Six Projects Win UNEC’s 3rd Internal Grant Competition
The presentation ceremony of the winners of the 3rd Internal Grant Competition was held at the Azerbaijan State University of Economics (UNEC).
The event was attended by UNEC rector, professor Adalat Muradov, director of the Macroeconomic Research Department of PASHA Holding and chair of the grant competition commission, Elman Eminov, as well as the winners, faculty members, and international researchers.
In his opening address, rector professor Adalat Muradov noted that the internal grant competition, implemented at UNEC since 2022, is the first of its kind in Azerbaijan. “The model introduced by UNEC is of particular importance in promoting science, strengthening the research environment, and supporting innovative ideas. This initiative not only establishes a new approach to funding academic research but also represents a significant step towards UNEC’s transformation into a research-oriented university,” the rector emphasized.
Professor Muradov stated that the total amount of grant funding currently stands at 150,000 AZN, with plans to increase this figure to 1 million AZN in the future. He underlined that representatives from the country’s leading public and private institutions are included in the commission responsible for the evaluation and monitoring of the submitted projects, ensuring transparency and objectivity throughout the competition.
The rector announced that six projects covering innovative and application-oriented topics had been selected as winners of this year’s competition. Congratulating the winners, he described them as the founders of UNEC’s model for science funding.
Following the opening remarks, the authors of the winning projects presented their research directions, objectives, and expected outcomes. Presentations were delivered by Hasreddin Guliyev, head of the project “Business Diagnostics for Digital Transformation: UNEC Innovation Model”; Sevda Sardarova, head of the project “Smart Education: Machine Learning-Based Adaptive Learning System”; Kamran Huseynov, team member of the project “Design and Prototyping of a Local Solar-Wind Hybrid Energy System”; Ahmad Asimov, head of the project “Development of Si, PbS, and Graphene-Based Zero-Dimensional Quantum Dots for New-Generation Solar Cells and Photodetectors and Determination of Their Optoelectronic Characteristics”; Tarana Aliyeva, head of the project “Analysis of Functional and Strategic Impacts of Artificial Intelligence on the IT Labor Market in Azerbaijan (AISI-IT)”; and Teymur Sarkhanov, head of the project “Researcher of the Future for Azerbaijan: Designing Higher Education Programs for AI and Data Science Skills Development.”
In his speech, Elman Eminov, director of the Macroeconomic Research Department at PASHA Holding and member of the competition commission, noted that the submitted projects demonstrated a high level of scientific and practical value. He stated that six winning projects had been selected from more than twenty applications and expressed confidence that they would make a valuable contribution to the development of science, education, and the economy of Azerbaijan.
At the end of the event, the rector also informed participants about upcoming innovations to be implemented at UNEC aimed at further stimulating scientific activity.