A seminar dedicated to strengthening and promoting the development of institutional potential in scientific research and innovation activities was held at Baku Engineering University (BEU) with the participation of faculty deans, department heads, instructors and staff members.

Opening the seminar with introductory remarks, BEU Vice-Rector for Science and Innovation Issues Aghasi Malikov spoke about the dynamics of scientific research activities development at the higher education institution in recent years. The Vice-Rector emphasized the importance of further enhancing the university's scientific potential and ensuring broad representation of scientific results in international scientific databases. It was stressed that the institutional-level organization and management of scientific activities, as well as the active participation of faculties and departments in this process, play a crucial role in improving the university's ranking indicators.

Subsequently, Mayis Azizov, Director of BEU's Science and Innovation Department, delivered a presentation on the topic. The presentation featured the QS ranking methodology, as well as statistical indicators of articles published in prestigious international scientific databases (Web of Science and Scopus) for 2025. It was noted that the number of articles published by university staff in these databases has increased over the past two years. Information was also provided on the number of article authors by faculties and departments, international co-authorship connections, as well as scientific collaboration indicators by countries. During the presentation, positive results, areas that remained weak, and steps to be taken were analyzed, and specific tasks were identified to strengthen the scientific activities of departments.

Furthermore, participants were provided with information about academic information databases and publishing platforms, as well as resources offering free article publication opportunities. The importance of authors creating profiles on Google Scholar to increase scientific productivity was emphasized, along with the impact of this step on increasing researchers' recognition in the international environment and on the university's position in rankings.    

During discussions, the necessity of engaging academic staff in scientific activities on a broader scale and intensifying work in this direction was brought to attention. At the same time, expanding the use of the new scientific information database - ProQuest Central - was proposed.

In conclusion, an exchange of views took place and a number of proposals were put forward regarding the alignment of such seminars with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) - specifically the 9th direction (industry, innovation and infrastructure) targets, increasing the quality and quantity indicators of scientific research activities, strengthening international cooperation, as well as improving activities based on QS methodology.   

Public Relations Department