The Supreme Council for Science, Research and Technology (SCSRT), was formed in 2004 in order to function as the major policy making body in the field of science, research and technology.

Mission

The main mission of the Council is to conduct and promote the development of S&T in the country and work as an over-departmental monitoring and coordination entity under the president of Islamic Republic of Iran.

Members

Other members of the Council are as follows:

·         Minister of Science, Research and Technology

·         Minister of Health and Medical Education

·         Minister of Education

·         Two to four of other cabinet members as selected by the cabinet

·         Head of the National Organization for Management and Planning

·         Head of Supreme leader’s delegation in universities

·         Head of the Central Bank of Iran

·         Heads of National Academies for Science, Medical Sciences, Art, Persian language and literature

·         Heads of three of public universities as selected by the central council of the related universities

·         Head of one of the private universities or higher education institutes

·         Three of the most distinguished scholars, universities and research centers as selected by scientific associations and related communities

·         Three of the most distinguished figures of private manufacturing and service enterprises as appointed by the president

Duties

The major duties of the supreme council seen for SRT in the law are:

·         Prioritizing and selecting long term executive plans for macro investment in the fields of education, research and technology

·         Investigating and proposing necessary financial resources in the fields of science, research and technology

Besides the aforementioned major duties, the council has been tasked with the following duties in the recent years.

·         Executive support for the law of strengthening knowledge based institutes and enterprises

·         Executive support for the development of science and technology special zones

·         Monitoring the well allocation of national research budget lines

·         Conduct and promotion of national mega projects

Components

The major components of the council are:

·         Permanent commission

·         Specialized commissions

·         Secretariat of the Supreme Council

Permanent commission

The permanent commission is comprised of individual or legal entities of the council. The minister of science, research and technology is the head of the permanent commission and the general secretary of the commission serves as the secretary of the commission too. Other members of the permanent commission are selected for a period of 4 years. The commission is mainly tasked with decision making and providing advisory support on cases that have been forwarded to the commission by the Council.

Specialized commissions

There are eleven specialized commissions as listed below that provide advisory support to the permanent commission in their relevant fields. In order to better coordinate the policies, plans and actions of these specialized commissions, a coordination commission has been formed.

List of Specialized commissions:

·         Energy

·         Transportation and Construction

·         Agriculture, Water and Natural Resources

·         Industries, Mines and ICT

·         Defense, National Security and Foreign policy

·         Culture and Civilization

·         Management, Economy and Trade

·         Health, Food Security and Social Welfare

·         Humanities, Islamic knowledge and Art

·         Basic Sciences

·         Legal and Judiciary

Secretariat of the council

The secretariat is the key executive arm of the Council and is tasked with the following duties:

·         Decision making and expert support to the council in all the fields specified as the duties of the council

·         Planning for the enforcement of the policies resolved by the high council through over- departmental interactions

·         Over- departmental interactions including follow ups, supporting and monitoring the execution of the resolutions of the supreme council

·         Providing financial, legal and official support to the high council, permanent commission and other councils and specialized secretariats affiliated with the high council

·         Producing assessment and monitoring reports

·         Documenting and safeguarding the materials related to the Supreme Council

·         Executing other tasks as specified by the Supreme Council