Mr. Farooq Jan, Assistant Professor of Botany Shankur Campus and AWKUM´s overseas PhD Scholar successfully defended his PhD thesis entitled "Palynological studies and Holocene ecosystem dynamics in the north western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region" under the supervision of Professor Dr. Hermann Behling at the Albrecht-Von-Haller institute of Plant Sciences, Göttingen University Germany.

His PhD defense before the PhD commission (comprising of world´s renowned 6 Scientists namely Professor Dr. Ervin Bergmeier, Professor Dr. Markus Hauck, Professor Dr. Ervira Hörndl, Professor Dr. Hermann Behling and PD Dr. Dirk Gansert )