ArmDoct

On 25 December, 2020, the Meeting of VSU ARMDOCT project staff and VSU PhD students was held at VSU. The themes of discussion included the Policy of Doctoral Education in RA, as well as issues referring to the admission, organization and graduation from PhD studies. The PhD students expressed their opinions and made comments and suggestions. On termination of the meeting, the VSU ARMDOCT working team summarized the comments and measures directed to the improvement of the current policy.

PROJECT SUMMARY

The ARMDOCT project addresses an urgent need in Reforming Doctoral Education (DE) in Armenia in line with the Salzburg Principles with the emphasis on policy, legal framework (including by-laws) and institutional procedures supporting integrative and internationally-oriented doctoral studies involving universities, research institutions and industry.

The action foresees:

strengthening strategic, infrastructural & human capacities in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and Institutes of the National Academy of Sciences (SRIs), the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the Republic of Armenia;
development of national new policy and legal framework, including by-laws for doctoral education in Armenia and further approval by national Ministry for pilot implementation;
revision of institutional policies, procedures based on the redesigned national regulatory framework and design of the Institutional Handbook for Doctoral Education;
establishment and operationalization of 5 Doctoral Schools creating synergies between HEIs, SRIs and industry;
promotion of networking and long-term cooperation between Armenian and European HEIs for further internationalization of higher education research in Armenia.

VISION

Reformed Doctoral Education (DE) in Armenia in line with the Salzburg Principles with national and institutional policies and regulations supporting integrative and internationally-oriented doctoral studies involving universities, research institutions and industry.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES

Overall objective of the project is Reforming Doctoral Education (DE) in Armenia in line with the Salzburg Principles with the emphasis on policy, legal framework (including by-laws) and institutional procedures supporting integrative and internationally-oriented doctoral studies involving universities, research institutions and industry, and resulting in the establishment of Doctoral Schools.

Both the partners from the EU Member States and Armenia should reinforce their strengths and experience, previous lessons learnt, to overcome the developmental lag of Armenia in the organization of Doctoral education, research internationalization and support in strengthening the link between teaching, research and industry. It should be done considering shortages not only on the national, but also institutional levels.

This concept leads the project partnership to defining concrete project aims as:

Capacity building of the staff from HEIs/SRIs, Ministry of Education and Science of Armenia (MESA)
Development of new policy and legal framework, including by-laws for doctoral education in Armenia,
Development/revision of institutional policies, procedures, and tools,
Establishment and operationalization of new Doctoral Schools creating synergies between HEIs, SRI and industry,
Promoting networking and long-term cooperation between Armenian and European HEIs for further internationalization of higher education research in Armenia.

Eurasia International University (Armenia) (EIU) (Coordinator)

AM partners

EU partners

Official website of the project — https://armdoct.com/

Erasmus+ CBHE “ARMDOCT” Project (Reforming Doctoral Education in Armenia in Line with Needs of Academia, Industry and Current EU Practices) was launched on 4-5 February 2020.

VSU participates in the ARMDOCT project, which aims to reform Doctoral education in Armenia in line with the Salzburg principles through the revision of national policy, legal regulations, and institutional procedures.

European partners of the ARMDOCT program from Portugal, Italy, Lithuania and France, conducted the discussions. Together with the Armenian partners, they will presented best European experience and possible solutions to improve the quality of doctoral education.

#ARMDOCT #Training #Day1

Distinguished experts and institutional managers of the ARMDOCT partners from Italy and France presented the doctorate level policies, structures, and regulations of their countries.

The admission, supervision, quality assurance, defense, funding schemes, and other modalities were presented by Guillaume Rousett (Prof. Guillaume Rousset, Vice-President for International Relations, Jean-Moulin Lyon 3 University), Prof. Paola Pittia (Deputy Rector of Internationalization and Joint Study Programmes, University of Teramo) and Dario Compagnone (Deputy Rector For Research, Coordinator of PhD in Food Sciences, University of Teramo).

#ARMDOCT #Training #Day2

We concluded the second day of the capacity building training entitled “Policies and Structures of Doctoral education”, which is conducted in the frames of the Erasmus+ ARMDOCT project.

The ARMDOCT partners and team members from Lithuania and Portugal presented the doctorate level policies, admission, supervision, quality assurance, defense, funding, as well as the cooperation schemes with the industry.

#ARMDOCT #Training #Day3

The training on “Policies and Structures of Doctoral education” was concluded by a panel discussion entitled “Challenges and opportunities of Doctoral Education” and chaired by Tatevik Gharibyan, Senior Higher Education Policy Specialist at MESCS.

The panelists from Italy, France, Portugal, and Lithuania presented the challenges they currently face in their countries on the third cycle of higher education (PhD, doctorate), possibilities of integration and collaboration of scientific institutes and universities, admission and state funding criteria, as well as industry incentives to finance doctoral education and scientific research etc.

The case of Lithuania, as a post-soviet country on the way of westernization of higher education, was particularly interesting in terms of mistakes and lessons learned. Taking into consideration the specificity of the case, the consortium planned to conduct a separate webinar with representatives and experts from Lithuania.

The second work package (WP2) of the “Reforming Doctoral Education in Armenia in Line with Needs of Academia, Industry and Current EU Practices” ARMDOCT Project was kicked off. The WP2 is devoted to the development of policy and legal framework for the new Doctoral Education aimed at internationalization and integration to The European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and The European Research Area (ERA).

The second work package is coordinated by the Brusov State University in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of the RA.

During the meeting, the main outcomes of the first work package (WP1) were presented, on the basis of which the project team members will continue researching and drafting corresponding legal documents and by-laws in terms of admission and organization of doctoral education, awarding of scientific degrees, as well as strengthening the link between science and economy.

The developed core national documents will be reviewed by the consortium members and the external experts through number of public consultation events and meetings.

The main outcomes of the first work package are available here: http://armdoct.com/outcomes/

The consortium members of Erasmus + ARMDOCT and MODEST projects co-funded by the European Union met to discuss cooperation possibilities for the reform of Doctoral Education in Armenia and to strengthen the project outcomes on the national level. It is worth mentioning, that both projects are currently in the phase of implementation and are targeted to the reform of doctoral education in line with the Salzburg Principles.

The Coordinator of the “Modernization of Doctoral Education in Science and Improvement of Teaching Methodologies” (MODEST) project, Ms. Inga Skendere from the University of Latvia, presented the current state of the project implementation, the major outcomes and outputs achieved so far. The research and intellectual outcomes of the project were presented, which may be utilized for the policy design conducted by ARMDOCT project researchers.

The MODEST project presentation was later followed by the “Reforming Doctoral Education in Armenia in line with Needs of Academia, Industry and Current EU Practices” (ARMDOCT) project. The ARMDOCT project Coordinator, the Head of Research Incubator of Eurasia International University Arevik Ohanyan presented the general objectives and the planned policy and institutional reforms of doctoral education, as well as the outcomes achieved throughout the first year of the project implementation. Ms. Ohanyan highlighted, that both projects have complementary objectives and cooperation is vital to ensure a higher impact on the national level.

Both presentations were followed by a discussion with a number of cooperation proposals presented by the MODEST project member and leader of the Quality Assurance working package of the project Marek Frankowicz (Jagiellonian University (Poland)), as well as other participants. It was agreed to draft a road map for cooperation, organize joint workshops, webinars, observe the experience of EU countries involved in MODEST project for policy development to be conducted within ARMDOCT, establishing a shared library, as well as a calendar for both projects etc. Mr. Ohanyan suggested the MODEST project members to join in the policy development activities of ARMDOCT and share the experience accumulated within the MODEST project.

Concluding remarks were made by Ms. Inga Skendere, MODEST Project Coordinator, and Ms. Lana Karlova (Programme Coordinator at National Erasmus+ Office in Armenia), and further recommendations for cooperation were highlighted.