Prof. R. Lassche has given classes at KSUCTA

Dr. Ronnie Lassche, Professor at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, has visited  the Kyrgyz State University of Construction, Transport and Architecture (KSUCTA) on December 17-20, 2012. He has given lectures and laboratory classes for Geoinformatics MSc students and teachers on the topics of Spatial Databases and PostGIS, the design and use of WMS Layers, and publishing online maps. Despite the extreme weather conditions (-26 degree outside and +12 degree inside lab!) GEM Students and teachers have enjoyed his classes by studying the advanced technologies and methods.

This visit supports the development and implementation of the Tempus Geoinformatics MSc study programme in Kyrgyzstan. VU Amsterdam is one of the European partners in this project, with researchers and teachers from its SPINlab contributing significantly to curriculum design, media development and in particular to teacher training. The first groups of Geoinformatics MSc students in Kyrgyzstan benefit significantly from this involvement of European teachers!

Geoinformatics Teacher Training in Bishkek

This week, teachers from Tempus 'GEM' partner universities are attending a capacity building seminar at KSUCTA in Bishkek. With support from the Austrian EPU network, six instructors from the University of Salzburg, Technical University Graz and Carinthia University of Applied Sciences are assisting Geoinformatics teachers from Central Asia with further developing their skills and competences. Prof. Gernot Paulus has led the compilation and implementation of a stimulating program:

OpenStreetMap, in connection with a variety of OSM-based applications and technologies is the main focus of the seminar, with practical exercises demonstrating the mapping of the marshrutka public transport network across the city. Starting with GPS data acquisition and online editing, continuing with data model development and then exploring a variety of rendering options, participants are developing a deeper insight into the potential of OSM.

This focus topic is complemented by small group instruction in photogrammetry and orthorectification, hands-on lab exercises with Idrisi Selva, and work with metadata acquisition supporting the Central Asia Geoportal. Overall, participants will be able to 'take home' a broad range of new skills and expertise across a variety of Geoinformatics topics.

Special thanks go to the local organizers at the Austria - Central Asia Centre for GIScience  = ACA*GIScience, again demonstrating their excellence as a geospatial competence centre, and working as a motivated and supportive team able to facilitate advanced trainings like this.

GIS Day 2012 at KSUCTA

Today we have celebrated GIS Day at KSUCTA. Due to our focus on Geoinformatics study programs, and the recent start of the second group in our Tempus GEM MSc, this is a very special day for all of us. We tool this occasion to ask our teachers, bachelor students and MSc students only one question: "What is GIS for you?"

Enjoy the movie with their answers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODYolh5_Sjs

I hope all our partners have enjoyed GIS Day as much as we did :-)

Opening of GIS lab at KazNU

On Nov 8 the new GIS computer lab at the Faculty of Geography, Kazakh National University named after Al-Farabi was opened. In a ceremony led by KazNU First Vice Rector Burkitbayev Mukhambetkali Myrzabaevich and Faculty Dean Vitali Salnikov, the newly installed lab was dedicated to the first group of students registered in the Geoinformatics MSc program.

The Geoinformatics MSc curriculum as well as the lab design were developed under the Tempus project 510978-TEMPUS-1-2010-1-AT-TEMPUS-JPCR - "Geoinformatics: Managing Energy, Resources, Environment - GEM", led by the University of Salzburg's Z_GIS in cooperation with academic partners from Hungary, Netherlands, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and of course Kazakhstan.

The opening was honored by an address from Shaizada Tasbulatova from the National Tempus Office in Kazakhstan, and best wishes from the European Association of Geography Students (EGEA), conveyed by its president, Svetlana Samsonova. Leaders from several other Kazakh Universities joined in today's celebrations.

Department chairs, teachers and graduate students from the Department of Geography, Planning and Cadastre and the Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics had worked hard over many months to make this teaching lab a reality, with very special thanks going to Aizhan Assylbekova for her tireless initiatives towards building this new teaching and learning resource!

Best wishes to new Geoinformatics MSc students at KazNU

In September 2012, at the Kazakh National University the first group of students in the international Geoinformatics MSc have started their program. 6 students have received state scholarships and were admitted to this innovative program under a novel curriculum, developed within a Tempus project involving partner universities from Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. http://tempusgem.zgis.net and http://msc-gem.zgis.net provide further information about these programs.

On Thursday, 25 ^th of October an online meeting with Professors Josef Strobl (University of Salzburg, Tempus project coordinator) and Michael Gould (University Jaume I in Castellon, ESRI Global Education Manager) was conducted, to welcome KazNU’s masters students at the start of the academic year. Online learning resources and interaction with international teachers will continue to assist students with developing skills and competences in the field of Geoinformatics, which offers attractive employment opportunities across a variety of industries and disciplines.

Prof. Strobl gives lectures to Geoinformatics MSc students

Prof. Josef Strobl from the Department of Geoinformatics, University of Salzburg has visited ACA*GIScience and given lectures to the new group of GEM students in Bishkek on October 20, 2012. Many interesting examples of GIS Applications and Spatial Analysis were discussed, with a special focus on an overview of Map Algebra as an organizing principle of analytical operators.

 

GIS Training at the Kyrgyz Ministry of Emergency is started

Team of  KSUCTA teachers has started a GIS Training Course for Disaster Management specialists of  the Kyrgyz Ministry for Emergency Situations.  This course is on using ArcGIS 10 and Open Source GIS Software as well as GPS applications for the disaster risk assessment and management. 33 professionals are taking this GIS training in 7 cities - Oblast (province) centres. The special online communcation facilities of the MES KR and advanced information technologies  have been used for providing this professional qualification improvement course.