The first Central Asian Universities Forum, organized by Times Higher Education (THE) with the support of the New Uzbekistan University, will be held in Tashkent on October 16-17 this year.
The forum will bring together more than 200 delegates from Central Asia and other countries, including representatives of academia, government policy and industry. Experts will discuss topical issues and innovative solutions that shape the future of higher education in the region.
The key topics of discussion will be:
The program of the forum will include lectures, panel discussions, workshops and experience exchange sessions, as well as presentations of the latest achievements in the field of educational technologies.
The forum will be preceded by a series of lectures by such world-renowned scientists as Jean Tirole (Nobel Prize in Economics), Luciano Recolla (one of the leading experts in theoretical astrophysics), and Eric Grimson (Chancellor and Vice President of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology).
Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture (KNUCA) will prepare bachelors under a reduced three-year program.
“We are ready to solve a problem of the shortage of specialists for restoration and construction of certain facilities. Now we are developing reduced programs, analyzing how to optimize them. After the victory, our defenders will be able to take these courses and get involved in restoration of the country as soon as possible,” professor, rector of Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture Petro Kulikov said during a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine on Thursday.
According to him, the task is to “squeeze” the four-year bachelor’s program to three years.
The KNUCA rector noted that a smaller number of applicants is expected this year. “We are losing foreign students, as interest in the country at war, of course, is falling. Colleagues in European countries have provided preferences for our applicants, and a significant number of those who have gone abroad are considering this possibility. Despite this, we hope that we will have a full-fledged enrollment,” Kulikov said.
At the same time, he noted that international cooperation between universities is expanding. “I am grateful to our colleagues from Germany, Poland, and the Czech Republic. There are no political moments in the scientific and educational environment, there is, above all, a creative interest. In the coming days, we are signing an agreement with a French higher education institution, in June – an agreement between an association of Polish and Ukrainian universities. We are talking about the exchange of students and other forms of cooperation,” Kulikov said.
ARCHITECTURE, BACHELORS, CONSTRUCTION, KNUCA, KULIKOV, KYIV, THREE-YEAR PROGRAM, UNIVERSITY
Five Ukrainian scientific institutions and one university were included in the Global 2000 list of the Center for World University Rankings (CWUR), Minister of Education and Science Serhiy Shkarlet said.
“The Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) has released the list of institutions for 2022-2023. Almost 20 thousand institutions were included in the rating, and the best of them were included in the Global 2000 list. It is very pleasant that five powerful Ukrainian scientific institutions and one university were included in the list of the best in the world,” Shkarlet wrote in the Telegram channel.
It is noted that among them is the Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology (1120), which was under fire from Russian invaders in March and bravely stood up, protecting Ukraine and the whole world from an environmental disaster.
Also included in the rating is the Institute of Scintillation Materials of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (1898), whose scientists are actively involved in major international projects on high energy physics in the USA, Japan and Europe.
In addition, the rating includes the Institute for Nuclear Research (1709), the Institute of Cybernetics named after V.M. Glushkov (1740), Institute of Theoretical Physics named after N. N. Bogolyubov (1899) and Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (1472).
“Despite the difficulties associated with military operations on the part of the Russian Federation, our teachers and scientists continue to work. We certainly have much to be proud of. We confidently prove that we are competitive in the international arena, and achievements in science make the state strong in all areas,” said Shkarlet.
The Education Ministry of Ukraine has made a decision to transfer students from the majority of higher educational institutions and schools from Monday, October 25, to holidays due to the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) disease, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksiy Danilov said.
“The NSDC apparatus appealed to the Education Ministry. There it was decided that, starting from Monday [October 25], the overwhelming majority of all higher educational institutions go on vacation. We believe that schoolchildren are needed from Monday […] they should also be sent on vacation, perhaps, with the exception of children who study there from grades one to four,” Danilov said at a briefing following the NSDC meeting on Friday.
He said the relevant decision will be made by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine and the responsible agencies.
National University Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA) together with Bureau of Investment Programs (BIP) NGO are planning to create a technology park in an educational building located at 2/4, Glazunov Street for UAH 50 million with the participation of an investor. “According to our preliminary estimates, about UAH 50 million of investment is required to restore the building and infrastructure for a modern technology park. After restoration, the territory can accommodate about 40 resident companies and coworking spaces for students,” Director of BIP Oleksandr Bondarenko said.
The project will allow the university to earn money, as well as employ students, create IT products, and entrepreneurs will be able to gain access to a scientific base and innovative products and services.
The return on investment in such a project is seven of eight years due to rental payments from residents and additional services provided by the technology park’s management team, Bondarenko said.
To create a technology park, it is planned to use the educational building located at 2/4, Glazunov Street with an area of 1,700 square meters. However, alternative premises are also being considered.
The project participants signed a partnership memorandum for the development of the technology park.
“Next steps are project evaluation, concept development, and search for investors,” NaUKMA said in the press release.
The Bureau of Investment Programs (BIP) is a non-governmental organization that unites public partnerships and private investors for the construction of infrastructure facilities, attracting investment and creating a safe environment for investors in the Ukrainian market.
COWORKING, KYIV-MOHYLA ACADEMY, SPACE, TECHNOLOGY PARK, UNIVERSITY
Experts from the US George Washington University will help Ukraine attract external research grants for the implementation of irrigation reform, conduct educational programs through the exchange of specialists and provide the country with technical assistance, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food said on its website on Thursday.
According to it, the relevant agreements were reached during a meeting between Minister of Agricultural Policy Roman Leshchenko and the staff of the George Washington University, which took place in early September.
The parties at the meeting discussed a partnership in which the institution will help Ukraine find external research grants for irrigation reform. The university also intends to conduct educational programs through the exchange of specialists with Ukraine and provide it with technical assistance.
“We need new technologies to change our environmental philosophy, because Ukraine can lose a lot of fertile land without a high level of water management,” the press service of the Ministry of Agrarian Policy quoted Leshchenko as saying.
The minister specified that Ukraine creates conditions for attracting foreign investment and developing public-private partnerships in land relations. According to him, after the opening of the land market on July 1, Ukraine intends to form a legal basis for the activities of the organization of water users and the creation of mechanisms for attracting investments in the construction of a new reclamation infrastructure and the functioning of the existing one.
As reported, the United States may provide Ukraine with a credit line totaling $4 billion for the period 2022-2030 to modernize irrigation infrastructure. The investment project was proposed to the American partners by President Volodymyr Zelensky for consideration during his working trip to the United States last week.
In April 2021, the Cabinet of Ministers called for the restoration of irrigation systems for agricultural lands in the southern regions of the country by the end of this year.
The restoration of the reclamation industry has become a national project until 2024. In 2021, the Ministry of Agrarian Policy launches a pilot project to restore irrigation systems in Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv and Zaporizhia regions.
EXTERNAL GRANTS, GEORGE WASHINGTON, LAND RECLAMATION INDUSTRY, REFORM, UNIVERSITY