PASTIC Summer Research Week 2026 Concludes with Emphasis on Research Skills, Digital Tools and Research Integrity.

Islamabad, 21 August 2026: The Pakistan Scientific and Technological Information Centre (PASTIC) National Centre, Islamabad, successfully concluded the five-day Summer Research Week 2026, held from 17 to 21 August 2026, aimed at strengthening research capacity and equipping students and emerging researchers with practical skills, modern research tools, and methodologies for conducting systematic, data-driven, and evidence-based research.

The five-day program brought together 40 participants from Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Karachi, Faisalabad, Peshawar, and Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK). The program provided participants with practical exposure to various stages of the research cycle, ranging from research planning and data collection to quantitative and qualitative data analysis, scholarly writing, programming, reference management, and research ethics.

The first two days of the program were led by Dr. Muhammad Usman, who took the stage for an intensive and highly practical series of sessions on Data Analysis using SPSS. His sessions introduced participants to the complete data analysis, beginning with data-set creation, variable design, and data preprocessing. Participants gained hands-on experience in identifying and handling missing values, transforming and recoding variables, computing new variables, and generating frequency distributions and cross-tabulations.

Dr. Usman further guided participants through the fundamentals of inferential statistics, demonstrating how statistical techniques can be applied to draw meaningful conclusions from research data. Through demonstrations, discussions, and practical exercises, participants developed a clear understanding of how to move from raw research data towards meaningful statistical analysis.

On the third day, Dr. Usman continued the SPSS component with practical applications of one-sample, paired-sample, and independent-sample t-tests, followed by one-way ANOVA and post-hoc analysis. The day also featured a comprehensive session on Zotero, conducted by Dr. Maryam Ibrar, which introduced participants to reference management, creation and organization of research libraries, importing and managing references, citation and bibliography generation, and collaboration through group libraries.

The fourth day focused on Qualitative Research and Thematic Analysis. Ms. Rabia Zafar from Bahria University introduced participants to the Braun and Clarke six-step framework for thematic analysis and demonstrated the practical application of MAXQDA for qualitative research. Participants gained hands-on experience in creating research projects, importing and organising qualitative data, developing and managing codes, exploring relationships through visual tools and maps, and exporting coded data and analytical reports.

The final day brought together scientific writing, programming, research ethics, and the closing ceremony. Dr. Muhammad Usman also conducted a session on LaTeX for professional scientific writing and document preparation, while Mr. Nabi Bux introduced participants to Python programming, highlighting the growing importance of computational and programming skills in modern research. A dedicated session on Research Ethics was conducted by Dr. Saira Kazmi, covering research integrity, HEC policies, plagiarism, ethical considerations, and responsible research practices.

The day concluded with a certificate distribution ceremony, recognising the participation and commitment of the researchers throughout the five-day learning experience. Participants appreciated PASTIC for providing a practical and research-oriented platform that enabled them to develop and strengthen their research skills.
The Chief Guest, Director General PASTIC, Prof. Dr. M. Akram Shaikh, addressed the participants during the concluding ceremony. In his remarks, he emphasised the growing importance of scientific knowledge, digital research tools, data analysis, and modern technologies in contemporary research. He highlighted the diverse information and research services offered by PASTIC and reaffirmed that PASTIC remains committed to supporting researchers and the wider scientific community through its resources, expertise, and information services.

Prof. Dr. M. Akram Shaikh also expressed appreciation to the resource persons, organising team, participants, and all those who contributed to the successful conduct of Summer Research Week 2026.

The successful completion of the program reflects PASTIC National Centre Islamabad's continued commitment to capacity building, knowledge sharing, and promotion of modern research practices among students, researchers, and the broader academic and scientific community.