"The project ""Developing Master Programmes in Mobile Applications and Game Design"" (MAGnUS) is aimed at enhancing IT graduates employability and quality of IT education at RU and AZ universities through introducing an interdisciplinary Master programmes in line with the Bologna provisions. The specific project objectives are: To develop new interdisciplinary high-quality multi-track Master program in Mobile applications and Game design in line with Bologna provisions and while adapting the EU best practice;• To upgrade the teaching staff skills in T• To set up student labs;The main project outputs are: Master programme in Mobile Applications and Game Design delivered at 6 RU and AZ universities; teachers possessing the-state-of-the art T&A methods; 6 student design labs set up at partner universities; pilot mobility schemes tested within the project; two summer schools conducted in partner countries, joint student projects in relevant fields. The Master programme will have two tracks and will consist of 6 modules and Master thesis defence. The project objectives will be achieved through the implementation of six work packages. During the preparation phase the main project policies and plans will be devised and analysis of key employers' needs conducted. During the development phase main outputs are to be produced. Training of teachers will be done through the cascade model: first, the train the trainer program will be introduced for a small number of qualified teachers; then the trained trainers will transfer the skills to a wider circle of academics. The student labs will serve as a link to partnerships with business partners which will be involved in project activities as associated partners. All project outputs will be evaluated through peer reviews, business partners' evaluation reports, student and trainees' satisfaction survey. MAGnUS will provide dissemination of the outputs through various measures."

The continuous increase in oil and gas production, together with the simultaneous growing impact of related activities (such as extraction and transportation) have caused a huge pollution in the Caucasian area. The remediation of such area has now become a National priority in Azerbaijan. As a consequence, the availability of specialists skilled in the design and application of technologies suitable to tackle the main environmental problems of the country is an urgency, which represents a crucial and necessary step (but also an opportunity) in Azerbaijan’s development. On the other side, the M. Sc. courses on Environmental engineering and Ecology, currently held in Azerbaijan, are mainly oriented towards fundamental aspects and traditional environmental technologies, thus missing to provide the graduates with specific professional skills, necessary for their sudden entrance into the job market. ITACA project deals with the design and building up of a Training Center, involving EU and local institutions, as well as enterprises active in the field of environmental impact of oil and gas production, to contribute to the strengthening of the relationship between university and industry, by jointly training graduated students to be employed in the field.The Training Centre will design and develop a one year postgraduate third cycle course managed in collaboration between industry and academia. The current HE system in the Country does not include a third cycle of education different from PhD, while in EU it has been proved successful, especially in the field of ecology and environmental sciences, as well as engineering. The introduction of this new type of course, constituting a bridge between Universities and industries, could contribute to solving the emerging issues in the field of environmental remediation in the Country. An innovative teaching methodology will be applied, based on EU experiences, thus contributing to the modernization of local HE system.

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.