From March 21 to 25, Hrachya Zakoyan, the Vice Rector for Economic Affairs, and Zarine Poghosyan, the Senior Expert of the International Relations Department, visited  Polytechnic Institute of Braganca, Portugal, to participate in the 2022 ICM week of IPB. The International week brought together representatives from universities from around the world.

An introductory session was held on the first day of the visit, during which Luis Pais, the President of the Polytechnic Institute of Braganca, highlighted the international platform for multiple diplomas, as well as the outcomes of international credit mobility and new challenges. During the week, materials on the Bologna process and the European Higher Education Area were presented, as well as reports on higher education modernisation and quality improvement in European universities. The report on higher education modernization, as well as new approaches of learning in the university, were presented.The next day, Philip Rodriguez, the University of Braganca’s International Affairs Officer, made a presentation about the university, followed by presentations from the participants from the partner universities. Representatives from the following countries were present: Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Albania.

Hrachya Zakoyan, Vice-Rector for Economic Affairs and Zarine Poghosyan, the Senior Expert of the International Relations Department, presented ANAU’s vision, structural changes, new programs, as well as issues related to incoming and outgoing students, staff selection, mobility, and capacity building. The Armenian National Agrarian University was presented with demonstration materials, which clearly showed the changes made in recent years. The staff of the University of Braganca highly appreciated the presented presentation, expressed a desire to strengthen the cooperation by allocating additional places for lecturers and students in order to activate mobility. The prospects of cooperation between the two universities were discussed, as well as the areas of common interest for the two universities.

During the visit a tour of the university was carried out, during which the representatives of the ANAU got acquainted with the infrastructure of the institute, the institute had an agrarian sector․ It is noteworthy that more practical classes were held at the institute, as the emphasis was on developing students’ practical skills, as well as the fact that they are in favor of shorter topics, the bachelor’s education at the institute of Portugal is 3 years.

In general, the training week was very full and productive. With the visit of the ANAU representatives, the cooperation between the universities was strengthened, a new, more effective cooperation was started.