center. Admissions In Iran, admission to college is competitive and only top students may achieve this honour. Undergraduate and graduate prospective students are admitted at the Iranian public university on the basis of their GPA and the National University Entrance Exam result. International students can apply directly to the admission office of each university but should take the Standard Persian Language Proficiency Test (SAMFA test), to show their Persian language proficiency. Affiliations In 2017, by order of the President of the National Federation of University Sports, the director-general of PNU Physical Education became the head of the country's student powerlifting association. Expanding the exchange of scientific information with universities and reputable international research associations is one of the goals of Payame Noor University. The National Islamic Comprehensive of India, Islamic and International Multimedia of Malaysia, Tishrin, Aftarah and Damascus Syria. The university is also an active member of several prestigious international scientific associations in the world, such as the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU), the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE), Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), UNITWIN/UNESCO, Iran National Science Foundation (INSF), and the Federation of the Universities of the Islamic World (FUIW), Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO). PNU is the UNESCO Chair Environmental Education. Payame Noor University as the first university in Iran, has proceeded in designing and implementation of an environment training and education course in master's degree from 2008 with 500 graduating students and also has designed and implemented an Environmental Education Ph.D. course in 2012 with 40 Ph.D. candidates up to now. In order to accomplish the educational and research goals of this discipline, permission for Environmental Education and Sustainable development scientific-research quarterly journal was obtained from Ministry of Science, Researches, and Technology, which was published since 2012. Environmental Education Group in Payame Noor University, has held some festivals and exhibitions in 2009, 2010, and 2011, and the First National Conference for Environmental Education has held in 2011. Environmental Education association started its activity from 2015 by 540 memberships as all MA and Ph.D. students. Regarding establishment of a UNESCO chair about Environmental Education in Payame Noor University in 2017, it is expected that this program can achieve its desired goals by available potentials and cooperation between academia, civil society, local communities, researchers, and policy-makers, governmental and nongovernmental organizations (NGO). Payam Noor University is a member of UNITWIN. UNITWIN is