Start date: 2016

Duration: 36 months

Brief information and main objectives: The objective of the project concerns the restructuration and upgrading of the doctoral studies in Azerbaijan following the European standards in order to promote internationalization, research cooperation, PhD excellence and employability. Actually, most of the HEIs are still based on the soviet education system and the doctoral studies are managed by the Academy of Sciences of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The wiling of the Academy, of the Ministery of Education of Azerbaijan and of the HEIs is to modernize the structuration of the doctoral studies taking into example the European model. Moreover, the actual system shows structural disparities between universities. But the objective is the same: excellence and recognition at the national and international level. The project proposes to establish common criteria to insure the quality of PhD programs by restructuring the organization (management) of the doctoral studies. The exchanges of experience between European countries and partner countries will build an appropriate organization of the doctoral studies in Azerbaijan that fit to European standards, and therefore will improve exchanges between Europe and Azerbaijan. The project will take place over three years and is based on tight relations between partners. Discussions and exchanges of know-how between partners will determinate the appropriate restructuration for HEIs in Azerbaijan within a frame based on the European model. To reach the objective, key actions have been identified: A state of art will settle the basis of the work and a critical analysis of the European and Azerbaijani structures will permit to identify in detail the concrete measures to be taken. The development of the project will then be dedicated to the structuration of doctoral studies on the basis of the European model that will be adapted to Azerbaijan. The key points of the project will be (a) to structure the doctoral schools; (b) to organize doctoral schools in a frame of a central structure (collegium for example); (c) to set up a National Management Platform to insure the quality and the follow up of PhD students and young researchers (d) to determine the criteria to insure high standards in doctoral studies in term of management, students skills, internationalization and integration between research and education to reach excellence, enhancing employability and international cooperation. The coordinator will be careful to work collegially to insure success and sustainability and will take final deccisions. 

Project Coordinator: University of Montpellier, FR 

Partners: 

• Uppsala Universitet, SE
• Masaryk University, NL
• Fatih University, TK
• Ruprecht-Karls-Universitaet Heidelberg, DE
• Universitat de Barcelona, SP
• Baku State University, AZ
• Khazar University, AZ
• Baku Engineering University, AZ
• Azerbaijan university of Language, AZ
• Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction, AZ
• Nakhchivan State University, AZ
• Azerbaijan Technical University, AZ
• Azerbaijan State Agriculture University, AZ
• Azerbaijan State University of Economics, AZ
• Ministry of Education of the Azerbaijan Republic, AZ
• Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, AZ

Contact: Raziya Isayeva

E-mail: risayeva@khazar.org

Phone: +994 (12) 421 79 16/ ext 207