TEHRAN — Collaboration with non-resident Iranian elites is now gaining strength after a scheme to encourage them to return to the country started one and a half year ago.

Since then, some 240 elites graduated from top 100 prestigious universities mostly in the U.S. and Canada have agreed to return to Iran, Nasim news agency quoted Ali-Morteza Birang, a vice president for international affairs, as saying on Thursday.

The scheme went into effect in February 2015 in association with Iran's National Elites Foundation (governmental organization with the purpose of recognizing, organizing, and supporting Iran's elite talents), Birang noted.

“First we started the pilot scheme in collaboration with five of the research centers in Iran and started to develop the scheme into other universities and research centers as well,” he said, adding “After eight months some 35 elites and experts started working with us.”

“Over the second eight months of the execution of the scheme, we received a great feedback as the number of the elites grew into 205,” he added.

Birang went on to say that elites can collaborate with academic centers in Iran in different forms including taking one-year post-doctoral courses, giving academic speeches, teaching for a one-month period in universities in Iran, and setting up knowledge-based companies.

Currently some 1,250 experts and elites have applied for this scheme, he highlighted, noting that it only takes 25 days to process the applications and finally accept or reject them.

MQ/MG