensic science courses of their own for Iraqi students.

The collaboration was made possible by a grant from the British Council through a project called DelPHE-Iraq, which aims to support partnerships between higher education institutions in Iraq and other countries. The project was rated as the best application received by the British Council.

Dr Paul Bremner from DMU said: “Iraq has been isolated for many years and part of the British Council brief is to begin to welcome them back into the international academic arena, so they are keen to support projects which help achieve this.

“It is also a requirement of the project that a high percentage of female academics take part as they are an under represented group in Iraqi academic life, especially at a senior level, so five of the group visiting DMU are women.

“I and forensic science colleagues at DMU are looking forward to welcoming the Iraqi academics and hope the training in forensics will equip them to train others.

“The project creates opportunities for further collaboration and while they are here in Leicester I hope our visitors will enjoy the hospitality of this city, county and country.”

Brendan McSharry, the British Council’s country director in Iraq, said: “Around 20 years ago Iraqi higher education was regarded as the best in the region but since then it has fallen into serious disrepair.

“The De Montfort-Karbala university partnership will undoubtedly help to restore Iraq’s fortunes and provide better education and skills training for the new generation of Iraqis.”
Contacts

DMU Media Office

Liz Mattock

+44 (0)116 257 7400

news@dmu.ac.uk