The participants mapped the project targets to be implemented within the coming three years, in particular, MINERVA overall plan and work packages, communication and dissemination strategy, quality control, roles and responsibilities of the project’s partners, and other issues on the agenda.
Anna Chulyan made a presentation entitled «Open Science in Armenia and YSULS». The financial issues, as well as other necessary prerequisites for the successful implementation of the Project were also discussed at the meeting.
The representatives of 13 state, private and interstate higher educational institutions, the RA Ministry of Economic Development and Investments and the RA Ministry of Finance, the EU Delegation to Armenia, and National Center of Public Policy Research NGO participated in the meeting.
Hasmik Ghazaryan, the Head of Yerevan Brusov University of Languages and Social Sciences Financial Department, presented the YSULS experience in the filed of purchases and tax exemption.
The interlocutors also shared their experience and dwelled upon the urgent issues.
On May 7, 2019, a training on «Publication peculiarities for international scientific journals» was held at the Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences by Daria Iovcheva, Springer Nature Licensing Manager. The representatives of the Higher Qualification Committee of the Republic of Armenia, a number of HEIs and Academic Centers, members of Electronic Library Consortium of Armenia also participated in the training. Daria Iovcheva presented the opportunity for Armenian scientific community to publish for free in Springer Nature journals. The following steps for successful article publication were discussed:
- how to choose a journal for the publication,
- how to write the abstract and structure the article,
- how to negotiate with the editor and peer reviewer,
- how to avoid mistakes in English.
Daria Iovcheva also recommended to use Springer journals suggester while making the decision which journal to apply. More relevant issues for further cooperation were discussed during the training.
On May 14, 2019, a workshop "Open Researcher and Contributor ID" was held at the Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences.
The training was held by Armine Vardanyan, the Library bibliographer.
STUDY VISIT TO UNIVERSITY CÔTE D'AZUR WITHIN THE FRAME OF MINERVA PROJECT
On 20-24 May 2019 the representatives of MINERVA Project partner universities visited the University Côte D'azur, France.
The visit was targeted at the training in the sphere of national and institutional policies on open science, regulations, processing and outcomes, open access and national framework of the EU partner universities - Mediterranean Regional Unit of Training to Scientific and Technical Information (Belgium), Guglielmo Marconi University (Italy), Côte D'azur University (France), University of Valencia (Spain), Nice Sophia Antipolis University (France).
Bella Margaryan, Vice-Rector for Education and Science Affairs of Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences, participated in the in-depth discussions which were mainly targeted at the vision of open science in Armenia and Moldova. The interlocutors also dwelled upon the processes of developing work packages and setting deadlines, work groups and persons in charge of holding planned trainings.
MONITORING VISIT OF GRANT COORDINATOR TO ARMENIA AND TG INFORMATION SESSION
On June 27, 2019, «ERASMUS + CBHE MINERVA – Strengthening Research Management and Open Science Capacities of HEIs in Moldova and Armenia» project presentation was held at the Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences (YSULS) Library Conference Hall. The representatives of the YSULS subdivisions participated in the meeting. Anna Chulyan, the Head of the YSULS Library, welcomed the participants. Olesea Sirbu, Vice Rector for International Affairs, Academy of Economic Studies of Moldova, Project Coordinator, presented the detailed plan of the Project. The participants considered the Project’s strategy, work packages and action plan, as well as the schedule for its implementation.
MINERVA Project plans to improve institutional HR policies throw a series of bylaw changes, to train the researchers for labor market and the society, and to facilitate their career development.
MINERVA PRESENTATION AT EIFL GENERAL ASSEMBLY IN BISHKEK
August 8-10, 2019, Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
On August 8-10, 2019, EIFL (Electronic Information for Libraries) General Assembly was held in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Delegates from library consortia in 33 countries, representatives of partners in the publishing industry, and members of the EIFL management board and staff team participated in the Assembly.
Over three days the delegates were involved in interactive sessions. Expert guest speakers presented training programs, learning resources they had elaborated in the international copyright literacy and scholarly communications community. The session also covered the current landscape in funding, licensing through transformative agreements, and the library consortia’s role in driving open access.
The delegates also explored options for developing and offering digital skills courses for librarians and researchers in their own countries and considered a set of principles increasingly being adopted by national and international research funders to accelerate the transition to open access.
Anna Chulyan, EIFL Armenia Coordinator, Head of Brusov YSULS Library, presented Armenia’s current experience in knowledge sharing, presented trends across the country, and showcased Armenia’s achievements in the sphere.
Anna Chulyan also presented the international project «ERASMUS + CBHE MINERVA – Strengthening Research Management and Open Science Capacities of HEIs in Moldova and Armenia» project. MINERVA project plans to improve institutional HR policies throw a series of bylaw changes, to train the researchers for labor market and the society, and to facilitate their career development.
In the course of the GA sessions and discussions EIFL agreed to become MINERVA associate partner and involve Irina Kuchma, Open Access Programme Manager for EIFL, a member of OA2020 Advisory Board, DSpace Community Advisory Team (DCAT) and the NDLTD (Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations) Board of Directors, in MINERVA advisory board to support the project in the Open Science policy guidelines and IR establishment in project countries.
EIFL TRAINING ON OPEN SCIENCE AT YSULS
September 26-27, 2019, Yerevan, Armenia
A training on Open Science national and institutional guidelines, policies, and incentives in Armenia was held at Brusov YSULS on September 26-27, 2019. The training was conducted in the frames of ERASMUS+ CBHE «Strengthening Research Management and Open Science Capacities of HEIs in Moldova and Armenia» (MINERVA) project.
The training was attended by the representatives of the project partner universities - Brusov YSLUS, Yerevan State University, Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi, Armenian State University of Economics. The representatives of RA Higher Attestation Commission (HAC), American University of Armenia (AUA) and Public Administration Academy of Armenia (PAARA) also participated in the meeting.
The expert speaker was Iryna Kuchma, Open Access Programme Manager for EIFL (Electronic Information for Libraries). EIFL is MINERVA associate partner, to support the project in the Open Science policy guidelines and IR establishment in the project countries.
Irina Kuchma has many achievements, including the establishment of more than 1,100 open access repositories and over 4,000 open access journals in EIFL partner countries, opening up a wealth of new knowledge and research to the world.
In the course of the two-day training the participants mastered in Open Science policy guidelines, policies and discussed a range of issues referring to setting up repositories, talking to researchers about Open Science and data management.
EIFL has worked with many countries to promote Open Science. To underscore, EIFL provides Open Science policy templates as the basis for national discussion and drafting, which enables national universities to establish Institutional Repositories, adopt OA policies, and train library staff, researchers and students. Proceeding from the aforementioned guidelines, universities of the project partner countries will find it easier to adopt and implement institutional open access policies, mandate the depositing in repositories and make them openly available, providing that copyright allows.
The focus group discussions were targeted at developing new skills in training researchers on Open Science. The delegates considered how to give a training focusing on learning objectives and outcomes and know that the training is making a difference as well as other items, in part, finding a place for training and messages in the competitive research landscape.
STUDY VISIT TO UNIVERSITY OF LIÈGE
21-25 October, 2019, Liège, Belgium
On 21-25 October, 2019, a study visit to the University of Liège (Belgium) was organized within the framework of ERASMUS+ CBHE of the MINERVA project on “Strengthening Research Management and Open Science Capacities of HEIs in Moldova and Armenia”. The aim of the visit was to study the process of development of Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R), aimed at acquisition of HR label through the EURAXESS procedure (https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/) (Working Package 4 of MINERVA project). The University of Liège is one of the first in the world to adopt the Open Science principles (2007), and it has a huge experience in organizing processes of acquiring the HRS4R label.
The meeting covered the topic on “Building Capacities of Research Management”. The representatives of all partner universities of MINERVA project from Armenia and Moldova took part in the study visit. The following representatives of Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences (YSULSS) were among the participants: Anna Chulyan, Head of YSULS Library and Head of Brusov Scientific Center (YSULS coordinator of MINERVA project); Karen Hayrapetyan, Head of YSULS Science Department; Robert Khachatryan, Head of YSULS Chair of Education Management and Planning; and Samvel Hovhannisyan, Associate Professor of the same Chair.
Isabelle Halleux who is an expert of the University of Liège (https://www.vitae.ac.uk/events/event-presenters/Isabelle-Halleux) presented the best practices of other countries, as well as related procedures, documents and forms. By the guidance of Professor Halleux the process of acquiring the HRS4R label through the EURAXESS procedure was mapped, and respective action plan in accordance with the deadlines was approved (Working Package 4 of MINERVA project).
World Open Access Week 2019
October 28, 2019, Yerevan, Armenia
On 28 October 2019 the event devoted to the "Open Access Repositories in Armenia" was organized at Papazian Library of the American University of Armenia (AUA). The heads of libraries of RA leading higher education institutions and a number of librarians participated in the event.
In 2018-2019 AUA and the Public Administration Academy of the RA jointly with the University of Bergen implement the Eurasia project on "Developing a Sustainable Platform for Open Access (OA) Publishing in Armenia", funded by the Foreign Ministry of Norway under supervision of Norwegian Centre for International Cooperation in Education (SIU) (Oapa.aua.am, 2019).
During the event the MINERVA project ("Strengthening Research Management and Open Science capacities of HEIs in Moldova and Armenia") was presented by Anna Chulyan, Head of Library of Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences and coordinator of the MINERVA project. The academic community of Armenia has already accepted the importance and advantage of Open Science principles which are partially reflected in a number of initiatives taken by governing bodies, education institutions, libraries, NGOs, publishers and other stakeholders. However, the lack of coordination, absence of criteria and clearly set legislation make the aforementioned initiatives inefficient and isolated from the global development context. Within the upcoming three years this gap is planned to be filled also due to the MINERVA project.
STUDY VISIT TO UNIVERSITY OF VALENCIA (UV)
6-8 November 2019, Valencia, Spain
On 6-8 November 2019 the study visit in the University of Valencia (UV) was organized within the MINERVA project. The representatives of Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences (YSULS), in particular, Anna Chulyan (Head of YSULS library, YSULS coordinator of MINERVA project), Arevik Avanesova (Head of Library Information Department), Armine Vardanyan (YSULS library bibliographer) and Ani Shahinyan (Specialist at Center for Quality Assurance and Reforms) participated in the study visit.
The aim of the study visit was to introduce the participants the necessary and efficient infrastructures which are vital for Open Science (OS) development. The UV staff members of different structural units who are involved in the implementation and development of the mentioned process, presented the vision, strategic approach and respective actions implemented by the UV. The content mainly covered the practice and requirements set for the development of integrated system of institutional repositories capable of cumulating, enhancing and structuring the main components of OS: open access, open education, open monitoring and open resources and methodology.
Open access is aimed to consolidate free access to the peer-reviewed scientific publications (primarily research articles published in academic journals) and scientific research data: data underlying publications and/or other data (such as curated but unpublished datasets or raw data). Open education is aimed at providing free access to anybody to online courses, workshops and seminars. Open monitoring is directed towards developing reliable mechanisms of scientometrics capable of identifying high quality research. Open resources and methodology is aimed at cumulating information about various datasets and efficient processing methods capable of boosting research awareness and interest.
The main inputs for this activity are related to the know-how, experience, competence and knowledge transferred during the study visit, as well as to the relevant literature analysis and exchange of best national practices. The main responsibility for supervision of development of the integrated system of institutional repositories in Armenia will lie on the P9 –YSULS, detailed input from the OS-UWG will be essential. And the development, standardization and integration of institutional repositories to the OS platforms in the PCs at Moldovan and Armenian HEIs аre the key factors determining the success of the project.
MONITORING OF ACTIONS IMPLEMENTED WITHIN THE FRAMES OF MINERVA PROJECT IN 2019
December 5, 2019, Yerevan, Armenia
On December 5, 2019, National Erasmus+ Office in Armenia (NEO-Armenia) assessed the work implemented within the frames of MINERVA project in 2019. Yerevan State University, the Project National Coordinator, hosted the representatives of the Project partner universities, in part, Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences, Yerevan State Medical University after Mkhitar Heratsi, and Armenian State University of Economics, as well as the delegates from the RA Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport, and the RA Supreme Certification Commission.
The monitoring was conducted by Lana Karlova, NEO-Armenia Programme Coordinator, and Edith Soghomonyan, NEO-Armenia Programme Officer. The Project Coordinators from the partner universities reported on the activities realized within the current year.
Anna Chulyan, Brusov YSULS MINERVA Project Coordinator, briefed on the actions implemented within the frames of the Project in 2019, dwelling upon the challenges and achievements. The participants also considered the action plan for the coming year and mentioned the potential for cooperation with ERASMUS + other projects targeted at enhancing science and education.
THE 8th MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF YEREVAN BRUSOV STATE UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
December 20, 2019, Yerevan, Armenia
The 8th meeting of the Board of Trustees of Yerevan Brusov State University of Languages and Social Sciences was held on December 20, 2019.
In the course of the sitting the annual reports and YSULS international projects were presented.
Anna Chulyan, YSULS MINERVA project coordinator, reported on the actions implemented in 2019 within the frames of MINERVA Project (Strengthening Research Management and Open Science capacities of HEIs in Moldova and Armenia), as a part of ERASMUS + Strengthening Research Management of HEIs programme.
In part, the activities realized during the year, achievements and challenges, and the following year’s action plan were presented in the course of the sitting.
ERASMUS+ CLUSTER MEETING AND NETWORKING AT FAST FOUNDATION
December 23, 2019, Yerevan, Armenia
On December 23 a Cluster meeting of with the representatives of 4 Erasmus+ capacity building projects, FAST Foundation for Science and Technology (
www.fast.foundation) and Horizon2020 National Contact Point (
h2020.sci.am) in Armenia was initiated by NEO as a joint initiative and platform for facilitating cooperation between the Universities that work towards modernization of their institutional research infrastructures for Doctoral education at institutional and national levels, and investment businesses interested in developing the research ecosystem in Armenia. The meeting, organised at FAST Foundation, started with a tour on the premises. A welcome speech was made by
NEO Coordinator Mrs. Lana Karlova followed by introduction to the Foundations’ activities by the
VP/Director on Partnerships and Programs Mrs. Suzanna Shamakhyan. She presented the host organisation’s main mission, that is to produce an ecosystem that drives technological innovation and scientific advancement in Armenia and beyond by engaging technological and scientific communities in raising the scientific profile of the country. Forecasts on R&D developments and Fast’s investment actions (FAST Fellowship, ASCENT programme) were also shared with the participants.Next, 2 representatives from each of the following ongoing and new Erasmus+ CBHE projects made a short presentation on main objectives and expected results of their project:
