On September 26-28, 2016, the 2nd meeting of the ERASMUS + NIZAMI project took place in Uppsala, Sweden with the participation of members of European and Azerbaijan partner higher education institutions as well as Ministry of Education representatives of Azerbaijan Republic. Professor Hamlet Isaxanli, the founder of Khazar University and Chairman of its Board of Directors and Trustees, and Dr. Irada Khalilova, Head of the Biological Sciences Department, represented Khazar University in the meeting. The meeting was held by Uppsala University, a European partner in the project.

The meeting was opened by Erika Dabhilkar, Head of the International Office at Uppsala University, and Associate Professor Claes Levinsson, Head of the Centre for Russian Studies (UCRS). Then Prof. Eva Akesson, Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University, delivered a welcome speech.  Prof. Veronique Montero, NIZAMI project coordinator, University of Montpellier, welcomed all European and Azerbaijan partner universities. She presented the details of the meeting agenda, and introduced the results of the project’s first workpackage (WP1: State of the Art of Doctoral Studies) which were presented in the form of an EU report written by professor Amparo Cortes, Barcelona University, Spain. Professor Philipp Baur, member of the International Office of Uppsala University, presented details about tasks and a description of WP5, internalization aspects in doctoral studies and tools to conduct research in an international environment. Perspectives from Azerbaijan and Europe were compared, and case studies were discussed. 

On the second day of meetings, Dr. Michael Winckler, administrative director of HGS MathComp, Heidelberg University, who is also local coordinator of four Erasmus Mundus action 2 programs, presented the results of an evaluation of Day 1. General introduction to standards and high standards in doctoral education were presented by Dominika Hobzova and Monika Sieberova from Masaryk University, Czech Republic. In group sessions, representatives of the Ministry of Education of Azerbaijan, Azerbaijani partner universities and European partners discussed high standards in doctoral education.

On the third day of meetings, Dr. Michael Winckler, administrative director of HGS MathComp, Heidelberg University, presented the results of the quality assessment from the evaluation of Day 2. Prof. Veronique Montero, NIZAMI project coordinator, presented the online European Management portal and talked about its perspectives in sustainable communication in doctoral education.  All partners participated in the discussion. The meeting ended with positive prospects for the next meeting of the NIZAMI project in Azerbaijan.

During the meetings, Professor Hamlet Isaxanli, the founder of Khazar University and Chairman of its Board of Directors and Trustees, also met with the Vice-Chancellor of Uppsala University, Eva Åkesson, and members of the International Office to discuss opportunities for partnership between Khazar University and Uppsala University. A decision was made to continue discussions about partnership ideas.