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.

The Nizami project concerns the modernization of doctoral education, research and internationalization of HEIs in Azerbaijan. This project intends to answer to the urgent need for Azerbaijan universities to revise the rules and content of organizing doctoral studies within Bologna process documents in terms of their consistency, especially on ensuring science and research provisions in relevance with European standards, to fulfill the students' mobility and internationalzation of research.The consortium will achieve the objectives by restructuring the doctoral education through : (a) the organisation of doctoral schools within the HEIS and at the National level, (b) insuring high standards in doctoral education, (c) improving internationalization.A standardisation and modernization of doctoral education will lead to a better recognition from Europe of the quality of research provided by the HEIs and research institutions of Azerbaijan. Therefore, an enhance in collaboration between Europe and Azerbaijan can be predicted. As well, a greater ease of international mobility for PhD students, young researchers and staff should be reached.On a national level, the PhD students should inhance their professional skills to meet the needs of the local, regional and national markets.

The project proposed by the consortium is planning to address several nation-level problems in Azerbaijan. The main scope of the activities to be undertaken during the project covers capacity-building initiatives in selected higher education institutions with the main goal to improve and harmonize understanding as well as practice of entrepreneurial mindset, innovative talent and high-impact expertise.By trying to reach the above-mentioned goal, the consortium will attempt to minimize or remove the impact of the following fundamental problems/concerns in higher education institutions across the nation:1) There is a lack of sophisticated ecosystem fostering entrepreneurial mindset in higher education institutions;2) The conditions and incentives provided to students and faculty at higher education institutions to produce and implement innovative ideas are limited;3) Majority of the teachings and research in higher education institutions is overly theoretical, offering limited or no opportunity for hands-on experience;4)The students and faculty at higher education institutions have a limited understanding about how to cultivate, initiate, incubate, accelerate, realize and commercialize an innovative startup idea;5) The level of collaboration between higher education institutions and industries is limited and inadequate.

For successful integration to global transport network, providing high level transport services to both PCs and global community in the condition of uncertain continuous evolution of global supply chains, it is necessary to take into account European experience and support implementation of crisis and risks engineering for transport services (CRENG) of all levels (local, regional, national) in UA, AZ, TM. But now it is luck of high skilled specialists in CRENG in PCs. Project contribute CRENG development in PCs by creating of educational environment of high skilled specialists demanded by labor market, in line with EU best practices and Bologna process.Environment will include: new innovative MA program “CRENG”; educational materials on new developed curricula published, uploaded to the web-based platform; e-learning courses uploaded to the MOODLE platform; innovative laboratories (CRENG Labs), where students will acquire practical skills on using intelligence, digital and information technologies for CRENG; new teaching and learning approaches International Project Based Learning (IPBL) and Skills Wallet (SW).IPBL involves dynamic classroom approach in which group of international students will solve problems of global supply chains under conditions of risks and crisis. By IPBL graduates will acquire global business communication, management and English skills. SW is method of interaction between HEIs and employers, which helps graduates to acquire specific skills required by labor market. The main advantages of SW are: making universities and enterprises to become closer by mutual developing of educational content; increasing employability of graduates; making enterprises more flexible to implementation of innovations.To support IPBL and SW, disseminate knowledge on CRENG the network of CRENG Service Offices will be created as the background of established interaction between academia, industry, business and governments in PCs an EU.

Health security and the organization and management of the quality of health-care system concern all countries. To cope with this, well-trained specialists in specific and adapted methodologies are needed. The participating partner countries suffer from a lack of qualified graduates (managers, doctors, or any other profession involved in the health-care quality system and services).The need for university training for specialists in this field is therefore very strong. Staff capable of developing and delivering continuing professional education is also necessary for professionals to adapt to the latest developments in this constantly evolving field. The project meets these needs with the development of study programs in the targeted areas.Contribute to the development of health security and the organization and management of the quality of health-care by mobilizing training engineering to operationalize the necessary actions, by offering academic and professional training programs capable of transmitting the skills required by medical structures / companies.The new programs created will be entirely or partially delivered remotely. The programs developed will meet the needs of companies / medical structures in need of specialists capable of improving health security and managing the quality of health care. The implementation of the project must / will be based on a broad interinstitutional partnership to guarantee the sustainability of the results.The ministries of education and health will support the project in partner countries. They will guarantee compliance with standards for the sustainability of the new training offer.Professional organizations and medical structures will be the guarantors of professional outlets for training courses for graduates.