Centre for European Studies to be established in Tashkent. A Franco-German-Uzbek trinational summer university to be opened for students

International educational grant projects are of great importance for the implementation of legislation and government programmes that aim to reform and further develop higher education in Uzbekistan, as well as for deepening cooperation with leading foreign universities in the areas of education and research.

In this regard, the University of World Economy and Diplomacy under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan (UWED) has once again achieved successful results in international competitions for international grants in the field of higher education under the call for proposals 2020.

First, within the framework of a joint master’s programme, UWED has become a member of the Consortium of European Universities. Also, the winning project, “Tashkent Jean Monnet Center of Excellence for European studies”, has been selected for funding by the European Commission out of a total of 1447 projects that participated in the international competition of the European Union Erasmus+ Jean Monnet Programme.

Overall, this marks the fourth consecutive victory of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in the area of international grant acquisition. The project is the first major project of its kind not only in Uzbekistan, but also in Central Asia in terms of interaction and mutual enrichment in various fields of education, professional training of young people with the encouragement of innovative ideas, attraction of new participants in the labour market and civil society.

The project is designed for 3 years and covers the period from 2020 to 2023. The main goal of the project is to support education and research in Uzbekistan in the areas of international politics, regional integration processes, EU studies, EU-Central Asia studies, and EU-Uzbekistan relations. The Tashkent Center for European Studies, which is being set up for this purpose, will coordinate political, economic and legal education and research across the country, and will serve as a scientific and methodological hub.

The project will teach a number of new subjects related to international trade standards, European law, the development of political and philosophical theories. Research will be carried out on the export of Uzbek products to the European market, studying the experience of European law and relations between the European Union and Central Asia. 3 national and 3 international scientific and practical conferences on international politics and current problems of the world economy, and 36 round tables will be organised. More than 30 transboundary scientific trips are planned. During the project lifetime, 84 types of publications will be released. An electronic and printed catalogue of Uzbek scientist-experts will be created, and information about them will be included into an integrated international database.

A free Franco-German-Uzbek summer university will be opened for students of Uzbekistan. Every summer, renowned professors from France and Germany will deliver lectures to our students, and new boundless forms of our teacher-student tradition will emerge.

The project will support future scientists interested in research even in the most remote corners of the country. The project will hold annual scientific contests for young researchers, promote their research findings, publish their abstracts and articles for free, and award significant monetary prizes to competition front-runners. The project will remain committed to providing necessary supports to talented researchers, wherever they are to be found.

One of the project’s priorities is to foster cooperation with universities operating in remote regions and districts of Uzbekistan. Participation of their representatives in scientific conferences organised in the capital city within the framework of the project will be free of charge, while transport, accommodation and daily expenses of participants will be fully reimbursed, and active participation in events will be appropriately encouraged. The strategic goal of the project is to stimulate the scientific potential of regions and districts, and the comprehensive and the same level development of higher education and science throughout the country.

Another unique feature of the project is that it will provide a wide range of cooperation with higher education institutions and research institutions of neighbouring republics. Representatives of any higher education institutions in Central Asia can directly participate in the project’s activities. We will share our latest research findings, first of all, with our closest neighbours. The participation of Central Asian scientists and researchers in international scientific and practical conferences will be free of charge, while their research will also be published without charge. Joint research of problems facing the Central Asian region will be fully supported.

The project will be implemented in close cooperation with relevant government agencies, our embassies in Europe, diplomatic missions of European countries in Uzbekistan, higher education and research institutions, and civil society institutions.

Project news and dissemination materials towards stakeholders and the wider public will be delivered through local and international mass-media tools.

Welcome to the Tashkent Centre for European Studies!

Source: Tashkent Centre for European Studies Project Office.