Within the scope of ERASMUS+ ARMDOCT (Reforming Doctoral Education in Armenia in Line with Needs of Academia, Industry, and Current EU Practices) capacity building project, a three-day workshop was held in Tsaghkadzor.

Yerevan State University’s Acting Rector Hovhannes Hovhannisyan facilitated the opening session of the workshop entitled “Regulatory Framework of Doctoral Education”.

The Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports of the Republic of Armenia Karen Trchunyan punctuated his speech with the fact that there is a lot to do in the coming years, and the Concept will contribute to the improvement of awarding Scientific degrees in the RA Higher Education.

Lana Karlova, Coordinator of the Erasmus+ National Office in Armenia, emphasized the role of all the implemented EU co-funded doctoral education reform programs and the close cooperation with partners for ensuring greater national impact, and added that the team has done a great deal of work during this period.

The ARMDOCT project coordinator Arevik Ohanyan presented to the participants the Project expected outcomes and ongoing activities.

During the first day of the workshop, the Project partners – representatives of 8 RA HEIs and 2 research institutes, institutional coordinators and researchers – presented the researches carried out within the course of the project, as a result of which the reform proposals and conceptual solutions for doctoral education were developed. The presented proposals were discussed in separate working groups by clarifying the key provisions of doctoral education reform and concept of quality assurance in line with the Salzburg principles. Later, the workshop participants formed groups and discussed the changes in the criteria for postgraduate education admission. Each group presented their observations on this question, which was followed by a Q&A session.

It should be noted that the duration of the ARMDOCT /Reforming Doctoral Education in Armenia in Line with Needs of Academia, Industry, and Current EU Practices/ project is 36 months, and it will last till 2023. The aim of the project is to reform Doctoral education in Armenia in line with the Salzburg principles by reviewing the national framework, legal documents, and institutional procedures, and providing the necessary system for the integration of science and research.

The project activities envisage capacity building for HEIs’, NAS RA research institutes’, MESC strategic, infrastructural, and human resources; development of legal documents; publication of a doctoral education organization manual, as well as establishment and operation of 5 doctoral schools, ensuring close cooperation between universities, research institutes, and industrial sector.

The Projects hosts 15 partners, including 4 EU HEIs, 8 RA HEIs, and 2 research institutes, as well as the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture, and Sports.