On 30 October 2023, the project team met with the newly appointed Rector of University ‘Isa Boletini’ in Mitrovica (UIBM), Ms. Merita Shala and congratulated her on the new role. HERAS Plus expressed readiness for supporting UIBM in further building the strategic and institutional capacities and ensure the continuity of the cooperation.

The project also participated in the formal ceremony of handing over the new equipment funded by the HERAS Plus. On this occasion, three lots of equipment were supported: The first lot is a seismograph equipment which will be used in the Faculty of Geosciences courses and will help students understand the refraction of seismic waves on different geological layers, rocks and soil units to characterize the subsurface geological conditions and geological structure for studying purposes. The second lot is a convection equipment, for which the students helps them understand the topic of free and forced convection on various heating elements in which material-bound heat transport takes place as the fluid in motion. The third lot are the toolkits to asses psychological and academic development, which will help researchers to understand cause and effect, and will help them to identify the need to intervene to improve properly, will be used by Faculty of Education.

The Rector of the UIBM Ms. Shala thanked HERAS Plus, the implementing consortium (WUS Austria, ZSI and OeAD) as well as Austrian Development Agency for this great support and stated that this intervention supports the implementation of their strategy terms of promoting research inputs/outputs.

The National Stakeholder Conference on Social Cohesion and Equality in Kosovo, held on March 7th, coincided with National Teachers Day and marked a significant milestone for the Programmatic Partnership “Research capacity building to strengthen Empirical Education Research on Social Cohesion and Equity in Kosovo (EduReaKos) – funded under the HERAS Plus Programmatic Partnerships Scheme.” This partnership is coordinated by the University of Graz in partnership with three Public Higher Education Institutions in Kosovo: University “Isa Boletini” Mitrovica (UIBM), University “Ukshin Hoti” Prizren (UUHP), and University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina” (UP). The conference aimed to highlight issues related to educational equality and bring them to the policy agenda, focusing on large-scale assessments of data from PISA and TIMSS.

During the opening session, Mr. Aqim Emurli, HERAS Plus Team Leader, emphasised that this project (funded by HERAS Plus) is highly significant because it addresses crucial issues related to Human Rights and Gender Equality. He further commended the project’s achievements and emphasised the valuable capacity-building opportunities that emerged from the collaboration, particularly for the young researchers involved.

Additionally, Mr. Qerim Qerimi, Rector of the University of Prishtina, emphasised the conference’s importance as a contribution to advancing education in Kosovo, beyond its academic and research purposes. He expressed gratitude for the continued support offered by HERAS Plus.

The EduReaKos project has focused on capacity building, collaboration, and networking to strengthen young academics’ empirical education research and research competencies in teacher education and related disciplines. These efforts aim to build a robust knowledge base on social cohesion and equity within the Kosovan schooling system. The project’s research outcomes have been presented at four international conferences in Austria, Armenia, Germany, and Norway, in the form of a keynote, a symposium, four papers, and three posters.

On 31 May and 1 June 2022, the Project was delighted to facilitate a two-day tailormade workshop on Project Cycle Management (PCM) for the University “Isa Boletini” in Mitrovica (UIBM).

The workshop was designed jointly by the HERAS Plus Team and the UIBM leadership. The event was attended by 20 academic staff, and supervised by the UIBM Rector, Prof. Dr. Alush Musaj.

The tailormade workshop aimed at building capacities of a selected team of UIBM academic staff for writing, monitoring and implementing projects. The program covered all the main subjects involved in PCM, whereas the delivery method was through presentations, group work and coaching sessions.

The training is part of the support provided to UIBM based on the competitive fund for strategic development of public universities, and it is in line with the joint actions agreed in the Memorandum of Understanding between HERAS Plus Project and the University.

On 07-08 December 2021, HERAS Plus organized two-day workshop for the University “Isa Boletini” in Mitrovica (UIBM), mainly attended by the University management, members of the Steering Council, Deans and academic staff. The event was addressed by the Rector of UIBM Mr. Alush Musaj and our Team Leader Mr. Aqim Emurli and facilitated by HERAS Plus expert, Mr. Ahmet Shala with extensive and very broad experience on the matter. Main massages conveyed at the event were that the training will enable the attendees to develop their own leadership skills when dealing with academic affairs and above all, support their institution (UIBM) in their endeavor towards the strategic development.

Noteworthy, the workshop is addressing the important topics such as leadership and management, transformational leadership, characteristics of effective teams and also on practical exercises with working groups. Furthermore, this event will contribute to the promotion of the mechanisms for sustainable development for the management and the leadership of the University. This activity is part of the earmark support of HERAS Plus dedicated to UIBM and in line with the Memorandum of Understanding signed earlier in the year.

On 18-19 June 2021 HERAS Plus conducted the two-day training program on Effective Mechanisms for Monitoring the Implementation of Strategic Plan.

The training program was organized for the University “Isa Boletini” in Mitrovica (UIBM) and it was specifically designed to meet the needs of the University. The Rector, Prof. Dr. Alush Musaj, who officially opened the event, stated that HERAS Plus is the most valuable partner of UIBM in the path to sustainable strategic development. On behalf of HERAS Plus, Mr. Nehat Dervishi, Thematic Coordinator for Higher Education, encouraged the participants to make use of the expertise provided by the Project, thus, interact with the trainer and contextualize the discussions and exercises as much as possible with the aim of achieving a maximum output from the Training Program.

The training targeted the senior management of UIBM and other staff who are responsible for coordination and monitoring tasks in relation to the implementation of University’s Strategic and Action plan. The training, in brief terms, addressed the most relevant topics related to monitoring and evaluation principles, understanding indicators, use of assessment techniques, etc. Whereas, the training methods utilized during the training included presentations on tools and methods, group discussion, practical exercises, examples and illustrations, etc.