The ARMDOCT Project Coordination meeting with Armenian partners took place on November 18 at Eurasia International University. RA Supreme Certifying Committee (SCC) Chairman Karen Keryan, Deputy Chairman Gagik Ktryan, and the Head of Strategic Planning Division at MESCS Tatevik Gharibyan also took part in the meeting. The mutual expectations have been clarified once again during the meeting and it was clear that the MESCS and SCC priorities and agenda of the reform of Doctoral Education in Armenia is coherent and overlap with that of the project. As it was well noted by the Coordinator the National Policy on Reforming the Third Cycle (PHD) of RA Higher Education was approved based on the Decree of the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the Republic of Armenia N 44-ΤΌ, 16.11.2021. The Policy is available HERE.

On the basis of the ratified Policy the corresponding legal documents and by-laws regulating the third cycle of higher education must be redesigned and developed by the Project team for the pilot implementation. The drafting teams, with the direction of MESCS and SCC will redesign or develop the regulations and toolkit for degree-awarding, admission and studies, academic integrity and credit system, as well as the list of professions.

The organizational aspects of the upcoming visit to the Vilnius University were also specified and discussed. It is worth mentioning that about 40 representatives of Armenian partner institutions (including coordinators, institutional leaders and researchers) will be leaving for Vilnius in February to study the experience of Lithuania.

AM Institutuinal coordinators also discussed and agreed on various administrative and financial management issues.