GISCA 2012 - mark your calendars: May 2/3

The GISCA organizing committee is announcing the 2012 conference to be held in Bishkek on May 2/3. A call for contributions will be published at a later date, right now - please put this date into your calendars!

After a successful GISCA 2011 held at the Kazakh National University in Almaty, GISCA in 2012 will be returning to Bishkek, likely to be combined with a summer school and teacher training within the Tempus Geoinformatics MSc programme development initiative.

GISCA 2012 again will appeal to specialists from the full range of applied, conceptual and technical areas within Geoinformatics and GIS. Watch the webspace on gisca12.aca-giscience.org!

Scholarships awarded to Bishkek students

At the Austria - Central Asia Centre for GIScience, two graduate students were awarded joint Eurasia-Pacific Uninet and UNIGIS scholarships for the coming academic year!

Ms Gulnara Orozalieva was the successful applicant now holding an EPU on-place scholarship for working at ACA*GIScience in combination with studying towards an UNIGIS MSc degree. Her background is in geodesy with strong interests in GIS.

Mr Eric Jeentaev was granted a one-year continuation of the scholarship he won in 2010, based on his successful performance and contributions to project work at ACA*GIScience.

Congratulations, and wishing both recipients successful postgraduate studies towards their UNIGIS qualifications!

Geoinformatics Teacher Training at TAU - Dushanbe

Within the Tempus ‚GEM‘ curriculum development project leading towards implementation of international MSc programmes across Central Asia, this week was highlighted by the highly anticipated teacher training seminar organized by Zamira Qodirova at the Tajik Agrarian University (TAU), Dushanbe.

Close to 30 participants from partner universities in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are working with their project partners from Austria, Hungary and the Netherlands towards enhancing their skills in facilitating students’ learning in various geoinformatics topics. Aiming at supporting emerging postgraduate studies at their institutions, these teachers are the core of an evolving ‘community of practice’ in GI education in the Central Asia region.

This theme of collaboration was emphasized by project coordinator Prof Josef Strobl from the University of Salzburg. Assisted by the national Tempus representative Czarina Nuridinova, the Rector of TAU welcomed all seminar participants and expressed his commitment to support a future dedicated study programme in Geoinformatics, positioning this as an important contribution to improved management of Central Asia’s environments, economies and societies.