Description of the Project – 2019

Outcome 1 – Support of quality assurance in education and research

Activity 1.1 Participation of students into quality assurance

Based on the experience gained in recent years of project implementation, the acquisition of feedback from students and graduates for internal quality assessment systems will be strengthened at all 3 partner universities. Four main tools will be created/strengthened: (1) Evaluation by first-year students focused on their expectations from studying and the first months at university, (2) Student survey of particular subjects, (3) Evaluation of particular study specializations by fresh graduates and (4) Evaluation by graduates. The guideline defining the process of data acquisition, organization of data collection, responsibility, method of administration, processing, evaluation and use of results for the internal quality management system will be proposed. In addition, a 2-hour workshop will be organized at each university to clarify the objectives and progress of the data collection with representatives of universities. Then the other methods for the involvement of students and experts in the internal quality assessment – participation in internal quality management system will be mentioned as well.

Activity 1.2 Setting of system for intership/practical training assessment

The collaboration with organizations to provide internships is becoming an increasingly important activity. A 2-day workshop organized especially for practical training coordinators and heads of departments will focus on the Guidance and Recommendation (Quality Manual) procedures for securing professional practical trainings in small and medium enterprises from the perspective of management, strategies, education and learning, but also the organization of the internships themselves. The workshop will also include the creation of feedback tools by intership participants.

Activity 1.3 – Setting of selected university internal systems for human resources in research and science

Ukraine is not a member state of the European Union, but many processes are set to match EU legislation and rules. Step by step the European Research Institutions are joining the European Commission Recommendation 2005/251/EC, the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. It is on the principles of these two documents that the HR AWARD is awarded to the HRS4R (The Human Resources Strategy for Researchers). The preparation for obtaining an HR AWARD usually lasts for several years and is a process in which all sub-components must be involved. The project will include a one-day workshop for the university management, science and research staff, and department heads at each university to introduce the HR AWARDS concept and discuss the possibilities of creating an action plan created by the action plan preparation of the HR AWARD. The Action Plan will then be created by the end of 2019 and will include GAP analysis components.

Output 2 – Capacity increase in research and science

Activity 2.1 Organization of research and science worlshops for young staff

For the target group of young scientists, the project will include a series of seminars focusing on the development of scientific competences and skills at different levels. The aim of the seminars is to acquaint young researchers and students of doctoral programs with the essence of scientific research, with the basics of scientific work and also with the principles of scientometry. 2-day seminars organized together at SSU and SNAU and especially at BTNAU will include the following topics: Historical development of science in the context of time, Scientific methods and their essence, Scientific journals and databases, Scientometry, The use of citation manager, Scientific article and its structure, English language in scientific literature, scientific article and its structure, and dissertation. The next block of seminars will focus on the ethical aspects of research, which are currently much discussed in the academic community. The partner universities (BTNAU, together with SSU and SNAU) will hold a one-day workshop for young researches, senior executives and doctoral students to learn the basic ethical principles of their activities in their academic and other university activities, especially in the field of education, science and research, development and innovation, artistic or other creative activities. The next block is a 2-day seminar called “Project Management”, which aims to prepare participants for submitting their own projects, especially for European capacity building grants. Course participants will learn about all phases of the project cycle: programming, identification, formulation, financing, implementation and evaluation.

Activity 2.2 – Organization of Cycle of study trips – Research and Science sharing

During the implementation of the project, there will be 2 study trips between partner institutions. Three young QA and R&D workers will be selected from each institution and will visit two other partner universities, where during the 3-day sharing session there will be room to present existing QA and R&D settings, their difficulties and challenges for the future, mutual discussions and informal setting or deepening cooperation. It will also include a series of practical seminars focusing on the development of scientific skills, which will focus on inter-university collaboration between young scientists and their teams.

Activity 2.3 – Scientific grants for young researches

At each partner university, a call for proposals for thematic themes focused on rural development will be announced. Young scientists and their teams will be able to register for the competition and will be selected by a commission consisting of CULS, SNAU, SSU and BTNAU representatives. Applications will be processed in English. Funding is expected for 1-2 grants at each partner university.

Before the announcement of the competition, a half-day training will be held for the submission of grants by the CULS expert, which will be subsequently available for consultation throughout the call. The awarded grants will then be defended at the conference.

Activity 2.5 Summer School

During the summer months 10-day the Summer Scholl for 20 young researhes and doctoral students will be organized at BTNAU. The activity will be linked to the granting in the way that research teams will be able to realize maximized potential of knowledge application in the field. It is supposed that a half of participants will be BTNAU students, and the other half will consists SSU students, SNAU students and CULS students. All participants will work in mixed teams. This will foster inter-university and intercultural cooperation. Themathecally, the Summer School will be linked to Ukraine`s current rural development policy. The Summer School will be opened for young researches (under the age of 35) and their teams. The language of the Summer School is English, which will contribute to the active use of a foreign language by young scientists. Lecturers from CULS, BTNAU, SNAU and SSU will participate in the Summer School.

Summer school will run for 2 weeks and program will be divided into 3 parts: i – theoretical and practical classes (practical lessons and excursion), ii – group work – participants will be divided into small groups and altogether students will work on specific project oriented on the new knowledge usage obtained during the first part of Summer School. Group work will include research in the field, iii – presentation and evaluation of group work results. There will also be two cultural events that will focus on supporting the Czech-Ukrainian cooperation. The activities of the Czech ODA in Ukraine will be presented.

Activity 2.5 – Conference for young researches

In November 2019, 1-day conference will be organized at BTNAU oriented on sharing scientific outputs young researches. Part of the programme will be public defences and results of pilot tests. The conference will be announced not only at each partner university but also at others, especially agricultural, universities of life sciences and relevant institutions (Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Research institutes etc.)

Output 3 – Pedagogical and didactic competence increase of young research staff

Activity 3.1 – Organization of seminar focused on digitalization in education

Modern and interactive teaching (pedagogy) requires knowledge of the use of ICT tools and can help to achieve expected learning outcomes. The workshop facilitates to support the filling of ESG 1.3. (student-centered learning) as well as ESG 1.5. (teaching staff). 3-day workshop oriented on theories and methodology of using ICT tools for teaching will be organised at each partner university. The theoretical part focused on the main theoretical pedagogical directions (behaviorism, cognitivism, constructivism, connectivism), principles of e-learning courses creation, gamification, open educational resources etc., will be followed by a practical part. Participants will learn how to use tools such as digital badges, Office day – competence measurement, social networks, Quizlet, Kahoot, Mentimeter, Socrative, Google Forms, Padlet.