Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE)
RISE is a research based internship program for STEM students
Introduction
The knowledge of various disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is the key to finding solutions to the ever evolving complex and interconnected global challenges related to health, energy, environment and sustainability as well as creating and capitalizing on new knowledge and associated unprecedented economic opportunities. Beside STEM, the knowledge of non-STEM disciplines are equally important for improving understanding of human society, advancing critical thinking, and fostering creativity that helps in developing new philosophical perspectives that shape culture and society. Considering the astronomical pace at which the knowledge and its implementation is expanding, it is imperative that the younger generation of students experience an early exposure to knowledge and develop abilities to effectively contribute to finding solutions to the emerging global challenges and benefit from the unprecedented new opportunities. Such exposures will equip young students with the relevant knowledge and skills that can have a long lasting and deep-rooted impact on their future academic and professional progress. Schools, generally, have limited resources when it comes to providing students with research opportunities in various STEM related fields. Universities, on the other hand, are knowledge hubs that are rich in highly skilled human resources and advanced research infrastructure. Following precisely designed research training programs, opening the doors of research active Universities for the students who are preparing to enter universities can help in exposing them to relevant knowledge at an early age. Such an exposure can prepare students not only for planning their own career but also equip them with the skills required to understand and respond to complex and emerging global challenges and opportunities. Fulfilling this need and enabling our future generations, LUMS has been offering the Research Internship in Science and Engineering (RISE) Program since 2023.
Please note that the RISE - Interns are divided into two separate streams: RISE - Research Stream and RISE - Planned Activities Stream. The RISE - Research Stream is for students who are in grade 11 or above (pre-university). The internees of RISE - Research Stream spend 3-4 weeks in a research group and work on an intellectually stimulating research question. Each student or group of students works in the laboratory of a LUMS faculty member who serves as a mentor and research adviser. For placement in a research group, the RISE program managing team, in consultation with training faculty, matches the students’ disciplinary and research interests to the available projects. The students’ disciplinary and research interests are collected as a part of the application to the program. The participating students become a contributing member of a research group and have the opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research and thereby experience first-hand what it is like to be a scientist. The RISE - Planned Activities Stream Interns are students who are at a relatively early stage of their academic journey, mostly grade 10 and below. The RISE - Planned Activities Stream Interns go through a planned learning experience by attending themed sessions with hands-on lab experience. The interns of both streams attend accessible talks by the RISE - Invited Speakers referred to as RISE Conversations.
In addition to the interaction with the leading scientists and diverse community of student researchers and undertaking their internship activities in the advanced research areas in an intellectually stimulating environment of LUMS, students also receive basic training and experience in best practices in scientific communication, they are exposed to potential conventional and unconventional career paths, and they also participate in an end of activity RISE Culminating Event where they showcase their learning. The RISE program aims to create an ecosystem that sparks enthusiasm among our future generations and facilitates students' training and early access to cutting-edge research.
Target Audience
The RISE Research Stream is suitable for students who are in grade 11 and above (pre-university). The RISE Planned Activities Stream is suitable for students who are in grades 10 and below. Suitable for students who are planning on pursuing degrees in STEM related disciplines.
Program Founder
Dr. Basit Yameen
Professor - Department of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering | LUMS
For More Information Contact:
Badar uz Zaman Hamza
badar.hamza@lums.edu.pk
Lab Instructor - Department of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering | LUMS
Madiha Rahman
madiha.rahman@lums.edu.pk
Communications and Partnerships Lead – Office of the Dean
Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering | LUMS
Ayerah Asim
ayerah.asim@lums.edu.pk
Innovation Specialist - Office of the Dean
Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering | LUMS
Farooq Usman
usman.farooq@lums.edu.pk
Manager - Department of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering | LUMS
Mujahid Rasheed
mujahid.rasheed@lums.edu.pk
Operations Specialist - Department of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering | LUMS
Important Dates
- Deadline for receiving applications: June 13, 2026
- Intimation of selection and onboarding: June 18 to June 23, 2026
- Start of Internship: June 29, 2026
- Internship duration: 3-4 weeks in June - July (tentative from June 29 to July 30, 2026)
- End of the internship activity - RISE Culminating Event - Poster session and award of certificates: July 30, 2026
Note: Limited hostel accommodations for interns coming from outside Lahore, subject to availability.
RISE Mentors
Here is the list of Faculty Mentors who will be hosting RISE interns during Summer 26 offering:
Dr. Falak Sher: X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM)
Dr. Irshad Hussain: Functional nanomaterials
Dr. Ghayoor Abbas: New ligands for transition metal catalyzed cross coupling reactions, new synthetic methodologies for the synthesis of medicinally active small organic molecules, synthesis of new aromatic building blocks for material science
Dr. Rahman Zaib Saleem: Organic and medicinal chemistry
Dr. Basit Yameen: Functional polymers and interfaces
Dr. Qasim Imtiaz: Synthesis and characterization of functional materials for sustainable energy production and heterogeneous catalysis
Dr. Qandeel Almas: Heterogeneous Catalysis, Biomass Valorization, Sustainable energy production.
Dr. Usman Bin Shahid: Electrocatalysis, sustainable chemical engineering, process systems engineering, electrochemical ammonia synthesis, industrial decarbonization, life cycle assessment, and water harvesting technologies.
Dr. Faheem Hassan Akhtar: Membrane technology, gas and vapor separations, carbon capture, water desalination and treatment, atmospheric water harvesting, nanofiltration, and advanced separation materials.
Dr. Shaper Mirza: Molecular pathogenesis
Dr. Khurram Bashir: Plant Biotechnology/Molecular Biology
Dr. Amir Faisal: Cancer biology, cell signaling, anticancer drug discovery, drug target identification, cancer drug resistance, and therapeutic mechanism studies.
Dr. Nauman Zafar Butt: Physics and technology of microelectronic and optoelectronic devices
Dr. Shahid Masud: Electronics hardware design
Dr. Adeel Ahmad Pasha: Embedded systems, FPGA-based hardware acceleration, AI hardware systems, IoT systems, computer architecture, real-time computing, and energy-efficient edge computing.
Dr. Nauman Ahmad: dc/dc converters for Solar PV, dc/ac inverters for grid-tie distributed energy sources and VFDs for industrial, off-grid and automotives
Dr. Imran Anwar: Combinatorial aspects of commutative algebra
Dr. Waqar Ali Azhar: Mathematics
Dr. Ali Ashher Zaidi: Applied mathematics, differential equations, mathematical modeling, functional equations, cell growth modeling, and mathematical biosciences.
Dr. Adnan Khan: Mathematical biology, epidemiological modeling, infectious disease dynamics, optimal control, biomathematics, and computational modeling of public health systems.
Dr. Malik Jahan Khan: Autonomic computing, machine learning, case-based reasoning, and AI applications in agriculture and livestock systems.
Dr. Mudassir Shabbir: Algorithms, graph theory, theoretical machine learning, and control networks.
Dr. Talha Manzoor: Water Informatics, Precision Agriculture and Environmental Modelling
Research Internships in Science and Engineering (RISE) Program - 3rd Cohort (2025)
Participate in advanced chemistry & chemical engineering research to innovate in health, energy, environment and sustainability
Important Dates
A tentative schedule for RISE program for Summer 2025 is appended below:
- Deadline for receiving applications: June 20, 2025
- Intimation of selection and onboarding: July 4 to July 9, 2025
- Start of Internship: July 10, 2025
- Internship duration: 3-4 weeks in July - August (tentative from July 10 to August 11, 2025)
- End of the internship activity - RISE Culminating Event - Poster session and award of certificates: August 11, 2025
*Note: Limited hostel accommodations for interns coming from outside Lahore, subject to availability.
RISE Mentors
Here is the list of Faculty Mentors who will be hosting RISE interns during Summer 2025 offering:
Dr. Falak Sher X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and Vibrating Sample Magnetometry (VSM)
Dr. Irshad Hussain Functional nanomaterials
Dr. Muhammad Zaheer Catalysis, sustainable chemistry and materials
Dr. Ghayoor Abbas New ligands for transition metal catalyzed cross coupling reactions, new synthetic methodologies for the synthesis of medicinally active small organic molecules, synthesis of new aromatic building blocks for material science
Dr. Rahman Zaib Saleem Organic and medicinal chemistry
Dr. Basit Yameen Functional polymers and interfaces
Dr. Qasim Imtiaz Synthesis and characterization of functional materials for sustainable energy production and heterogeneous catalysis
Dr. Qandeel Almas Heterogeneous Catalysis, Biomass Valorization, Sustainable energy production
Dr. Ali Rauf Nanocomposite materials for environmental applications, to mitigate pollution and develop sustainable energy resources.
Dr. Muhammad Tariq Molecular cloning module in the context of development
Dr. Shaper Mirza Molecular pathogenesis
Dr. Zaigham Shahzad Genetic engineering
Dr. Khurram Bashir Plant Biotechnology/Molecular Biology
Dr. Adam Zaman Chaudhry Harnessing the power of realistic quantum systems
Dr. Muhammad Faryad Computational physics, Optics, Metamaterials, Grating, Electromagnetics
Dr. Syed Moeez Hassan Quantum gravity, and its applications to cosmology and black holes
Dr. Imran Anwar Combinatorial aspects of commutative algebra
Dr. Waqar Ali Azhar Mathematics
Dr. Haniya Azam/Ameer Hamza Algebraic and Geometric Topology, Floer Homology and Lower Dimensional Topology
Dr. Shaheen Nazir Algebraic Topology, Algebraic Geometry, Combinatorial Geometry and Combinatorial Commutative Algebra
Dr. Nauman Zafar Butt Physics and technology of microelectronic and optoelectronic devices
Dr. Shahid Masud Electronics hardware design
Dr. Adeel Pasha Electronics hardware design
Dr. Hafsa Qamar Improving the performance in EV/HEV drive trains and grid connected PV converters
Nauman Ahmad dc/dc converters for Solar PV, dc/ac inverters for grid-tie distributed energy sources and VFDs for industrial, off-grid and automotives
Dr. Muhammad Ali Siddiqi Low-power hardware design, in-memory computing, memristor-based brain simulations, and the security of Implantable Medical Devices (IMDs) and Medical Body Area Networks (MBANs).
Dr. Mohammad Jahangir Ikram In collaboration with Dr. Muhammad Ali Siddiqi
Dr. Hassan Mohy Ud Din Clinica Translation and Imaging - Applied Mathematics and Medical Imaging
Dr. Mian Muhammad Awais Artificial intelligence and Machine learning
Dr. Talha Manzoor Water Informatics | Precision Agriculture | Environmental Modelling
Dr. Ali Usman Qasmi History and Literature
Dr. Saba Pirzadeh Environmental humanities and postcolonial studies, with a particular focus on literary representation of anthropocentric violence, climate crisis, petroculture, hydropolitics, interspecies relationality and socioecological justice
Important Dates
1. Deadline for receiving applications: June 17, 2024
2. Intimation of selection, Onboarding and Start of internship: July 1, 2024
3. Internship duration: 4 weeks in July
4. End of the internship activity - Poster session and award of certificates: July 31, 2024
*Note: Limited hostel accommodations for interns coming from outside Lahore, subject to availability.
RISE Mentors
Please visit Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering Faculty profiles for more details
Here is the list of Faculty mentors who will be hosting RISE interns during summer 24 offering:
Dr. Qandeel Almas: Heterogeneous Catalysis, Biomass Valorization, Sustainable energy production
Dr. Falak Sher: Magnetism and Magnetic Materials
Dr. Ali Rauf: Nanocomposite materials for environmental applications, to mitigate pollution and develop sustainable energy resources.
Dr. Irshad Hussain: Functional nanomaterials
Dr. Muhammad Zaheer: Catalysis, sustainable chemistry and materials
Dr. Ghayoor Abbas: New ligands for transition metal catalyzed cross coupling reactions, new synthetic methodologies for the synthesis of medicinally active small organic molecules, synthesis of new aromatic building blocks for material science.
Dr. Salman Noshear Arshad: Design and synthesis of nanofibers and nanocomposites for applications in energy and environment.
Dr. Muhammad Saeed: Antiviral and anticancer drug designing and discovery, computational modelling, protein dynamics and simulations.
Dr. Qasim Imtiaz: Synthesis and characterization of functional materials for sustainable energy production and heterogeneous catalysis
Dr. Khurram Bashir: Plant Biotechnology/Molecular Biology
Dr. Safee Ullah Chaudhary: Biomedical Informatics & Engineering
Dr. Shaper Mriza: Molecular pathogenesis
Dr. Muhammad Tariq: Molecular cloning module in the context of development
Dr. Zaigham Shahzad: Genetic engineering
Dr. Adam Zaman Chaudhry: Harnessing the power of realistic quantum systems
Dr. Syed Moeez Hassan: Astrophysics
Dr. Muhammad Sabieh Anwar: Spintronics, magnetism and optics
Dr. Imran Anwar: Combinatorial aspects of commutative algebra
Dr. Shaheen Nazir
Prof. Nauman Ahmad: dc/dc converters for Solar PV, dc/ac inverters for grid-tie distributed energy sources and VFDs for industrial, off-grid and automotives
Dr. Nauman Zafar Butt: Physics and technology of microelectronic and optoelectronic devices
Dr. Shahid Masud: Electronics hardware design
Dr. Adeel Pasha: Electronics hardware design
Dr. Hafsa Qamar: EV/HEV drive trains and grid connected PV converters
Dr. Hassan Mohy Ud Din: Clinica Translation and Imaging - Applied Mathematics and Medical Imaging
Dr. Mian Muhammad Awais: Artificial intelligence and Machine learning
Dr. Asim Karim: General computer science and natural language processing
Dr. Imdad Ullah Khan: Data Analysis
Dr. Naveed Arshad: Energy related areas
Dr. Talha Manzoor: Precision Agriculture, Environmental Modelling Water Informatics
Program Directors
RISE program is being conceived and directed by:
Dr. Basit Yameen (basit.yameen@lums.edu.pk)
For More Information Contact:
Farooq Usman: usman.farooq@lums.edu.pk
Manager - Department of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering | LUMS
Program Structure
The knowledge of various disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) is the key to finding solutions to the complex and interconnected global challenges related to health, energy, environment, and sustainability as well as creating and capitalizing on new knowledge and associated unprecedented economic opportunities. Considering the astronomical pace at which the knowledge and its implementation is expanding, it is imperative that the younger generation of students experience an early exposure to knowledge and develop abilities to effectively contribute to finding solutions to the emerging global challenges and benefit from the unprecedented new opportunities. Such exposures will equip young students with the relevant knowledge and skills that can have a long lasting and deep-rooted impact on their future academic and professional progress.
Schools and colleges, generally, have limited resources when it comes to providing students with research opportunities in various STEM related fields. Universities, on the other hand, are knowledge hubs that are rich in highly skilled human resources and advanced research facilities. Following precisely designed research training programs, opening the doors of Science and Engineering Universities for the students who are preparing to enter universities can help in exposing them to relevant knowledge at an early age, that can prepare them not only for planning their own career but also equip them with the skills required to understanding and responding to complex and emerging global challenges and opportunities. In this context, we are launching a Research Internship in Science and Engineering (RISE) Program offering research-based internships where an internee will spend 3-4 weeks in a research group and work on an intellectually stimulating research question. Each student or group of students will work in the laboratory of a LUMS faculty member who serves as a mentor and research adviser.
The RISE program directors, in consultation with training faculty (mentors), will match student interests to the available projects. The participating students will become a contributing member of a research group headed by a faculty member and will have the opportunity to contribute to cutting-edge research and thereby experience first-hand what it is like to be a scientist. In addition to the interaction with the leading scientists and diverse community of student researchers and undertaking their internship activities in the advanced research laboratories in an intellectually stimulating environment of Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering (SBASSE) at LUMS, students will also receive basic training and experience in best practices in scientific communication, they will be exposed to potential career paths in academia and industry, and they will participate in an end of activity session.
In summary, the RISE program aims to create an ecosystem that will facilitate students' early access to cutting-edge research in STEM related disciplines.
Target Audience
The program will be open for O/A level or Matric/F.Sc. Students who are planning on pursuing degrees in STEM related disciplines. At this stage, we are confining ourselves to Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, however, the model will soon be expanded to other disciplines related to the STEM education in its future offerings.
RISE Initiative will serve two Purposes: 1) Offer research and training opportunities to O/A level and Matric/F.Sc. students that are non-existent at the moment. 2) In addition, the RISE program will help in creating enthusiasm towards Science and Engineering Education at the right forums and among the right audience.
Important dates:
A tentative schedule for RISE program for Summer 2023 is appended below:
- Deadline for receiving applications: Mid of June, 2023
- Scrutiny and onboarding: By End of June, 2023
- Internship duration: 3-4 weeks in July.
- End of the internship activity (poster/presentation session): End of July or early August
Faculty Mentors
Please visit Chemistry & Chemical Engineering Faculty Profiles available on:
https://sbasse.lums.edu.pk/department-of-chemistry-and-chemical-engineering
A list of potential Faculty mentors is appended below:
Dr. Ali Rauf: Nanocomposites materials for mitigating environmental pollution and for the production of sustainable energy resources
Dr. Basit Yameen: Smart materials for biomedical applications (nanomedicine and structural biology), (bio)sensing applications (biomarkers and environmental contaminants), alternative energy technologies, environmental remediation, and antiviral and antibacterial surfaces
Dr. Faheem Hassan: Membranes and adsorbents for applications in carbon capture, industrial wastewater treatment, nanofiltration, drinking water production, sensing applications, and atmospheric water harvesting
Dr. Falak Sher: Transition metal oxides for applications in spintronics, thermoelectric devices, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and photocatalysis for environmental remediation
Dr. Ghayoor Abbas: New ligands for transition metal catalyzed cross-coupling reactions, new synthetic methodologies for the synthesis of medicinally active small organic molecules, new aromatic building blocks for applications in material science.
Dr. Habib ur Rehman: Materials for energy technologies.
Dr. Irshad Hussain: metal/metal oxide nanoparticles in biomedical sciences, renewable energy technologies, environmental remediation, and catalysis.
Dr. Muhammad Saeed: Drug discovery and development through the skills of synthetic organic chemistry, enzymology, and pharmaceutical sciences.
Dr. Muhammad Zaheer: heterogeneous catalysts for the conversion of biomass to obtain fuels/chemicals, renewable energy generation/storage, and green chemistry.
Dr. Qandeel Almas: Functional materials for the sustainable production of fuels and chemicals, particularly through the valorization of biomass-derived feedstocks.
Dr. Qasim Imtiaz: Functional materials for sustainable energy production and heterogeneous catalysis.
Dr. Rahman Shah Zaib Saleem: Discovery of lead molecules for various cellular targets, hit and lead generation, lead optimization, medicinal chemistry, organic synthesis and methodology, structure-based drug design, natural product isolation, and structure elucidation.
Dr. Rofice Dickson: Design, optimization, and analysis for problems in the general area of process systems engineering, with special emphasis on biomass-to-fuels/chemicals and power technologies.
Dr. Salman Noshear Arshad: Nanofibers and nanocomposites for applications in energy and environment.
Dr. Shahana Khurshid: Air pollutants and their ability to cause adverse health effects. Characterization of air pollutants, the concentration of reactive oxygen species, and the oxidative potential of particles.
Program Directors
RISE program is being conceived and directed by:
Dr. Basit Yameen (basit.yameen@lums.edu.pk)
Dr. Rahman Shah Zaib Saleem (rahman.saleem@lums.edu.pk)
Dr. Ali Rauf (ali.rauf@lums.edu.pk)
For information contact:
Farooq Usman (usman.farooq@lums.edu.pk)
Manager - Department of Chemistry & Chemical Engineering
Syed Babar Ali School of Science and Engineering | LUMS
