RA Deputy Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports Karen Trchunyan received the delegation of the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) on January 18. During the meeting, the possibilities of cooperation development with DAAD at different levels of undergraduate and postgraduate education were discussed.

Welcoming the German delegates, Karen Trchunyan noted that as a DAAD graduate, he is well aware of all the existing issues, and the Ministry is willing to make respective proposals aimed at enhancing the efficiency of cooperation.

According to the Deputy Minister, the German Academic Exchange Service provides scholarship funds to many countries for the implementation of various educational programs. He expressed hope that according to the same principle, the amount of DAAD allocations to our country will have quantitative and qualitative growth at different levels of education. Karen Trchunyan assured that the Armenian side, in turn, will do everything to ensure that high-quality applications are submitted for grants.

The parties also touched upon the issues of inter-university cooperation, emphasizing that the regular visits of DAAD representatives to the universities and the provision of relevant information will contribute to the rise of the number of applicants for grants. Karen Trchunyan suggested increasing not only the number of summer scholarships provided to Armenia but also the number of grants for young scholars and lecturers.

In this context, the representatives of the German Academic Service proposed to consider the possibility of implementing a joint educational and research cooperation program, which involves the use of joint funding tools to support young scientists. The parties also touched upon the possibility of implementing bilateral research programs based on joint funding. The parties stated that the above-mentioned processes will contribute to increasing the mobility of young scientists and lecturers and enhance mutual interest.

During the meeting, a reference was made to the possibility of implementing both individual and joint regional programs with Armenia. Issues related to mutual recognition of university credits and the possibility of granting double degrees were also considered.