An Overview of the National ARMDOCT Capacity Building Project's Outcomes

A conference to summarize the outcomes of the EU-cofinanced national capacity building project "Reforming Doctoral Education (DE) in Armenia in line with Needs of Academia, Industry, and Current EU Practices" (ARMDOCT) was held on December 1.

The project involved four EU and nine RA higher education institutions as well as one research institute. It was coordinated by Eurasia International University, with full interaction of the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports.

Within the framework of the project "The Concept of Reforms of the Third Degree (Postgraduate) of Higher Education of the Republic of Armenia" was developed and approved by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia.

The participating academic researchers and experts have conceptually outlined the current issues in the field of post-secondary education and have also defined potential remedies that could serve as guidelines for further improvements.

At the opening ceremony of the conference, Davit Avagyan, the head of programs for the European Union Delegation, and Lana Karlova, the coordinator of the Erasmus+ National Office in Armenia, greeted the attendees and highlighted the program's observable outcomes as well as the numerous opportunities it had created for their implementation.

Remarkably, the program's framework resulted in the creation of post-graduate programs with an industrial focus, partnerships between academic institutions and the RA National Academy of Sciences, particularly cooperative doctoral schools (consortia), and brand-new post-graduate programs with cutting-edge and innovative specialties. The International Scientific-Educational Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia and Eurasia International University formed a consortium of doctoral schools centered on "Sustainable Development."

Following the event, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed by all of the Armenian universities and scientific research organizations that are part of the consortium, including the International Scientific-Educational Center of NAS RA. This document reaffirmed the parties' shared commitment to jointly develop third-degree higher education programs in Armenia.

All the documents developed by the universities are available in the results section of the ARMDOCT program official website.

ISEC NAS RA Public Relations and Career Department