Outreach

CPRO online Forum

Center for Policy Research and Outreach (CPRO) at Westminster International University in Tashkent hosted a webinar on Thursday, May 28. The webinar, dedicated to the latest researches on the economic issues, was attended by 110 people. Presentations with interactive discussion, were given by CPRO Senior Fellows from Italy, Ethiopia, and Uzbekistan. Each shared initial research findings and recommendations for policy and practice.

Rauf Salahojaev shared his research findings on Science and human capital as drivers of innovative economic growth of Uzbekistan and highlighted the importance of monetary and non-monetary motives for the younger population to engage in research and science.

Etenesh Asfaw presented two key messages in her research on Policy issues in Uzbekistan's Agriculture: Inclusiveness: agri-food value-chains to address rural youth unemployment and slow down rural out-migration.

Fabrizio Vielmini discussed Post-COVID-19 tourism recovery in Uzbekistan: leveraging cultural and internal resources. Mr Vielmini analyzed the impact that the crisis is having on tourism and initial reorientation of tourism to the internal market.

The webinar shared learning and strengthened cooperation among researchers and their institutions. CPRO is one of the newest think tanks in the country and we were honoured to bring together such a group. More research webinars are planned for the future. Stay tuned!

Research Training

In our informal “Blue Room” we held informal weekly Research Training Sessions throughout the 2018 – 19 school year. Faculty members, students, and research assistants took part in 25 two-hour workshops where they first gained knowledge then practiced some of the key tasks of research. The training sessions started with the philosophy of research then went through, design, posing questions, quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis methods, and finally drawing conclusions and publishing their results

International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Summer School

Together IFPRI and WIUT organize the Regional Training Course on Applied Econometric Analysis for economists and researchers (35 or younger). The aim is to strengthen the capacity of young economists in Central Asia for quantitative research, economic policy analysis, and, econometric analysis of economic and social policy issues. UNESCO The UNESCO—MOST School program “Supporting young water researchers . . .” invited us to conduct interactive workshops on academic writing for research (publishing research in international journals) at the Tashkent Institute for Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization. This was a strong step forward for many faculty who had yet to publish in international journals. Dr. Pete Malvicini, our CPRO Director, led this effort.

UNESCO

The UNESCO—MOST MOST School program “Supporting young water researchers . . .” invited us to conduct interactive workshops on academic writing for research (publishing research in international journals) at the Tashkent Institute for Irrigation and Agricultural Mechanization. This was a strong step forward for many faculty who had yet to publish in international journals. Dr. Pete Malvicini, our CPRO Director, led this effort.

Conferences & Events International

• Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
In June of 2018 WIUT hosted IFPRI’s International Conference on Agricultural Transformation, Food Security and Nutrition in Central Asia featuring IFPRI’s 2018 Global Food Policy Report. The report considered the impacts of greater global integration—including the movement of goods, investment, people, and knowledge—and the threat of current antiglobalization pressures. Again, in May of 2019, WIUT and IFPRI with the Ministry of Agriculture sponsored another conference featuring IFPRI’s 2019 Global Food Policy Report. The publication highlighted the urgency of rural revitalization to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
• Internationalization and Innovation in Higher Education
Education and research are twin priorities in Uzbekistan’s economic development—the role of universities is important to generate knowledge and build skills for people to flourish and create the nation’s future. In October of 2018, WIUT, in partnership with the University of Westminster (London), held a conference on the impact of the internationalization of higher education practice and policy. Participants discussed issues around innovation, partnerships, student mobility, and research with a global focus.
• Pilot Agribusiness and Horticulture Training for Women of the Ferghana Valley
In December 2018, we partnered with the World Bank and its local training partner, Oasis, to culminate a week’s training for potential women borrowers. We designed an interactive workshop for women entrepreneurs led by our faculty expert, Nizomiddin Muradov. The focus was on vision formation, cooperation, and funding mechanisms to reach small and medium size orchards.
• International Conference on Applied Linguistics and Language Education (ICALLE 2019)
In May of 2019, WIUT designed and sponsored a conference bringing together teachers and researchers from Central Asia and other regions of the world to strengthen current knowledge and practice of language education. Participants focused on how their research and practice must adjust to rapid globalization across sectors.

Capacity Development

Research Assistantship Program

Since 2014, research assistants (RAs) have supported senior research faculty, contributing significantly to WIUT’s research. Most research assistants continue their postgraduate studies in European and North American universities.
 

Distinguished Speakers

In response Uzbekistan’s economic and social reforms, WIUT hosted various high-level speakers from international organizations during the 2018—19 academic year. Among them were Cyril Muller, World Bank Vice President for Europe and Central Asia; Albert Jaeger, International Monetary Fund Mission; Wencai Zhang, Vice President of the Asian Development Bank; Shenggen Fan, Director General, International Food Research Policy Institute; Vladimir Norov, Secretary General, Shanghai Cooperation Organization; Helena Fraser, UN Resident Coordinator for Uzbekistan and others.

Research Seminars

Research Seminars are a place where faculty, research assistants, and students share completed research and work in progress. They receive valuable comments to help strengthen their research by preparing them for conference presentations and publication. On occasion, visiting researchers from outside the university share their work. Participants learn much from understanding how research questions are developed, a study is designed, and what the processes of collecting, analyzing, and presenting findings and conclusions look like in practice.