News and Events(Connect)

News and Events

Visit of consortium partners of the CONNECT project to Vanadzor State University

On 10 November consortium partners of Erasmus+ CBHE Connecting Universities-Industry through Smart Entrepreneurial Cooperation and Competitive Intelligence of Students in Moldova, Georgia and Armenia (CONNECT) project had a visit to Vanadzor State University after H. Tumanyan.

Among the guests were representatives of institutions from project countries (Finland, Romania, Latvia and Bulgaria) and representatives from institutions of partner countries (Moldova, Georgia and Armenia).

The aim of the visit was the acquaintance with the infrastructure of VSU, its main strategic goals directed to the improvement of entrepreneurial activities, the location of the SMART Café at VSU, the cooperation between the University and enterprises as well as the future plans for the cooperation.

VSU Rector Dr Prof. R. Sahakyan held a welcoming speech stating about the importance of the involvement of VSU in the project and mentioned that the cooperation between the University and companies is a guarantee for the sustainability of the region’s economy.

After the Rector’s welcoming speech the staff member of Lapeenranta University Technology (Finland) Ms Anastasia Chakir held a seminar on innovative teaching methods entitled “Shaping future of teaching: creating digital quest and escape room”.

The project members also visited Vanadzor Technology Centre, got acquainted with the main functions of the institution, its companies, their functioning fields and further perspectives.

The wider objective of the CONNECT project is to reinforce university-industry relationships based on the smart (tailored) entrepreneurial approach in HEIs from Eastern Partnership countries and enhancement of students’ and graduates’ competitive intelligence (behaviors, skills, mindsets) and their ability to create jobs http://connecterasmus.com/ .

Online training within the framework of the Erasmus + CONNECT project

From June 14 to July 2, 2021 an online Erasmus+ “Connecting Universities-Industry through Smart Entrepreneurial Cooperation and Competitive Intelligence of Students in Moldova, Georgia and Armenia” (CONNECT) project was organized. The course was held by one of the EU Partners of the Consortium, Lappeenranta University of Technology (Finland).

14 VSU staff members from different departments were actively involved in the training and showed deep interest in innovative teaching and learning approaches.

The course mainly focused on the basic ideas of digital learning (online learning, mixed (hybrid learning), flipped classroom, synchronous and asynchronous learning), as well as the main tools of modern online learning (videos, discussions, questionnaires). The participants were provided with a detailed acquaintance with the methodology of creating an online course, data analysis, copyright issues, interactive methods in the online classroom, and course management issues.

After the training, on July 9, Gohar Dokholyan, CONNECT Project Local Coordinator, International Relations and Grants Promotion Specialist, organized a meeting with the participants to have a discussion about their impressions from the course, to identify skills acquired through the training and to understand how the acquired skills could be put into practice.

The leaflet of the CONNECT project prepared by VSU was also presented during the meeting.

Study Visit to the Romanian National University of Theater and Cinema

On March 21-26, the three-member team of VSU was hosted at the National University of Cinema and Theatre (UNATC) of Romania (c. Bucharest) within the framework of Erasmus+ “Connecting Universities-Industry through Smart Entrepreneurial Cooperation and Competitive Intelligence of Students in Moldova, Georgia and Armenia” (CONNECT) project to participate in a training course on improving the culture of public communication, which was attended by the representatives from the universities of Armenia, Moldova, Latvia, Georgia, and Finland. The members of the VSU team were Heghine Melkonyan, PhD, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor of the Chair of Armenian Language and Literature, Lilit Parsadanyan, Lecturer of the Chair of Foreign Languages and Literature, Karine Siradeghyan, Lecturer of the Chair of Mathematics and Informatics.

Within the framework of the training in Bucharest, the participants passed a series of active lectures on various topics of public communication, accompanied by a module on movements. The latter was presented as a powerful preparatory tool for ensuring the success of the speech. The training was also accompanied by study visits (Cinetic IT Center, Avanpost Film Production, Educational Theatre Center Replika), which aimed at highlighting the field of entrepreneurial opportunities for the graduates of UNATC.

The training was held in an atmosphere of active, warm involvement of the participants, which left confidence for continuous cooperation. It was especially valuable to have the opportunity to communicate directly with the program organizers.

Members of the VSU team assure that they can develop the theoretical and practical knowledge gained at UNATC, expressing their willingness to develop a concise course on public communication and self-expression skills for the Center of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Development (Smart Cafe), being established at VSU.

VSU lecturers were greatly impressed by the cordial welcome of the host university, represented by the project coordinator Raluca Dragan, the organizers of the CONNECT project represented by Elena Simciuc, and the high-quality work of the teaching staff, the warm atmosphere of the multicultural communication of the course.

As an additional activity, VSU lecturers also visited the Armenian Church in Bucharest and the church museum, accompanied by priest Oshakan. H. Melkonyan donated the collection of the international conference organized at VSU to the cultural center of the church, and K. Siradeghyan gave the collection of her poems. A proposal was also made to organize remote meetings with the Armenian community on the topics of Armenian studies.