Today, a three-day workshop within the framework of the “Erasmus + Capacity Development Program” (ARMDOCT) following the requirements of the academic community, industry, and the EU experience (ARMDOCT) kicked off in Tsakhkadzor.

Karen Trchunyan, the Deputy Minister of the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, announced the start of the first workshop day entitled “Development of Concept of 3rd Level Education and Legal Frameworks”, then presented the Ministry’s vision of reforming 3rd level of Higher Education in Armenia. He meantime stated that the Level 3 (PhD) education is an issue not only in Armenia but a universal. Then, to have a quality 3rd level education, the Republic of Armenia is trying to transform the so-called “Postgraduate” into “Ph.D.” education. It is possible to have a strong, high-quality level 3 (PhD) education. We have to work harder because we need quick reforms”.

At the roundtable discussions, the project partners from Armenian eight higher educational institutions and two scientific research institutes, institutional leaders, researchers from the Republic of Armenia, as well as the representatives of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports got acquainted with the experience of internationalization of doctoral education of project partner countries: the example of Lithuania, Italy, Portugal and France. The above-stated representatives presented doctoral education reform proposals and conceptual solutions formed as a result of the research conducted during the project.

Lana Karlova, Erasmus + National Office Program Coordinator, highlighted the role of all EU-funded programs towards doctoral education reform and in-depth collaboration among partners to ensure a greater national impact.

We should add, that the proposals presented as a result of the workshop, will be discussed in separate working groups to clarify the key-concept and the quality assurance for the development of the third level of higher education in line with the Salzburg principles.

It should be noted that based on the developed concept, the national legal regulatory documents will be reviewed and as a result, the institutional procedures will be also reviewed, and doctoral schools will be launched on a pilot basis within the framework of the program.

The workshop will be summed up by a series of discussions on the organization of cooperative doctoral programs, which will be attended by the RA Minister of Economy Vahan Kerobyan. During the meeting, the possibilities of promoting partnership between educational institutions, scientific organizations, state and private sectors as well as deepening cooperation and implementing doctoral programs in line with the requirements of the economy will be discussed.

The workshop is conducted in a hybrid format: EU partners online and Armenian partners in face-to-face format.