Iran has mandatory military service for men which starts at the age of 18. Duration of military service is normally 24 months but it can be also varying according to some conditions and circumstances. There is a 24-month military service for general, 22 months for destitute areas and 20 months for boundary areas; there is two months for military education. There are exceptions for those who cannot serve because of physical or mental health problems or disabilities. Students are exempt as long as they are attending school. The higher the education of a man, the higher his rank will be in the military service. Since 2008 and the commence of Iran's National Elites Foundation (Bonyade Mellie Nokhbegan), students or university graduates who are accepted as members of this organization (because of their special achievements, e.g., recognized researchers with proven accomplishments, national and international olympiad medalists and winners of invention competitions) can have a "scientific research" substitution instead of mandatory military service, and the research grant is given to these members from military universities, otherwise, formally these members are regarded as "soldiers" who are spending the mandatory military service program, and in any publication related to that research, their citations have to be that of the military university giving the research grant. The 45-day mandatory military training is applicable even for those who are members of Iran's National Elites Foundation. The Iranian Parliament's National Security Commission is mulling over a plan to abolish the compulsory enlistment of Iranian men above 18 years of age in the military service, and to introduce an alternative plan that would make the army professional.