Our University leads national forum in Azerbaijan
Our University has led a national forum on graduate employability in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Highlighting the vast transformation process currently underway in the country’s HE sector, graduate employability is a key priority that universities are trying to tackle and that Leicester is helping inform.
Attended by government ministers, employers, universities and even alumni from across the country, this is the first time a UK University has been invited to deliver such a forum and comes in the same week that the University features once again in the Times’ list of top 25 universities targeted by leading graduate employers.
Delivered by Raj Patel, Associate Director for Student Experience at Leicester, presentations covered how Leicester is helping students develop their employability, and the role employers are playing as part of this.
Organised by the British Council in Azerbaijan, the invitation to speak follows a series of projects undertaken by the International Office to develop its presence in the region.
Kate Walewska, Associate Director, Collaborative Projects and Programmes at the University said: “Azerbaijan is a key emerging market for Leicester and one we have been working extensively to develop over the past few months. It is important not just in terms of its potential student recruitment and academic partnerships, but in also terms of its geopolitical location and significance—as a regional hub for accessing other markets in the Caucasus region. What is more, it has significant potential for utilising funding from Erasmus Mobility and Capacity Building, and Marie Curie programmes to build partnerships and networks supporting the commercialisation of research currently being conducted in the Azerbaijan HE sector.”
Raj Patel added: “We were honoured to have been given the opportunity to participate in the forum and it underlines the great the work the Career Development Service have been doing. Events like this also show how different parts of the University collaborate with each other, and the strides we can make when doing this.”
Whilst in Azerbaijan, the Leicester team will be visiting existing university partners in Baku to discuss ongoing and future collaborative projects. Working closely with the British Council, Kate Walewska added: “We are confident that Azerbaijan will become one of Leicester’s key international hubs in the not too distant future.”