ERASMUS+
Road to Automatic Recognition of Higher Education Access Qualifications 2 (ARAQUA2)
The aim of the project “Road to Automatic Recognition of Higher Education Access Qualifications 2” (ARAQUA 2) is to widen exploration of higher education (HE) access qualifications in the project partner countries to map these qualifications for automatic recognition and expand the use of the recommendations on automatic recognition developed in the ARAQUA and other tools designed to
support practical implementation of automatic recognition of higher education access qualifications. In terms of the project, higher education access qualifications include both general and VET upper secondary education qualifications, which ensure rights to their holders to enrol higher education programmes. The main project objectives are: to map HE access qualifications in the project partner countries according to the criteria set in the ARAQUA project to evaluate their correspondence to automatic recognition; to facilitate the use of the recommendations and explore other tools or projects to support practical implementation of the automatic recognition of HE access qualifications; to strengthen discussion among ENIC/NARIC offices and HEIs about the practical implementation of automatic recognition of HE access qualifications.
Call: ERASMUS-EDU-2024-EHEA-NARIC
Duration of project: 24 months
Start: 1st August 2025
Project coordinator: AKADEMISKAS INFORMACIJAS CENTRS (AIC), Latvia
Project consortium: NATIONAL INFORMATION CENTER FOR ACADEMIC RECOGNITION AND MOBILITY, Armenia, CENTAR ZA INFORMIRANJE I PRIZNAVANJE DOKUMENATA IZ PODRUČJA VISOKOG OBRAZOVANJA, Bosnia and Herzegovina, UDDANNELSES-OG, Denmark, NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATIONAL QUALITY ENHANCEMENT (NCEQE), Georgia, AGENCIJA ZA ZNANOST I VISOKO OBRAZOVANJE (AZVO), Croatia, ASSOCIAZIONE CIMEA (CIMEA). Italy, REPUBLICAN STATE ENTERPRISE ON THERIGHT OF ECONOMIC MANAGEMENT HIGHERE DUCATION DEVELOPMENT NATIONAL CENTER OF THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND HIGHER EDUCATION OF THE REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN (HEDNC), Kazakhstan, MALTA FURTHER AND HIGHER EDUCATIONAUTHORITY (MFHEA), Malta, QUALIFICATIONS AGENCY (QA) Serbia, ECCTIS LIMITED (UK ENIC), United Kingdom.
Supporting verification of authenticity through AI technologies (Verif-AI)
The project Verif-AI – Supporting verification of authenticity through AI technologies has the general objective of supporting the implementation of automatic recognition by achieving the following results: enhanced knowledge of possibilities and challenges related to the use of artificial intelligence (AI) for the credential evaluation sector, with a focus on the verification of authenticity stage (i); improved quality and efficacy of verification of authenticity (ii). In line with the call ERASMUS-EDU-2024-EHEA-NARIC, in order to address the gaps identified in the Commission’s report to the Council on the implementation of the 2018 Council Recommendation on automatic recognition, the project will explore the implications of the possible use of AI in the recognition process by drafting a white paper providing recommendations and guidelines with particular reference on four dimensions: (i) regulatory framework at the international level, (ii) equity and ethical implications, (iii) assessment of qualifications, (iv) verification of authenticity. The Verif-AI project will then map the required documents asked by partners for verification of authenticity of qualifications from countries worldwide
and gather them in a unified and structured online tool. The documents considered digitally mature will then be used for a case study on the possible application of AI in the verification process. Therefore, the Verif-AI project will contribute to facilitate analogic and digital verification of authenticity, enhance both models of trust in verification and trust in delivery, advance and innovate the tools implied for verification of authenticity with the explorative study on AI application. This way, by facilitating the process of verification of authenticity and thanks to the global coverage of the online tool, the project will not only foster automatic recognition among ENIC-NARIC countries, but also enhance transparent and fair recognition of third-country nationals.
Call: ERASMUS-EDU-2024-EHEA-NARIC
Duration of project: 24 months
Start: 1st August 2025
Project coordinator: ASSOCIAZIONE CIMEA, Italy
Project consortium: NEW ZEALAND QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY (NZQA), New Zealand, AGENCIJA ZA ZNANOST I VISOKO OBRAZOVANJE (AZVO), Croatia, UDARAS NA HEIREANN UM CHAILIOCHTAIAGUS DEARBHU (QQI), Ireland and STICHTING NUFFIC (NUFFIC), Netherlands.
Strengthening Capacities and Mechanisms for Enhancement of Quality Assurance System in Higher Education in Bosnia and Herzegovina (SMEQA)
SMEQA project is based on the need of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) society for resolving the issue of system of quality assurance in higher education (e.g. accreditation) by improving quality assurance system at higher education institutions and capacity building at all institutions in B&H for the future process of accreditation. The project activities are focused on institutional strengthening of accreditation mechanisms, harmonization of processes in B&H and systematic implementation of the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance in the European Higher Education Area (ESG). Project outputs are oriented on detailed analysis of current state in B&H, strengthening of quality assurance agencies, ministries and higher education institutions through developing, improving and implementing the model of accreditation procedure, establishing mechanism of coordination and harmonization of quality assurance system in higher education in B&H, developing recommendations for regulating the internal quality assurance procedure and development of trainings for experts.
Project coordinator is University of Zenica and beneficiaries are seven B&H higher education institutions, ministries, two quality assurance agencies.
Partners from European Union are University of Ljubljana, University of Split, Croatian Agency for Science and Higher Education (ASHE) and Slovenian Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (SQAA).
Call: ERASMUS-EDU-2023-CBHE
SMEQA project started on January 1st 2024.
DEQAR CONNECT – Enhancing the Coverage and Connectivity of QA in the EHEA through DEQAR
The Agency for Science and Higher Education is a partner in the Enhancing the Coverage and Connectivity of QA in the EHEA through DEQAR (DEQAR CONNECT) project which is being led by the European Quality Assurance Register for Higher Education – EQAR.
DEQAR is a two-year project, beginning in January 2020 and ending on 31 December 2021, which continues on several projects funded by the European Commission, among which is a project Database of External Quality Assurance Reports (DEQAR). The aim of DEQAR project was developing a European database with information on the outcomes of the evaluation of higher education institutions. On the other hand, DEQAR CONNECT aims to expand the above-mentioned database to include agencies in the European Higher Education Area that were not previously covered by the DEQAR project, as well as to improve the use of DEQAR data. The project will be funded by the European Erasmus+ program.
The Agency for Science and Higher Education has been registered at EQAR since 25 November 2011 and the EQAR Council Decision on June 20 2017 has renewed its membership.
A detailed description of the project is provided in the link: https://www.eqar.eu/kb/projects/deqar-connect/