On August 7-8 of this year, an international scientific and practical seminar was held at the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (UWED) on the topic: “Transformation of Higher Education in Uzbekistan: Pathways to Global Excellence and Innovation in Partnership with Japan”.
The First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis, Rector of UWED Sodyq Safoev, and the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Uzbekistan, Takashi Hatori, who spoke at the opening, noted the high dynamics of cooperation between the two countries, paying special attention to the field of education.
The seminar was attended by leaders of the Nippon Foundation, staff from the Japanese embassy in Tashkent, representatives of ministries and agencies of Uzbekistan, leading universities from Central Asian countries and Japan, as well as doctoral students and the faculty of UWED.
Four panel discussions were organized, in which experts discussed in detail the issues of improving the quality of higher education in Uzbekistan; the interaction between the economy and higher education; the challenges of academic independence, the popularization of science, the financing and commercialization of research projects; and the experience of cooperation between Japan and Uzbekistan in the fields of science and education.
Based on the discussion materials, practical recommendations will be developed, which will become an important supplement to the final research report.
The event was organized by the Institute for Advanced International Studies at UWED as the concluding part of a large-scale project titled “Higher educational dynamics, internationalization and institutional diversity in Uzbekistan” implemented by the Institute in collaboration with the Nippon Foundation (Japan).
It should be noted, the project involved a comprehensive study of the current state, challenges, and prospects of the higher education system in Uzbekistan, with the aim of engaging scholars and experts in the process of its further reform, as well as developing a network of scientific and educational contacts between Central Asia and Japan.
The study covered higher education institutions in the city of Tashkent, the Republic of Karakalpakstan, and the Fergana, Samarkand, and Surkhandarya regions. Sociological surveys and in-depth interviews were conducted with the participation of more than 1,270 respondents, including students, university management, faculty, and industry specialists.