The idea of establishing the academy was mooted in November 1947 when the first national education conference was organized by the
Ministry of Education in
Karachi, which was inaugurated
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the
Governor-General of
Pakistan. No immediate actions were taken at that time, though the discussion to establish the academy continues between the senior scientists and the
Pakistan government. After an extensive discussion took in 1948–53, the academy was established and materialized in a concession reached by the senior scientists and government, with the assistance from the foreign scientists and the foreign learned societies. Many scholars and scientists
emigrated from India to Pakistan in the 1950s that would give foundation to the academy, including
Salimuzzaman Siddiqui,
Nazir Ahmed, and
Raziuddin Siddiqui. The ceremony took place at the
University of the Punjab and was witnessed by a gathering of over 1,000 scientists, including from the
Royal Society (
United Kingdom),
National Academy of Sciences (India),
Academy of Science and Letters (
Norway),
National Academy of Sciences (
United States),
Academy of Sciences (
Iran), and
UNESCO. Dr.
Nazir Ahmed delivered an honorary message to Prime Minister Nazimuddin for helping the cause of the academy. At first, the academy was sited in
Lahore and considerations were made to establish the headquarters of the academy in
Karachi—a temporary
federal capital at that time. An additional office was established in
Dhaka to support scientific activities in
East Pakistan. In 1965, the academy's headquarters were permanently moved to
Islamabad, the federal capital, where they remained near
Quaid-e-Azam University until 1976. In 1976, the headquarters was shifted to a rented building in Islamabad, with financial assistance from the
Pakistan Science Foundation (PSF). The rented building housed the academy’s library, a committee room, offices for the Secretary, the editor, and staff, along with a few guest rooms for visiting fellows. Special initiatives taken by senior scientists in 1978,
President Zia-ul-Haq granted a federal land for the purpose of academy's headquarters near the
Constitution Avenue by allocating
₨. 700 million which commissioned
CDA Engineering for designing and constructing the headquarters. == Fellowships ==