Meeting the demand for IT specialists in labour market three institutions of higher education both in public and private sector BSUIR, BSPU, VSTU, SBMT and PIMB have agreed on updating their 5 study programmes in IT field. The updated content of the tree study programmes will comply with the priorities of National higher education strategy of Belarus (BY). The participation of the partners from Programme countries in the project will allow for a clearer understanding of Bologna process, which will help in updating the study programmes based on ECTS. Cooperation with Programme countries HEIs will allow developing modern professional competences of BY teachers and graduates taking into account the requirements of foreign specialists, which will allow them to be competitive not just in the BY but also in the countries of EU. Academic staff of BY 5 HEIs who will attend trainings, develop new courses, teaching methods and tools, test the eLearning courses, and deliver them to the students of the above mentioned institutions who will gain innovative competences under the requirements of the labour market in computing area. The overall objective is to increase the competitiveness of BY 5 HEIs offering high-quality higher education that meets the changing needs of the economic environment. The specific objective is to develop modern competencies of computing specialists bringing modern courses, implementing innovative teaching/learning methods and tools, purchasing eLearning equipment for BY 5 HEIs into line with Bologna requirements by October 2018. Having developed the new courses and adapting them for delivering online in EN and RU will support improvement of study quality, accessibility of studies, acquiring new knowledge and competences in computing area, foster transnational institutional cooperation and enrich educational environment of preparation of IT specialists, facilitate the introduction of transfer of credits and recognition of studies abroad using ECTS.

The ICT sector is one of the leading ones in the economy of Belarus. This has created a gap between the challenges of the global market & skills/competences ICT graduates have at entering the profession. The companies state the high level of professional knowledge of university graduates but low level of soft/transferable skills necessary to work in international teams. The aim of the project is to enhance employability of ICT master students & foster entrepreneurship & establishment of SMEs in ICT by modernising the existing master curriculum in ICT. The modernised MSc programme in ICT will be more labour-market & society oriented, practice-based, & student-centred training students in professional subjects leading to knowledge, hard skills & competencies in the profession with soft/transferable skills presupposing its interdisciplinarity. The project meets the agenda of the Yerevan Ministerial Communiqué of “ensuring educational opportunities to provide the competences and skills required for innovation & employment”. By enhancing quality & relevance of learning & teaching to the labour market & society demands the project will promote pedagogical innovation in student-centred learning environments & stronger link between teaching, learning & research central to the EHEA policies.The project will achieve 7 milestones: (1) upgraded professional & new soft skills courses, (2) study materials, (3) QA guidelines/procedures for the modernised MSc, (5) 3 intakes of students, (6) 8 international student projects, (7) measurements of pedagogical approaches & methods appliedThe project will produce impact at university level (beneficiaries are master students & teachers on modernised MSc programme), at society level (any person fitting master level study as a potential student of the modernised MSc, potential employers & wider society who will be users of services of successful SMEs established by the MSc graduates in future), at European & global level (ICT companies).

Belarus is in the process of building nuclear power generation with two reactors envisaged: construction of the first will be completed this year, construction of the second will finish in 2020. Higher Education in nuclear safety and radiation protection will be of utmost importance, hence appropriate curricula need to be developed and set in place. Aim of this project is the development of curricula at the Master level, in line with Bologna principles, to be accredited by the Ministry of education and adopted throughout the Country. To this aim, a number of Belarusian University, covering practically all the regions of the Country, have been involved in the project, and will serve both as developers and as “testing facilities” for the new curricula. The EU Universities involved all have a long-lasting and deep experience in the field, and have developed in the past their own curricula in the field. The expected results will be innovative two-year study program, including a special attention to practical training effected with a two prong approach: new, up to date didactic laboratories to be set up in all the Belarusian partner HEIs; traineeships in institutions and companies active in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection. Special attention shall be focused on “training the trainers”, i.e., professional instruction and internship for the teachers-to-be. Ideally, a first generation of teachers will be formed during the three years of the project, and this first group of fully trained teachers will continue the work raising the new generations of instructors. The end result will be a Country-wide education framework in the field of nuclear safety and radiation protection. The impact on the Country is quite clear: the capability of handling the new nuclear industry safely and effective; the wider impact for Europe will be that a newcomer in the nuclear industry can be trusted to be capable to manage its nuclear potential.