With the internationalization of education and the growing need for specialists who meet the requirements of the new digital and innovative economy, the role of universities is becoming a key. In this regard, new forms of interaction between higher education organizations at the international level of university networks emerging and developing. “Although Azerbaijan signed Bologna agreement already in 2005, there is weak awareness of benefits of EHEA related issues among wider audience in the country. The knowledge on the recent developments of higher education system in Azerbaijan remains vague. The communication and networking concerning EHEA issues is rather fragmented among different departments in the MoE and various stakeholders. There is a need of national universities networks in Azerbaijan to promote and facilitate cooperation, support universities in their primary work, that is – high quality education, as well as to actively lobby for better legislation and wise spending its finance aimed at the advancement of higher education and research. The consortium believes that Rectors conference can be a great getaway for all of the universities presenting a single voice in key initiatives and challenges. The ultimate goal of this project is to endorse strong networking and cooperation among national universities and decision makers through the establishment of Rectors Conference. The approach chosen for implementation, however, includes a collaborative framework with respective stakeholders, mainly focusing on educational needs.The overall aim of the project is fostering national networking and cooperation among universities and all other stakeholders by establishing the rectors conference in accordance with national development strategies.

Reason for project: 1. Since implementation of Bologna system, students have responsibility to take initiative in managing their academic careers, but they lack the resources to deal with problems arising along the way2. Universities in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Ukraine struggle to provide democratic systems for dealing with conflict and student appeals3. Many student conflicts remain unresolved due to unclear or ambiguous administrative proceduresExpected outputs:1. Written materials (training guides in each regional language) on best practices in student advocacy systems are created in collaboration with EU partners2. New student advocacy procedures and guidelines are produced and accepted by non-EU partner universities3. Ombuds Office established in each non-EU partner university4. Ombudsperson from each university trained5. Students, staff and faculty from each university trained on procedures and ombuds office functionsImpact: 1. Students and instructors have full access to the democratic spirit of the Bologna Process for resolution of their academic and administrative issues2. Students and faculty/staff become aware of their rights and responsibilities3. University administrations become more efficient and effective as conflicts lessen and resolution processes are streamlined

Today the impact of enterprise-university collaboration on the national and global economies as well as social welfare cannot be overestimated, as the quality of people's life and the society depends on job satisfaction and payment level which are rooted in the competences acquired by the student at university. Despite significant efforts by academic, business and governmental bodies in Russia, Belarus and Azerbaijan to broaden the engagement in university-business cooperation, there is a lack of awareness of how HEIs and business can cooperate and how their activities interrelate. EU Universities and business, on the contrary, have accumulated relevant experience and efficient modes of cooperation that needs to be disseminated to education areas in the consortium members to facilitate the Bologna process achievements, link business and academia. The outcomes of UniLab project can be divided into specific and general. The specific outcomes for the Partner countries are: (1) increased university-business cooperation skills and experience of academics and business people, governments, HEIs and business (2) increased recognition of the importance of the university-business cooperation with governments, HEIs and business (3) improved skills and future job prospects of students (4) modernization of HEI curricula in compliance with the interests and demands of the labor market (5) created jobs, stimulating social and economic growth of RU, AZ, BY, increasing living standards of the society as a whole.The general outcomes for the Partner countries as well as EU education area are: (1) making HEI more attractive for potential talented students and researchers, 2) improving innovation and competitiveness for business (2) creating effective models for better aligning curricula and the skills of graduates with the labour market, improving employment pathways for students, and recruitment for employers as well as lifelong learning programmes for business.

This application for establishing a Jean Monnet Module at the Department of Political Science and Philosophy at Khazar University has a number of objectives. The course served the following objectives:Simulations enabled the students to understand better the set of EU institutions, the supranational and intergovernmental nature of the EU, and its decision-making system. The course also improved the quality of teaching in EU-related courses and raised the interest among the students to register for these courses. In addition, this course contributed to the student-centered learning process. The project also simulated the students writing their paper assignments and dissertations on EU-related topics. Also, Jean Monnet Program Coordinator conducted research on the EU and prepared didactic material on the EU. Moreover, 55 journalists and students majoring in Journalism, as well as civil society and NGO representatives took part in the workshops, and following the workshop improved their knowledge of the EU. 50 students and fresh graduates of different Azerbaijani HEIs took part in the EU Model and improved their knowledge of the EU’s decision-making process.

Over the course of three years, the “Developing Research Capacity through Institutional Repositories Network in Azerbaijan” project (hereafter DIRNA) aims at building capacity in the context of research output management, focusing on seven leading AZ HEIs, via establishing Open Access Institutional Repositories Network. The process of intense as well as comprehensive training, which is required to establish and then interlink the aforementioned repositories at each site, arrange the framework’s implementation, data entry and smooth management will represent the core of the DINRA.Learning outcomes from the project-bound activities will be shared and disseminated in a variety of ways, including the initiation and then establishment of facilities and mechanisms to proactively assist other institutions in the country in setting up and managing their own repositories. In a significant addition, the DINRA’s lenses will be on improving not only the visibility and the management of quality scholarly research, but also on supporting open access to research outputs, advocating, and fostering scholarly communication and coordination between the AZ HEIs across the country.