Pre-Conference Meeting of the Congress on Combating Scientific Apartheid

According to the Public Relations report of the National Library and Archives of Iran (NLAI), a pre-conference meeting for the "First International Congress on Combating Scientific Apartheid" will be held by this organization as part of the congress's preparatory programs. The meeting will examine various dimensions of the concept of scientific apartheid and strategies for realizing the right to equal participation in and benefit from science.

In the opening session of this event, speeches will be delivered by Hassan Abolghasemi, President of Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences and Head of the Congress; Gholamreza Farnoush, Associate Professor at Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences and Executive Secretary of the Congress; and Seyed Mahmoud Sadat, Deputy for Research and Digital Resources at the NLAI.

Subsequently, Maghsood Farasatkhah, Professor at the Institute for Research and Planning in Higher Education, will present his views on the topic "The State of Science in Iran under Sanctions: Higher Education, Quality of Science, and the Right to Scientific Participation." Gholamreza Amirkhani, Faculty Member and Head of the NLAI, will examine the issue of "Access to Resources and the Role of Libraries in Facing Limitations."

Seyed Mehdi Taheri, Associate Professor at Allameh Tabataba'i University, will address "Restrictions on Access to Scientific Databases and Their Impact on International Scientific Participation." Zeinab Papi, Assistant Professor at the NLAI and Scientific Secretary of the meeting, will present on the topic "Preservation of Digital Heritage under Conditions of Limitation and Sanction." Reza Rajabali Beiglou, Associate Professor at the Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (IranDoc), will also explain "The Functions and Approaches of Libraries within the Framework of Open Science."

The "First International Congress on Combating Scientific Apartheid," hosted by Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Supreme Council of the Cultural Revolution, will be held on May 19-20, 2026, at the Tehran International Tower Convention Center.