The ultimate goal of this project is to enhance quality of medical/health education in the countries of Eastern Partnership (Georgia, Moldova, Belarus) and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, Tajikistan) through setting instruments and goals of peer review. 12 institutions in 5 partner countries will take an advantage of knowledge and expertise share from 2 institutions from Bulgaria and Lithuania. The relative uniformity of problems in higher medical/health education in partner countries are derived from the common past. Through different capacity building interventions, execution of peer reviews, knowledge sharing, laying foundation for sustainability and wider dissemination of project’s end products, we envisage the following results to be achieved: 1. Increased awareness on peer review process in academic and administrative domains in partner country institutions; 2. A Multinational Peer Review Board (MPRB) established; 3. Consistency of a continuous peer review process in partner country institutions achieved; 4. Capacity of faculty members and administrative staff in: a. conducting effective self assessment tasks; and b. peer reviewing their vis-à-vis increased; 5. An annual scientific-practical journal of “Peer Review in Medical/Health Education for Eastern Europe and Central Asia” (PRIMED-EECA) established; 6. The level of internationalization of HEIs elevated; 7. Awareness on project’s achievements among the key stakeholders increased. The project will ensure that the achieved results are sustainable and being exploited in the foreseeable future by establishing the above mentioned journal and an independent cross-national Peer Review Association for Medical/Health Education of Eastern Europe and Central Asia (PRAMED-EECA) aimed at: a. Providing a pool of highly qualified and readily available peer reviewers; and b. Assisting medical schools in the targeted regions in effectively preparing for international accreditation.

The SECURE2 project aims to pilot and implement recommendations from the European Framework for Research Careers (RCF) to improve research career progression and mobility within research-performing organizations (RPOs) and research-funding organizations (RFOs). This project builds on the previous SECURE project and expands its scope to a four-year duration, allowing a more extensive and impactful implementation of RCF recommendations. SECURE2 will provide a 2+-year trail within the 4-year project, to effectively implement the more difficult and time-intensive actions and recommendations. The overarching Aim of SECURE2 is to: • Build upon the completed ERA50 project SECURE, using SECURE expert partners and the pilot RPOs and RFOs experience in implementing Action Plans (APs) for institutional change. • Use and adapt best practice tools from the SECURE project, in particular, the ‘RCF Actions selection’ tool as the basis of guiding the pilots to select their interventions. • Foster the development of ecosystems for research positions by promoting collaboration between researchers, research managers, and administrators, facilitating active participation from all stakeholders, and ensuring that the co-design, implementation, and evaluation of the RCF are rooted in the practical needs of both academic and non-academic sectors. SECURE2 employs a three-tiered approach to ensure representation and consensus building of key stakeholder groups in the research and innovation ecosystem: (1) large consortium ensuring expert partners (2) open consultations with the stakeholder community to co-design and validate key project outcomes (3) advisory board of key representatives to ensure independent expert oversight and connection to policymakers.

The need for reform and restructuring of the higher education (HE) system in Moldova is being held back by a lack of leadership and management capacity in the HE sector. To ensure that reform occurs, universities in Moldova need to build the capacity of their managers in relation to governance, strategic planning and management. Managers need to be able to drive through change and cope with the greater complexity that goes with increased size and independence. As part of this reform, leaders and managers need to ensure that their institutions are focused on the needs of the Moldovan economy and society.The project addresses the need for development for university leaders and managers in Moldova through the creation and implementation of a structured leadership and management programme, tailored to the specific needs of higher education institutions in Moldova. It will create structures and materials to support the programme as well as identify and equip dedicated facilitates where the training will take place. Learning will take place through lectures from visiting speakers, action learning sets, national management research projects, and exercises to strengthen professional networks. The project will ensure staff training workshops are developed and executed for the Moldovan university staff responsible for implementing the new programme. To support the ongoing sustainability of the programme, a cross university staff delivery network will be developed.During the life of the project, 208 Moldovan leaders and managers will have been developed through the programme with a demonstrable impact on their capacity to operate the governance, strategic plans and management of HEIs. In the year following the project, it is expected that a minimum of 128 managers will benefit from taking the programme in project institutions and that at least 14 additional Moldovan universities will have adopted the programme, thus enhancing the capacity for reform of HE nationally.

This project addresses the extant problem of student’s diminishing competiveness and diminishing employability rate as reflected in priorities of the Moldovan Government. This project responds to these needs by introducing innovative teaching methods: Problem Based Learning (PBL), Enquiry Based Learning (EBL) and Simulations (S). These innovative teaching methods contribute substantially to enhancement of students’ competitiveness and employability as witnessed in various universities across Europe. Each partner country university chose a study program to be re-designed based on these innovative teaching methods: MSc in Business Administration (AESM); MSs in Information Technology (TUM); MSc in Human Rights (MSU); MSc in European Policy and Public Administration (USARB); MSc in Entrepreneurship and Business Administration (USC); BA in Medicine (SUMPh). The following key outputs are envisaged: work plan; consortium agreement; training materials; roadmaps for change; training of trainers; roadmaps for content change; PBL/EBL/S based study programs/curricula; semester 1 and 2 learning outcomes; evaluation reports; project website; progress and final reports. The following impacts are expected: (1) short term - improved ability for academic staff to draw roadmaps for program and curricula modernization; improved skills of staff working with PBL/EBL/S teaching methods; improved support and access for disadvantaged students; improved participation of business communities; improved knowledge and competences expressed as learning outcomes; (2) long term – at involved Moldovan universities: improved available teaching methodologies that can be applied in other study programs; improved quality of education; improved participation and performance by disadvantaged students; improved cooperation with business communities; improved integration into the EU based excellence networks; at system level - improved quality of educational policy and modernized HE system in Moldova.