On April 11, Yerevan State University hosted a contact seminar between Armenian and Lithuanian higher education institutions (HEIs) to set up cooperation opportunities between those HEIs in the frames of the Erasmus+ program and beyond.

The meeting was started with greetings by Lana Karlova, coordinator of National Erasmus+ Office in Armenia, Alexander Markarov, head of YSU International Cooperation Department, and Zhanna Orlova, Deputy Director of Education exchanges support foundation (Erasmus+ National Agency of Lithuania).

Afterwards, Ms. Zhanna Orlova, presented the Lithuanian higher education sector, its structure, reforms aimed at internationalisation, the involvement of Lithuanian universities in Erasmus+ projects and government-funded scholarship opportunities.

This was followed by the presentation of Ms. Lana Karlova who talked about Armenian higher education, current developments in the field, reforms in the legislative sector, the national strategy for the development of education in Armenia, as well as statistical data on the current cooperation between the HEIs of the two countries in the frames of the Erasmus+ program.

In the second part of the meeting, the representatives of the Lithuanian and Armenian HEIs presented the scope of their institutions’ activities and suggested possible cooperation directions. The Lithuanian side was represented by Vilnius University, Vilnius College, Kaunas College, Lithuanian Maritime Academy, Panevezys College (these colleges provide higher education), and the Armenian side by Yerevan State University, French University of Armenia, Yerevan Haybusak University, Armenian State Pedagogical University, Eurasia International University, Gavar State University and American University of Armenia. The presentations concluded with a question and answer session between the participants.

The last part of the meeting was devoted to the establishment of networking ties between Armenian and Lithuanian HEIs. During this session, the representatives of both sides had the opportunity to exchange their contact information and discuss cooperation ideas. As a continuation of this meeting, on April 12, representatives of Lithuanian HEIs were hosted by Armenian universities to discuss the cooperation opportunities in more detail.