MEDICAL UNIVERSITY - VARNA AND VFU "CHERNORIZETS HRABAR" ARE DEVELOPING JOINT MASTER'S DEGREE PROGRAMMES FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IN BIOMEDICINE AND HEALTH
An introductory press conference for the presentation of an innovative project No BG05M20P001-2.016-0025 ,,Creating a multidisciplinary educational environment for staff development with integrated competencies in in the field of biomedicine and healthcare ” was held on September 8, 2021 at the Medical University "Prof. Dr. Paraskev Stoyanov" in Varna. The project is implemented under the Operational Programme "Science and Education for Smart Growth", procedure BG05M20P001-2.016 "Modernization of higher education", priority axis 2 "Education and lifelong learning" with the financial support of the European Social Fund. The total value of the project is BGN 1,999,588.05, of which BGN 1,699,649.84 is provided by the European Social Fund and BGN 299,938.21 is national funding. The duration of the project is 30 months with a implementation period from 21.07.2021 to 31.12.2023.
The beneficiary of the project is the Medical University "Prof. Dr. Paraskev Stoyanov ”- Varna, and Varna Free University“ Chernorizets Hrabar ” is its main partner. Associated partners are Université de Tours (France), Ruhr Universität Bochum (Germany), Health Center Odenwaldkreis GmbH (Germany), Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza Research Hospital (Italy) and University of Turin (Italy).
The introductory press conference was attended by Prof. Todorka Kostadinova, Director of the International Cooperation, Accreditation and Quality Directorate at MU-Varna, Prof. Dr. Zlatislav Stoyanov, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at MU-Varna, project manager and the representatives from Varna Free University: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Galina Momcheva and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ralitsa Zhekova. They presented the objectives of the project, the main directions and activities, as well as the expected results of their implementation.
"This project will give a new look to higher education. Modern medicine of the 21st century is predictive, preventive, personalized and patient-engaging because it uses smart medical technologies based on artificial intelligence. They are increasingly entering medicine and healthcare and this requires the development of a radically new set of skills and culture of the workforce in this field. It is the medical technologies based on artificial intelligence that require the development of interdisciplinary cooperation between health professionals and specialists in information computer technology. This motivated our idea to develop and implement the current project ", explained Prof. Dr. Zlatislav Stoyanov.
A specific objective of the project is to introduce a competency model for hybrid learning in the digital environment of university and PhD students. It envisages modernization and internationalization of the education of students, postdoctoral students, young scientists, researchers and teachers in partner universities through key digital technologies and modern teaching methods.
"Extremely innovative and modern, the two new master's degree programmes will be sought in the near future. In this project we are doing something more - together with our partners from VFU we are implementing the strategy of the Ministry of Education for higher education in Bulgaria to develop joint programmes, joint training with different profiles and to start a new stage in the development of higher education". explained Prof. Todorka Kostadinova.
Assoc. Prof. Galina Momcheva added: "The activity of the companies around us will increase and the profile of the staff will change due to the opportunities that the two universities will create under this project."
As a result of the project, innovative master's degree programmes in English in the field of medicine and healthcare will be developed and implemented: "Artificial Intelligence in Biomedicine" and "Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare". The work will be directed towards digitization of doctoral programmes, career development of students, professional development of teachers and mobility of students and teachers in the associated partners.
As a result of the project implementation, the entrepreneurial environment in the two higher education institutions is expected to improve by improving their criteria in the Higher Education Institutions instrument of EU. It is also expected to develop a multidisciplinary educational environment for the development of staff with integrated competencies in the field of biomedicine and health, capable of creating teams, models, approaches, products and services to solve medical and health problems in the digital environment.
In the long run, this will lead to an increase in the rating of MU-Varna and VFU “Chernorizets Hrabar” in the Rating System of Higher Education Institutions, as well as to an increase in the rating of the professional fields included in the project proposal (PF 4.6 Informatics and Computer Science; PF 7.1 Medicine and PF 7.5 Health care).
