GEM MSc student exchange

Mr. Adilet Bekturov, a GEM MSc Student of KSUCTA, is using the opportunity to attend short term Master's studies at the Geodesy and Geoinformatics Department of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm. Prof. Dr. Huaan Fan, a Honorary Professor of KSUCTA, has invited Adilet to his department within a TEMPUS project for a two month study visit.

Prof. Dr. Fan was the Coordinator of the TEMPUS Project “Education in Geodesy and Geoinformatics”, jointly conducted by KTH, Z_GIS PLUS and KSUCTA in 2005-2007, and he is providing ongoing support to the “Geodesy and Geoinformatics” Department of KSUCTA, which originally was established within this Tempus project.

CRDF Project activities at ACA*GIScience

New project "Kyrgyz Consortium for GIS Excellence" is started at KSUCTA, ACA*GIScience with financial support from U.S. Civil Research and Development Foundation (CRDF Global). Regular GIS workshops in digital mapping, spatial analysis, spatial epidemiology, ecological modeling and integration of GIS into biological, ecological, and disease surveillance studies are provided to the Consortium members - Kyrgyz institutions working mainly in Veterinary and Medical sciences. The Open Source GIS Software (Quantum GIS) is selected for trainings and project activities at that member institutions, which do not have commercial GIS SW. Five GIS workshops are conducted at KSUCTA GIS Lab and new workshops will be held within this project. More information available at: gis.net.kg

Tempus GEM Startup lecture for Cartography class

On 25th of February Prof. J.Strobl visited the ACA*GIScience centre. During his visit he was giving the initial lectures for the Cartography and Geovisualisation class to the first group of Geoinfomatics MSc students at KSUCTA, Bishkek.

UNIGIS students from the Central Asia study centre had an opportunity to participate as well in this event. After the lecture UNIGIS distance learning students were discussing their progress and plans for project work and Master Theses, hopefully leading to completion of their degrees soon.

It was a very good opportunity for GEM and UNIGIS Students, as well as for KSUCTA faculty to have a guest lecture by an international visitor from European partners. This provides everyone with a broader perspective on current scientific and professsional topics and helps with improving language skills.

We look forward to other visits and lectures from International partners!

GISCA 2012 - Call for contributions open!

This year's GIS-in-Central-Asia conference is returning to Bishkek, capital of Kyrgyzstan: on May 2/3 the Central Asian Geoinformatics community again will get together for this annual conference, which has become a  regional must-attend event since its inception in 2005.

The Kyrgyz State University of Construction, Transport and Architecture is serving as a venue, supported by the Austria - Central Asia Centre for GIScience. One major topical focus will be on land and resource management, complemented by a range of applied themes and technology-centered presentations.

The entire conference week will serve as a summer school and teacher training event for the Tempus "GEM" project, supporting the development of Geoinformatics MSc programs across Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Training will include GIS software, data acquisition technologies as well as analytical methods.

GISCA 2012 invites presentations in paper, poster and tutorial formats - see gisca12.aca-giscience.org!

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.