Addressing National Priorities in TEMPUS Projects TEMPUS Project for Establishing a Center of Excellence for Research & Training at Damascus University Dr. Talal Al-Shihabi, Damascus University TEMPUS 6 th Info Day, Aleppo University 12/12/2010

 Governance Reform  University management and student services  Introduction of quality assurance  Equal and transparent access to higher education  Higher Education and Society  Knowledge triangle: education-innovation-research  Training courses for public services (ministries, regional/local authorities)

Establishment of a Center of Excellence for Research and Training in Construction and Environment at Damascus University (RTCCE)

 Syrian Academic Members ▪ Damascus University ▪ Aleppo University ▪ Tishreen University  EU Acacdemic Members ▪ University of Salford, UK ▪ Northumbria University, UK ▪ University of Kassel, DE ▪ University of Lyon I, FR ▪ Institute for Development of New Technologies, PT

 Non-Academic Members ▪ Ministry of Local Administration, SY ▪ Syndicate of Syrian Engineers, Damascus Branch ▪ Technical Office for Engineering and Consultancy, SY

 Duration ▪ 3 years  Official start date ▪ Oct 15 th, 2010  Expected date for Kickoff meeting ▪ Jan or Feb 2011  Budget ▪ ,32 € + 10% co-finance

 Universities are the central pillars in societies for the creation (through research) and dissemination (through teaching) of knowledge.  Damascus University, and other Syrian public universities, have many of what it takes to be major research institutions  Attract the best and brightest among SY students  Offer a wide range of degrees and programs of study  Enroll sizeable number of students  Have their own financial resources in addition to the government fund

 YET, Scientific output of Syrian universities through research is far below the expectation  WHY, Among many reasons  Poor research infrastructure: libraries, ICT, research labs,..  Outdated curricula in many programs of study  weakness in research supervision skills  Weakness in developing research plans  Misunderstanding of research outputs and research conduction ethics among research students  …

 Implications of ignoring research  University ranking  University reputation  Devaluing the profession of science in the eyes of the public  Isolation from the world-wide network of universities  No motivation for developing advanced curricula or adopting modern teaching methods  Severing the links between the university on one side and industry and society on the other hand

 provide a research infrastructure in the fields of construction and environment including  research facilities  supporting research materials  access to electronic libraries.  provide training for researchers on the skills needed for conducting research

 outlining important research topics to be pursued within the center beyond this project  Providing training courses for public services (ministries, regional/local authorities) and to the general public in areas related to research themes within the center

 Information and Communication Technologies in Construction:  visualization of construction objects and processes, building information modeling, and artificial intelligence applications in construction  Investment and Infrastructure Management  construction economics and financing, contracting and procurement strategies, risk management, and real-estate economics and finance  Strategic Management, decision support systems, and management information systems  Environment and Sustainable Development

 to elaborate on the research sub-themes within the center  to provide the center with required research facilities  to provide access to electronic and physical libraries relevant to research themes

 to develop modules in line with matrix approach to course development. These include course modules; training modules/continuous professional development (CPD)  to provide the center with required training facilities  to enhance the links with the industry through research and training

 to facilitate sustained participation in international research activities and collaboration with research active institutions  to build competence: consolidation of current competence and capacity building of new competencies  to enhance reputation at national, international, and industry levels

 The Inception Stage  The first nine months of the project  The Realization Stage  Starts in the 10 th month of the 1 st year and ends in the 9 th month of the 3 rd year  The Evaluation Stage  Starts in the 9 th month of the 1 st year and continues to the end of the project

 Review and examination of the suggested list of research themes and training areas  visits to the research and training centers in the EU institutions  Exploration of the technical requirements for research studies in the suggested research themes as well as the technical requirements for training in the suggested training areas.

 round-table discussions with representatives from the related sectors including professionals and government representatives for prioritization and refinement of research themes and sub-themes as well as training areas  a set of modules will be suggested to help in providing future researchers in the center with the required background for conducting research studies in the center themes

 a dedicated space will be provided and furnished by Damascus University which will be later equipped by the project  Dissemination and sustainability activities will start during this stage by launching a website for the project and the center.

 developing the background materials defined during the inception stage  detailed contents for training courses within the selected training areas will also be provided  develop training courses for research skills including ▪ research methodology ▪ Formulation of research problems ▪ technical writing ▪ quantitative and qualitative methods ▪ presentation skills ▪ ethical codes of research conduction.

 highlight sets of research topics within each research theme to be pursued by the center staff.  In parallel with these, activities will be undertaken to enhance competence of Syrian staff for conducting research as well as supervisory capabilities

 acquiring the needed research and training facilities of hardware and software.  A list of needed books will be compiled and a list of electronic resources will be identified.  A research conference is planned to be convened at Damascus University around the middle of the third year of the project. This activity will be mainly financed by Damascus University

 Outcomes and deliverables of the project will be evaluated starting with the list of adopted research themes and training areas.  Other materials developed through the realization stage will also be evaluated.  This will be done along with evaluating the project implementation as planned and as scheduled.

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