AZE

“Web of Science Azerbaijan-2018” awards presented

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December 05 2018

17:55

On December 5, an event was held to mark a new stage of cooperation between the Ministry of Education and Clarivate Analytics.

Participants in the event included Minister of Education Jeyhun Bayramov, Executive Director at Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Elchin Babayev, Head of Consortia Development at Clarivate Analytics Isabelle Reiss, Vice-President of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Dilgam Taghiyev, and rectors of higher education institutions. The event was co-organized by the Ministry of Education, Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and Clarivate Analytics.

Addressing the event, Minister of Education Jeyhun Bayramov highlighted what has been done in recent years to ensure continuous development of higher education, facilitate universities` access to international scientific databases and encourage publication of Azerbaijani scientists` articles in leading international journals.

The minister said that approved by President Ilham Aliyev, “State Program for increasing international competitiveness of the higher education system of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2019-2023” will boost the development of science and play an exceptional role in modernizing the activities of universities.

Jeyhun Bayramov further mentioned that under an agreement on cooperation signed between the Ministry of Education and Clarivate Analytics in 2015, 40 higher education institutions in Azerbaijan received access to Web of Science, the most comprehensive and versatile research platform available. Saying cooperation with Clarivate Analytics is already yielding fruits, the minister noted that the number of Azerbaijani scientists` papers published in indexed journals has increased 74 percent in the past five years, while the indicator of higher education institutions has grown 88 percent. “A total of 1,160 research papers were registered with Web of Science in 2017, a record number of Azerbaijani publications in the past 25 years. Higher education institutions account for 43 percent of these articles. Azerbaijan has ranked first in the South Caucasus for the paper number growth rate in Web of Science in the past three years. If in 2015, only two Azerbaijani journals were indexed in Web of Science, this figure reached 7 in 2017.”

The minister said a decision was made to continue cooperation with Clarivate Analytics in the next three years. He proposed preparing a 2018-2021 plan of action between the Ministry of Education and Clarivate Analytics. Jeyhun Bayramov also proposed that the company should prepare a comprehensive report on Azerbaijan twice a year.

Executive Director at Science Development Foundation under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Elchin Babayev highlighted favourable environment for the development of science and education in the country. He said cooperation with Clarivate Analytics will be beneficial. Elchin Babayev hailed the provision of research institutions with advanced technologies and also noted the attention to specialist training, adding that this contributes to the improvement of scientific results on a yearly basis.

Head of Consortia Development at Clarivate Analytics Isabelle Reiss said the agreement will contribute to the development of cooperation. She expressed confidence that Azerbaijani scientists will benefit from favorable environment created for them.

Vice-President of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Dilgam Taghiyev drew the audience`s attention to what the Azerbaijani government is doing to develop science and stressed the importance of ensuring recognition of Azerbaijan`s scientific achievements.

The event then featured Clarivate Analytics` presentation called “Azerbaijan`s higher education institutions in Web of Science in 2015-2018: results and prospects”.

The Ministry of Education and Clarivate Analytics then signed a cooperation agreement for 2019-2021. The agreement provides for the expansion of the existing cooperation and gives Azerbaijan access to Web of Science`s Russian science database and InCites platform, which uses the most thorough, accurate, and objective data available.

The event then featured a ceremony to present “Web of Science Azerbaijan - 2018” awards.

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