Higher Education Commission (HEC) intends to develop and endure a dynamic and internationally competitive research sector in Pakistan that makes a major contribution to economic prosperity, national well-being, and the expansion and dissemination of knowledge. The promotion of Research is one of the core strategic goals of the HEC. Through the program and initiatives launched by the HEC for strengthening research and the process of knowledge creation, the quality and research output originating from the universities and institutes in the country have shown remarkable improvements and Pakistan has been acknowledged as a rising star in a number of research disciplines in terms of percentage increase in internationally cited research publications. Yet, this is no more than an end of a beginning and we need not only to sustain and improve this trend, but also contemplate questions of relevance and economic, social and academic impact of the research.

In line with the policy of HEC and in pursuance of the Vice Chancellor’s directives for streamlining the management of research initiatives and programs, there was a need to establish a center for monitoring the ongoing research and development activities at the University of Baltistan, Skardu. Accordingly, the worthy Vice-Chancellor was pleased to issue executive orders to energize the existing arrangements as the Office of Research, Innovation, and Commercialization (ORIC) at the University of Baltistan, Skardu with effect from June 2018. This office is established not only to sustain but also improving the trends of the research activities having an impact on the improvement of areas concerning economic, industrial, social, and academic development and their accelerated advancements for achieving the national objectives.