Pilot Course

Msc in Geoinformatics course launched and testing of learning materials started in September 2014 at partner Uzbek Universities, within the frame of Tempus GE-UZ project. Students have initiated their studies in Geodesy and Cartography  (in geoinformatics) MSc group. Currently  there are two courses being taught by Professor Ilhom Musaev (GIS), Professor Eshkabul Safarov and Ziyo Ohunov (Cartography and Geovisualization).

There are: “Geo Information and Science” and “Cartography and Geovisualization”. Nowadays, students are preparing for final exams which will be held from 9th till 21st of February in 2015.
Almost all courses are provided in equipped study rooms which were financed by Tempus GE-UZ project.

GISCA'14 Proceedings published & available

Good news for all conference participants, authors and everyone else interested: Alishir Kurban representing the local organizers of this year's GIS-in-Central-Asia Conference and Akylbek Chymyrov from ACA*GIScience as head of this annual conference series have announced the availability of the 2014 proceedings, now ready for download.

Under the motto "Silk Road in Space and Time - the Urumqi Node" an impressive series of papers has been submitted, reviewed and compiled into this volume, documenting the state of Geoinformatics as well as GIS and Remote Sensing applications across Central Asia.

The call for papers and other contributions for GISCA'15 in Tashkent will be opening shortly, it therefore now already is time to look ahead!

Tempus GE-UZ Textbooks for Uzbek Msc students

Eight textbooks were developed in the frame of Tempus GE-UZ project to support students, participating in MSc course in Geoinformatics in Uzbekistan. Pilot course was launched; textbooks will be reviewed by students and will be refined according to their feedbacks at the end of the academic year.

The 8 modules are:

• Geoinformation Systems and Science
• Remote Sensing
• Spatial Data Structures and Models
• Data Acquisition and Data Integration
• (Geo)- Databases and Distributed Architectures
• Cartography and Geovisualization
• Spatial analysis
• Project Management and Organisation

Kyrgyzstan National Treasures: GIS Day Website

To celebrate GIS Day 2014, ACA*GIScience is offering a new website showcasing outstanding landscapes and features across Kyrgyzstan. You are welcome to visit http://bit.ly/1AOZfyM and explore the highlighted locations. You will experience a fully navigable storymap – the background satellite imagery can be zoomed and panned to discover other interesting places.

You are welcome to propose additional locations, as Kyrgyzstan offers many interesting and unique landscapes to visitors as well as its citizens. All background imagery is provided through ArcGIS Online (http://arcgis.com), a cloud-based geospatial content management system offering solid foundations for educational and research applications.

Wishing everyone a successful and stimulating GIS Day 2014!

EcoCAR Project Delegation visited ACA*GIScience

A delegation of Chinese and German researchers, led by EcoCAR Project Coordinator Prof. Dr. Umut Halik, has visited the ACA*GIScience office in Bishkek on October 25, 2014. This project has been started within the initiative "Between Europe and the Orient – A Focus on Research and Higher Education in Central Asia and the Caucasus" supported by the Volkswagen Foundation in 2014, and aims at the ecosystem assessment and capacity building for sustainable management of flood plains along the Central Asian rivers Tarim and Naryn.

ACA*GIScience is joining this project consortium as a partner to contribute through applications of Remote Sensing and GIS technologies in realization of the project tasks.

Tempus GE-UZ; 2nd review meeting at Obuda University

Currently, partners of the Tempus GE-UZ project are conducting the second review meeting at Obuda University in Budapest. Partners will discuss inter alia, the following aspects: Quality assurance of learning material and sustainability of project activities.

In March 2014, opening ceremonies of Geoinformatics labs took place at Uzbek partner universities. After the successful accreditation of the "GE-UZ" master’s program on Geoinformatics by the Uzbek Ministry of Higher and Secondary Specialized Education a new MSc program on Geoinformatics has been started at TIIM, from 2nd September 2014. In order to achieve high-level teaching, qualified Professors and doctors from Uzbek partner universities have been chosen to teach at this new MSc program in Geoinformatics at TIIM. More information for interested students: http://www.geoinformatics.uz/ 

KSUCTA: 'GEM' Geoinformatics MSc Students graduating

Six Geoinformatics MSc Students, admitted into the TEMPUS GEM MSc programme at KSUCTA in the fall of 2012, recently completed and successfully defended their Master Theses on September 8, 2014.

The Chairman of the State Attestation Committee, Dr. Ermek Sharsheev, highlighted the quality and innovative nature of research done by Master students in their theses. Representatives of the University of Salzburg, a TEMPUS partner university which has contributed to the joint development of the GEM MSc programme, also participated in the thesis defence.