"Currently universities of economics and business in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan have to master a series of challenges. They have• to demonstrate that they are reliable providers of good quality higher education by providing graduates with competencies required to evolve their professionality and to develop capacity for the labor market• to enrich the qualification-portfolio of HEI-teachers by improving their teaching qualifications• to complement and contribute to the co-creation of knowledge and to the knowledge exchange between universities and enterprises in innovative settings• to develop their students competencies and attitudes to enable them to act as innovative and responsible members of the society.In this joint project ""Teaching Competencies in Economics and Business"" served universities of economics and business as catalyzer to master these challenges. To support the development of excellence in this field a “Central Asian Center for Teaching, Learning and Entrepreneurship - CACTLE” was implemented in the innovative form of an international acting virtual expert network with a sustainable perspective.The CACTLE is dedicated • to qualify and certify HEI-teachers in modern Teaching Competencies in Economics and Business for the target groups: students, employees of private companies/public institutions and entrepreneurs.• to offer a course program and in class and long-distance training material for further training courses for enterprises/institutions to link the universities to business and industry, using specific modalities of teaching and learning patterns.• to develop a core-curriculum and teaching and learning material for an accredited elective “Entrepreneurship and Business development” at all participating universities.In the long run the CACTLE has a clear sustainable impact on human capacity building of Central Asian countries and acts as an international service network to foster the knowledge triangle."

"This projects comes as a solution to the need of developing the higher education capacity & offerings in Uzbekistan in the field of Mechatronics. The main aim of the project is to develop Bachelor’s degree program in the field of Mechatronics; to improve the mechatronic's specialists knowledge in Automation sphere, to support the capacity building of higher education institutions and to make contribution for the sustanaibility of Mechatronics. This will be achieved through the following concrete results: 1 ECTS-accredited Bachelors Programme in Mechatronics at 5 universities from Uzbekistan (12 courses)6 new Bachelors courses 16 updated courses (Bachelors & Masters) 1 course for Mechatronics teachers & enginneers (i.e. train the trainers) 6 new mechatronic Industry 4.0 labs (with 3D printers)5800 students being tought with the new curricula 31 academic staff trained 1 Methodology for university-industry collaboration in Mechatronics 1 Training Centre for teachers of special subjects and engineers and Mechatronics Society for promoting research1 web platform for online learning & collaboration Impact:An innovative internationally co-developed BSc program in Mechatronics (as well as improved courses from other programs) that will equip graduates with the necessary skills to succeed at their future workplace.A cutting-edge teacher training centre & course which will become the leading facility for Mechatronics ""train thenabling best practice multiplication across all universities & training centres from Uzbekistan - leading to internationally trained staff capable to prepare graduates for international markets. A state of the art network of Industry 4.0 laboratories which will modernize the infrastructure of universities and help them truly deliver a top-class program in Mechatronics while also enabling social engagement (i.e. FabLab) and co-creation with industry. Fulfilling universities' missions according to the national priorities."

In Central Asian (CA) countries, large groups of graduates don’t find a job according to their degree, nor can they develop their talent within their work. The countries lack HRM experts that can e.g. introduce transparent selection and promotion procedures in enterprises, or assist the government in modernising its labour market policy.In this project, 3 Kazakh, 2 Uzbek and 2 Kyrgyz universities will each develop a two-year HRM master programme (TALENT) that has similar core courses in the 7 universities. Each of the programmes has to obtain accreditation, by the middle of Y2. In Y3, the first year of the 7 TALENT programmes must take start. Some of the 7 universities have an excellent reputation; they will help the less prestigious universities to develop and maintain their TALENT programme.The course development will be coached by the EU partners, with the teachers of each course meeting each other and further co-operating via a knowledge sharing platform. The teachers will develop separate, but highly comparable course syllabi and introductory texts. In 6 workshops, the EU and CA teachers will present HRM topics, adapted to the CA context and illustrated with CA examples.The project website will start as an introduction to the project, and then develop into a website introducing HRM and its applicability to the CA context. It will include a selection of the introductory texts, together with video recorded material of the workshops and case studies. Most material will be available in 3 languages (EN, RU + (KZ or UZ or KG)).The 7 CA universities already have good contacts with regional and national stakeholders. In this project, the focus will be on entrepreneurs, trade unions and governmental bodies on labour markets and work conditions. With each of the 6 HRM workshops, the stakeholders of the respective university will be engaged, i.c. in the role of disputant. A selection of stakeholders will be incorporated in each university’s TALENT advisory board.

The demand for medical services in Uzbekistan, is growing rapidly, so the healthcare system has turned to new and innovative technologies to improve diagnosis, monitoring and treatment. In doing so, healthcare providers must rely on medical devices and implants that work properly and are managed in a cost-effective and efficient manner by qualified Biomedical Engineers.A report on the use of the recently purchased medical equipment carried out in some hospitals, highlighted the high rate of unused devices due to the lack of proper maintenance and repair. Consequently, the Ministry urged the need to prepare professionals in this field.The main objective of I2-PLEDGE is to establish an innovative Bachelor Degree Program able to provide bioengineers endowed with those technical and professional (and soft) skills necessary to meet the today’s technological challenges in a multidisciplinary environment.The activities include• Developing a pilot professional Bachelor Degree in Biomedical Engineering, adopting new teaching methods, materials and tools and integrating work experience and internships.• Teachers training on teaching methods and curriculum design at EU universities.Three universities will introduce the new professional curriculum and 4 will updates the existing ones.In each UZ university, at least 10 teachers will be trained and at least 20 students will start the new or updated degree.Beneficiaries of the project activities are the companies providing the medical devices, the hospitals and the healthcare system in general, besides the students and the society. The main results and outputs are• Reduction of the shortage of Biomedical Engineering professionals,• Correct use and maintenance of the medical devices, • Enhanced cooperation between UZ and EU in the field of Biomedical Engineering,• Training centre for teachers and specialists also for LLL,• Establishment of the Biomedical Engineers Register,• Web platform for cooperation.

The aim of the project is to strengthen academic capacity of experts on mathematical engineering in Central Asia via development and implementation of interdisciplinary Master program “Mathematical Engineering” through collaboration with all stakeholders for enhancing the scientific potential on Mathematical engineering and professional development of in-service specialists.Joint activities between HEI of CA and EU include: -Joint evaluation of teaching material -Research-related activities, such as joint research projects, publications These activities will go beyond the project and be supported by bilateral agreements between CA HEIs and EU institutions.The industry will be closely involved at different stages of the program development: -Developing the program needs survey analysis will be perform to meet the requirements of the labor market-Qualification Description was elaborated and presented to the industry, on the basis of their feedback, it will be improved, curriculum elaborated and syllabuses developed. -Industry will be involved in the evaluation of the students, having their internship within it.-Computing Centers were established to teach master students to use MatLab and Comsol software, provide professional development training to the industry