On February 6, 2020, French-Azerbaijani University (UFAZ) held a press conference on the presentation of new Master’s degree programs starting from the academic year 2020 / 2021.

Rector of Azerbaijan State Oil and Industry University, Professor Mustafa Babanli, Ambassador of French Republic to the Republic of Azerbaijan, HE Zacharie Gross, Deputy Chief of Staff Yagub Piriyev and Head of International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Azerbaijan Nijat Mammadli, UFAZ Scientific Expert Prof. Pierre Collet from Strasbourg University, UFAZ Director Vazeh Askarov, Secretary General Charlotte Payen and media representatives attended the press conference.

Opening the press conference, rector Prof. Mustafa Babanli underlined the importance of UFAZ for the higher education system in Azerbaijan by providing local students with a unique opportunity to receive high quality international education, and also state diploma from advanced French universities, within the borders of their home country.

According to Prof. Babanli UFAZ specializations both at bachelor and master levels have been chosen according to the current trends of the industry, keeping in mind the target of diversification of the economy that the future high skilled graduates of UFAZ will contribute to further develop. Rector announced the opening of Master’s degree programs and expressed his gratitude to the Ministry of Education, the French Embassy in Azerbaijan and the University of Strasbourg for their support in establishing master's degree programs at UFAZ.

HE Ambassador Zacharie Gross underlined the high importance of the year 2020 for UFAZ as the university is going to have first graduates in July 2020, and launch its new Master’s degree programs in September 2020. He underlined the remarkable success of UFAZ since 2016, as the result of a very efficient and trustworthy collaboration between ASOIU and Unistra, embodying the dynamic bilateral exchanges between the governments of France and Azerbaijan.

He congratulated Azerbaijan for investing in its youth and future by providing them with such a high quality education based on international standards.

Last but not least, the Ambassador reasserted the support of the French embassy in financing scholarships at the PhD level to support UFAZ and the scientific training of its Azerbaijani teachers.

Deputy Chief of Staff Yagub Piriyev mentioned that 125 out of the 141 undergraduate UFAZ students initially enrolled in September 2016, will actually be graduating in July 2020. Mr. Piriyev highlighted the success rate of over 90% as an indicator of the quality education provided by UFAZ and expressed his expectations on the new Master programs.

Representing Strasbourg University, Prof. Pierre Collet provided insights about the admission procedures and deadline for the UFAZ Master’s degree programs in the following specializations:

1. Applied Computer Science (Big Data and Artificial Intelligence) - M1 and M2 in Baku
2. Geoscience – M1 and M2 in Baku
3. Physical Chemistry / Chemical Engineering – M1 in Baku / M2 in France (for the majority of students)

Curriculum of all three specializations has been structured by Unistra and ASOIU faculty and focuses on research-oriented specialization. Thus the program provides graduates with the opportunity to become both highly skilled executives for the industries and high potential for PhD studies abroad and in Azerbaijan. Research scholarships in France for the 2nd year of the master will be provided to the best students.

For the first admission to UFAZ Master’s degree programs, 80 governmental places are offered to all Azerbaijani students.

A minimum score of 70/100 from SEC (State Examination Center) graduate test is required for eligibility. The graduates having Azerbaijani and Russian as their language of study at bachelor level will be required to submit IELTS certificate with minimum of 6.5 score. The duration of the program is 2 years and successful graduates will receive two national diplomas from both ASOIU and Unistra.

Since autumn 2019, international students have to pay higher tuition fees at French public universities.

The new tuition fees for international students, starting September 2019, are:

• 2,770 euros per year for Bachelor’s (Licence) programmes,
• 3,770 euros per year for Master’s programmes.

Nevertheless, all students registered at UFAZ for Master’s degree will have the unique opportunity to study free of charge throughout their two years of study, and to benefit from a Master degree of Strasbourg University.

Admission examination to UFAZ Master’s programs will take place by the end of April 2020.