Khazar University, a research-oriented private educational institution for undergraduate, graduate and professional studies, was established in early 1991 in Baku, the capital

city of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

The Republic of Azerbaijan is located in the South-Eastern part of the Caucasus and South-Eastern Europe. It has a territory

of 86.6 thousand sq. km (33.4 thousand sq. miles)

The Republic of Azerbaijan is inimitable in its nature, ranging from snow-covered mountains to subtropical forests.

Although quite mountainous, the country has a varied terrain including canyons, valleys, forests, steppes, rivers, lakes and a

Caspian Sea coastline.

The Republic of Azerbaijan is rich in oil and other minerals; its main resource is oil and the chief oilfields are in the Baku

region, on the shore of the Caspian Sea and offshore.

The official language is Azeri, or Azerbaijani, or “Azərbaycan türkcəsi” which belongs to the Turkic group of the Altaic family.

The principal religion is Islam, although freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Constitution.

Besides Muslims, the population includes groups of Christians and Jews.

The population of Azerbaijan is a little more than 9 million. Side by side with Azerbaijani Turks (around 90%) here live Russians, Ukrainians, Lezghies, Avars, Udins, Talyshs, Kurds, Georgians, Jews, Tatars, Turks, and many other ethnic groups.

Baku, the capital of the Republic of Azerbaijan, is located on the shore of the Caspian Sea, Absheron Peninsula.

The population of Baku is approximately two million.

Baku is one of the oldest and biggest cities in the East for antiquity, territory and population.

The centre of Baku is the old town (İçəri şəhər) which is also a fortress. In December 2000, the Inner City of Baku with the Palace of the Shirvanshahs and Maiden Tower became the first location in Azerbaijan classified as a World Heritage Site by the UNESCO.

Baku is the first oil producing city of the world (the first oil pipeline, the first oil tanker…) and it also achieved:

the first National Opera of the Muslim East the first Drama Theater the first polyphonic music the first metro (underground) in the Muslim World

Khazar is the first private University in Azerbaijan and one of the first in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Khazar is the first University in Azerbaijan where the main language of instruction is English.

Khazar is the first University in Azerbaijan composed of multiple independent schools united by the same academic policy and principles, which offer a really wide scope of diverse majors in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Engineering and Applied Sciences, Economics, Management and Business Administration, Law, Education, Medicine, Dentistry and Public Health.

Khazar is number one in Azerbaijan and broader region in number and quality of international partnership programs in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Khazar is a research-oriented university

Graduate studies including Professional, PhD. and Master programs and the most extensive MBA program in Azerbaijan have an important place in the University’s education profile

Khazar is the first in Azerbaijan to apply a student-centered system and flexible credit based education model, which is now one of the main components of the Bologna Process

Khazar is one of the leading universities in Azerbaijan in terms of its relations with industry. Today, the University has established effective relations with the leading local and international companies

Khazar University has four campuses in Baku.

The Neftchilar Campus of Khazar University is located in the eastern part of Baku. This campus provides space for most of the academic departments, institutes, centers and laboratories.

The Khazar University Downtown Campus is located in the city center.

This campus provides space for conducting postgraduate and undergraduate courses and can accommodate large- scale gatherings, such as concert and theater events, conferences and meetings

The University’s Alatava campus is located in the western part of Baku.

School of Education and affiliated “Dunya” lab school (which provides preschool, elementary and secondary education) are located on this campus

The fourth campus, which is the university’s Binagadi campus, is located in the northern part of the city.

This campus is under extensive construction and it contains:

The educational building Sports center

There are 4 schools at Khazar University providing education, training and research. Schools offer undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree

programs in broad fields of study.

School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

(Academic and Professional Degree Programs)

Computer Science (BS,MS, PhD) Computer Engineering (BS,MS, PhD) Petroleum-Gas Engineering (BS, MS, PhD) Environmental Engineering (BS, MS, PhD) Civil Engineering (BS, MS, PhD) Mathematics (MS, PhD) Electronics & Telecommunications (BS)

More on Engineering…

Planned degree programs:

Biomedical Engineering (Fall 2012) - Tempus Project “Curricula Reformation and

Reformation and Harmonisation in the field of Biomedical Engineering” (2009-2011)

- 23 Partner institutions

Chemical Engineering (Fall 2012)

Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE) Membership

Khazar University is a member of SPE among other leading universities in Petroleum Engineering in the world

There is a Khazar Chapter of the Azerbaijan Branch of SPE

School of Economics and Management

Academic and Professional Degree Programs

Finance (BBA, MBA, PhD) Accounting (BBA, MBA) Management (BBA, MBA, PhD) Marketing (BBA) Economics (BBA, PhD) International Business (MBA, PhD) Energy Management (MBA)

Dual MBA Program “Energy and Sustainable Development

Management”

Partner institution -The Institut de Préparation à l'Administration et à la Gestion (Institute for Business and Management Training, IPAG)

Planned degree program:Tourism and Hotel Management (Fall 2012)

School of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences

English Language/Literature (BS, MS, PhD) Azerbaijani Language/Literature (BS, MS, PhD) Philology (BS, MS, PhD) Journalism (BS, MS) Linguistics (BS, MS, PhD) Political Science, International Relations, Conflict

Studies, and Regional Studies (BS, MS, PhD) Psychology (BS) Eastern Languages (Arabic, Persian, Japanese,

Chinese, Korean, Turkish) (minor) Western Languages (French, Italian, German,

Spanish, Russian) (minor)

School of Education Elementary Education (BS) Mathematics and Computer Education (BS, MS,

PhD) Azerbaijani Language and Literature (BS, MS, PhD) English Language and Literature Education (BS, MS,

PhD) Education Administration (MS, PhD) History and Philosophy of Education (MS, PhD) History and Geography Education (BS) Chemistry and Biology Education (BS)

"Dunya" School Preschool Elementary school Middle school High school International Baccalaureate

degree program in English for 10th and 11th grades since 2009

The Department of Music and Fine Arts and other related parties promote the cultural activities of the University.

Elective courses are offered in: Classical Azerbaijani and

world music Mugham and folk music Azerbaijani and world dances Vocal and choir Theater and film Carpet making Jewelry National costume design Art

The university also boasts four museums:

• jewelry museum• carpet making

museum• national clothing

museum• doll museum

Library and Information ServicesKhazar University holds the largest library collection among private universities and the largest collection in the English language in Azerbaijan.

According to the Webometrics ranking, the Khazar University Institutional Repository is among the world’s top 900 open access electronic institutional repositories.

The main library is located in the Neftchilar Campus, with two branches in Downtown and Alatava campuses.

Research and training centers

Eurasian Extractive Industries Knowledge Hub supported by Revenue Watch Institute

School of Project Management supported by BP and ESI International

The Caucasus Research Resource Centers (Azerbaijan) supported by Eurasia Foundation

The Center for Economic and Business Research and Education

The Center on Economic Policy and Development The Caspian Energy Studies Center Center for Quality Assurance in Education Career Development Center

Research and training centers (continued)

Khazar Internet Institute Dictionary and Encyclopedia Center Institute of Education Policy Institute of Politics Translation Studies Center Environmental Studies Center Psychological Counseling and Psychotherapy Center Distance Learning Center

The Khazar University Press (KUP)

Under the aegis of the University, KUP is an editorially independent and financially separate entity.

The main publications of KUP include textbooks, monographs, conference materials, academic-research journals, magazines, dictionaries, translation projects as well as selected poetry and fiction.It also functions as the national ISBN and ISMN Agency.

The center provides full time support services for the Internationals visiting the university for studying, research, teaching or other purposes.

International Students and Scholars Center

Prospective international students may obtain information from the university’s website (www.khazar.org).

StatisticsCurrently, about 2000 students are enrolled at the four schools of Khazar University. 80% of students are studying for undergraduate and 20% for graduate degrees, but this percentage differs from school to school, reaching approximately 50% in some schools. According to the University Development Program, the number of students of Khazar will reach 4000 within 4-5 years time.

International students constitute more than 15% of the total enrollment. There are citizens of Turkey, Iran, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Georgia, Iraq, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Libya, USA, UK, Denmark, Norway, South Korea, Canada, Russia, Central Asian republics and many other countries studying at different schools of the university.

Prof. Dr. Hamlet Isaxanli hamlet@khazar.org www.hisaxanli.org

Khazar University, Baku, Azerbaijan www.khazar.org

Problems of Higher Education

three paramount problems of higher education

1) To make higher education accessible for all

2) to increase the quality of higher education

3) not to increase (or even to cut down) the state expenditure for higher education

Turning black gold into human gold (Azerbaijan)

Research-oriented HEIs are the best equipped to be global in education

To set up broad networks of cooperating HEIs within a country, group of countries (BSCS) or worldwide in order to gain any power in the globalized world.

Problems of Higher Education

Who evaluates the quality? Three candidates: the education institution

itself (the internal evaluation) the government independent accreditation agencies. state controlled (in some transition

countries) accreditation commission: “to be or not to be?”, “to exist or not to exist?” for HEI

"The meddling from outside” and possibility of “easy-pass” in the accreditation process

Black Sea and Caspian sea Accreditation Agency?

Problems of Higher Education

The limits of the classical university ideals The collaboration of HEIs and the

industry/corporate world is the main force drawing mankind forward! The role of the R&D Division of big corporations.

Singapore - the bio-medical research and higher education junction in Asia. Here between the years 1982 and 2000, about 300 technological companies were set up from the science park

Khazar University Triangle Education-Industry Model (3rd Knowledge Economy Forum of the World Bank - Budapest, 23-26 March, 2004).

To connect the efforts of the industry / business world, state, and HEIs – that is development!

Problems of Higher Education

No innovation hubs (such as Silicon V, Boston). Government innovation policy

Planning commission: to identify technologies and industries to be growth engines (S. Korea, 21, 17)

Science (Techno) park developments. Startups. Spinoffs. Bringing the practitioners and the researchers together ASAP

Leadership structure and follow-ups… Serious of conferences…

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