aquaculture in Asia, as well as its existing close links with the Asian national partner institutions as well as some western Universities. It has been the ongoing work with these partners, which has led to the identification of the specific needs addressed in this proposal AIT’s role as an independent regional university and its close relationship with the national partners may compromise to some extent its objectivity in review of the course materials. At the present time, AIT has no formal framework of external review of its academic programs. The presence of the European partners in the Project with their established review systems will ensure quality control. The Project aims at supporting the development of the Master’s degree level curricula at national institutions. For this reason it will be the Asian national faculty who will be teaching and supervising those courses at their respective national institutions who will be engaged mainly in the actual development of the courses and materials. This will ensure ownership and relevance. Partners of this project: University of Stirling, UK University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal Tribhuvan University, IAAS, Rampur, Nepal Research Institute for Aquaculture No. 1 - Hanoi, Vietnam University of Agriculture and Forestry, HCM City, Vietnam Royal University of Agriculture, Phnom Penh, Cambodia The two European institutions will provide resource persons for all project activities who will guide the Project with respect to knowledge and information resources and ensure that the quality of the course contents and materials is of an acceptable international standard. The Asian partners will be centrally involved in the development of the course materials and case studies, both in English and national languages. They will also ensure the approval and integration of the new curriculum into national curricula. It is expected that the more established universities or the faculty members for the particular courses/subject matters will assist those newly entering Master’s degree level education in the development of the materials. The European partners will provide guidance based on their regional and international experiences. They will also serve as mentors to a relevant individual or a group of faculty during the meeting, workshops, and through email when they are back in their respective institutions. During the workshops all European partners will travel to AIT and engage in providing guidance on development overall curriculum, preparation of lecture notes, teaching/illustrative materials and developing self and student evaluation materials. The experts from European partners and AIT will also serve as leaders in theme group/s. For example, Dr. David Little from Stirling University may lead a group on seed production and genetics specialization. After the curriculum has been agreed upon it will be tested in their respective institutions. European and AIT mentors will communicate with the Asian partners and provide or advise on references and teaching materials through email and other means of communications. The European partners included in the proposal have been selected because of their specific experience in tropical aquaculture and aquatic environmental science, which are complementary. The Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling has been involved in graduate-level training and education in aquaculture for more than 25 years. Alumni work in countries throughout the tropics in developmental, commercial and educational roles. The Institute has demonstrated capacity to field and support research and development initiatives in partnership with other institutions across a wide range of aquatic issues. Several research groups within the Institute have had coordinating roles in developing current and past initiatives (e.g. livelihoods and development, aquaculture nutrition, disease control, environmental management and genetics) between European and Asian partners. The University of Stirling has the enviable reputation as the best run University in Scotland and has been ranked first for widening access to education, teaching and research standards in the Times Higher Education Supplement’s Access Elite table. The Department of Biology, University of Aveiro has broad interdisciplinary teaching expertise running Master’s degrees in ‘Coastal Zone Sciences’, ‘Molecular Microbiology’, ‘Toxicology’ and ‘Biology & Geosciences’. Key personnel have specific experience in ecological risk assessment, environmental toxicity modelling, aquatic and soil toxicology and advanced statistical data analysis. The have broad collaborative research and advisory activities in South and Southeast Asia, Central and South America, including several EC funded projects. In addition to supervising post-doctoral, PhD and Master’s degree level research they are associated with the Centre for Environment and Marine Studies a Research Unit of the university. The Research Units at Aveiro are organized into priority interdisciplinary areas under the Research Institute. This offers the university an opportunity to participate actively in scientific research at international level. It also facilitates the involvement in European research programs, creating additional funding opportunities from both national and international sources. The Research Institute of the University is engaged in the gathering and dissemination of information about national and international programs and organizations which support and fund scientific research at several levels. The University has already participated in a European funded project through the “Leonardo da Vinci” programme where educational materials concerning aquaculture methods and techniques were used in undergraduate teaching and training of technical personnel involved in aquaculture practices (handbook and support CD-ROM materials). Some of the Asian training needs and practices have also been addressed in a different way in another project (MAMAS - Managing agrochemicals in multi-use aquatic systems). Moreover, the graduation and post-graduation Curricula in the University of Aveiro have undergone a serious restructuring to conform with present educational needs. Experience gained during that process will also be highly relevant for the present project. |
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