Projekte

Kurzbeschreibung:

Projektziel

The project HERAS - Higher Education, Research and Applied Science in Kosovo contributes to the well-functioning of Higher Education and Research in Kosovo along the principles of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) and the European Research Area (ERA) with the long-term objective to support the socio-economic development of the country.

Erwartete Ergebnisse

They will sustainably benefit from the Outcome of the project: Kosovo has sustainably and effectively improved its HE and Research policy development and implementation in line with European standards. The intervention contributes to (a) improved effectiveness of the public HE and research system, (b) enhanced quality of higher education and employability of graduates, and (c), improved human capacities and increased internationalisation of research.

Zielgruppe

The target groups in Kosovo are the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) as the main stakeholder responsible for education and research in Kosovo with 16 persons from Higher Education (HE) and Science departments as core beneficiaries, the Kosovo Accreditation Agency (KAA) with its 9 employees, public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Kosovo with a total of over 82,000 students, including students from vulnerable and underrepresented groups.

Maßnahmen

1. MEST has improved HE planning based on regional profiling as well as the research system and respective policies, and reflects a Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA) in their activities.

2. KAA has implemented ENQA recommendations and the new ESGs and has improved internal QA procedures and the transparency of its work.

3. Public HEIs and the University of Prishtina (UP) in particular improved the use of QA instruments with focus on implementation of follow up measures along European standards.

4. The University of Mitrovica North (UMN) established a QA Centre and capacities of its staff and academic staff for implementation of modern QA system are improved.

5. Applied study programme approach is promoted and employability fostered.

6. 5 programmatic partnerships (PPs) are established between Kosovar and Austrian HEIs and support modernisation and internationalisation of HE.

7. 10-15 small projects are implemented to foster the implementation of the Social Dimension in Kosovo.

8. 10 PhD and 5 post-doc scholarships are successfully implemented.

9. 8 to 10 Collaborative Research Projects are implemented and contribute to the internationalisation and strengthening of researchers and research activities in Kosovo.

10. Kosovo shows a stronger performance in international research collaboration and a stronger integration into the ERA and research organizations have improved their research activities in qualitative and quantitative terms.

Hintergrundinformation

At the national level, the very main document setting the priorities of HE and research is the Kosovo Education Strategic Plan (KESP). As its current version expires in 2016, the new KESP for the period 2017 – 2021 is currently being developed in a participatory process

The quality of education needs to be considerably improved. As such Kosovo should in particular:

- Improve quality of education at all levels and improve access to quality education for marginalised groups, especially children with disabilities, Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian children,

- Ensure the autonomy and independent operation of higher education institutions and adopt a new law for higher education based on international standards,

- Strengthen research and innovation capacity through reform of the system of research and increase investment in research, both in the public and private sectors. Kosovo has taken limited action to develop its research and innovation.