On Saturday, 24 March 2007, three partnership agreements - an MoA, MoU and Agreement of
Cooperation between AIT and the Research and Consulting Company of Shakhes-Sazan (RCCSS), Esfahan, Iran, were signed by AIT President Said Irandoust, and Dr. Amir Mahmoodsadeh, Managing Director, RCCSS.
According to the MoA, AIT will launch professional doctorate programs in Iran, for which
RCCSS will provide AIT with a sum of US$28,000 per student for joining the programs. The
programs will be launched upon the confirmed enrolment of a minimum of 15 students.
Initially, three programs in the fields of remote sensing & GIS and civil engineering are
planned for launch with a minimum of 45 students. RCCS will also be responsible for the
traveling and other related costs of AIT faculty for conducting the classes in Iran.
Under the MoU, RCCSS will set up an office at AIT to work jointly with AIT in promoting
collaboration in Iran, the Middle East, Central Asia, etc. through joint projects, consultancy, research and training activities. As part of the MoU, RCCSS will provide funding for two of its employees to further their master’s degree at AIT in the remote sensing and GIS. RCCSS will also provide a seed funding of Baht 1 million in a phased manner over a two-year period for the initiation of projects. For the first phase, Baht 125,000 will be paid in May 2007.
According to the Agreement of Cooperation, RCCSS will assist AIT in recruiting students
from Iran under the "agent' scheme launched last year as part of AIT recruitment and a
promotion drive in India, China, Nepal and some other countries, which has brought in
positive results.
Established in 1994, RCCSS is a private research/consulting company and education center
in Iran which is affiliated to the Ministry of Planning and Management Budgeting of Iran.
It is also recognized by the Ministry of Social Relation and Works, Iran for the promotion of educational/investigative and social cooperation with foreign universities and education centers. RCCSS has 15 centers in Iran and is active in 30 provinces with around 120 ongoing projects throughout the country. There are 176 M.Sc. Ph.D. staff engaged at RCCS and affiliation with 45 other academics.
Dr. Nitin Tripathi and Dr. Saeid Pirasteh have played instrumental roles in bringing this
partnership to fruition.