Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nothern Ireland visited AUAC: New Cooperation Issues Were Discussed

Ambassador of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Nothern Ireland to Azerbaijan Fergus Auld, Country Director of the British Council Azerbaijan Nargiz Hajiyeva and the Head of the Department for Business and Trade of the Embassy Elvin Raziyev visited the Azerbaijan University of Architecture and Construction (AUAC). 

Rector of AUAC, Professor Gulchohra Mammadova, who received the  guests, drew attention to cooperation projects implemented with the Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Azerbaijan and gave information about the university. The Rector said that AUAC, which has a hundred-year tradition of higher education in the field of architecture and construction in the country, is interested in establishing international relations, and thus becoming a more modernized higher education institution. 

Professor Gulchohra Mammadova drew attention to the existing cultural and economic ties between two countries and noted that there was fertile ground for cooperation. Noting that cooperation between the two countries is successfully developing in many areas, the Rector spoke about existing and potential opportunities for cooperation between AUAC and UK universities in the field of science and education. 

Talking about the cooperation of AUAC with the universities of Northampton, Anglia Ruskin and Leicester in the UK, and in addition to them, the Rector drew attention to an agreement on a Double Degree Program with the University of Westminster at a Master’s level currently being under the process of signing.

It was brought to attention that thanks to beneficial cooperative relations with the British Council Azerbaijan, close cooperation with the embassy and the British Council Azerbaijan, the Department of Architecture of AUAC received a five-year accreditation of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), and the British Council English language certification process for students of higher education institutions in the country was organized at AUAC for the first time.

Ambassador Fergus Auld thanked for the warm welcome and emphasizing that his brother was also an architect, noted that he had a special sympathy for AUAC. Having emphasized a further development of the existing cooperation, and also making efforts for the realization of new projects, the Ambassador noted that the experience of the universities of the United Kingdom in the field of architecture and restoration might be even more important for our country at the moment, and he was ready to establish relations between AUAC and those higher education institutions. 

Expressing confidence in the continuation of cooperation of the British Council with AUAC in the future, drawing attention to the Rector Gulchohra Mammadova’s speech at the “Great Britain-Azerbaijan Interuniversity Forum” held in London in 2016, and her proposal for cooperation, Nargiz Hajiyeva noted that these proposals would make a great contribution to educational relations between two countries. 

In his speech, Elvin Raziyev noted that digital construction was newly developed in our country, and the embassy intended to cooperate with AUAC on personnel training in this direction.

Sahib Farzaliyev, the dean of the Department of Construction of AUAC, emphasized the usefulness of digital construction in the processes of design, construction and building management, and said that it was important to organize detailed discussions to determine the format of cooperation in this direction. 

Aygun Mammadova, the head of the Department of Foreign Languages of AUAC, spoke about suggestions for the development of cooperation with the British Council Azerbaijan and further improvement of the English language level of students and faculty through joint efforts. 

The meeting continued with a more detailed discussion of the issues raised in the speeches.