On December 5, the ceremony was held, dedicated to new stage of cooperation between Ministry of Education and “Clarivate Analytics”.

Minister of Education Jeyhun Bayramov delivered speech in the ceremony and notified that “State Program on increasing international competitiveness of higher education system in Azerbaijan Republic for 2019-2023” approved by the Order of President Ilham Aliyev, will stimulate development of science and play significant role in modernizing scientific activity of universities. Mentioning partnership agreement between Ministry of Education and the biggest electronic scientific-analytical information base “Clarivate Analytics” (former “Thomson Reuters), which was signed in 2015, the Minister pointed out that 40 higher education institutions of Azerbaijan have gained access to scientific platform “Web of Science®”. “Total number of articles printed in impact factor journals of Azerbaijani scholars in last 5 years has increased 74 percent. 1160 research papers have been registered in “Web of Science®” scientific base in 2017 and this is a record indicator in the number of publication in Azerbaijan in recent 25 years. Higher education institutions account for 43 percent of these articles. Azerbaijan has ranked the first place for paper number growth rate in “Web of Science®” base, among Southern Caucasian countries in last 3 years. In 2015, only 2 journals of Azerbaijan were indexed at “Web of Science” base, in 2017 it increased to 7.” The Minister noted that a decision has been made on keeping on cooperation with “Clarivate Analytics” in next 3 years. He also suggested preparing Action Plan on cooperation between Ministry of Education and “Clarivate Analytics”, covering 2018-2021, as well as preparing comprehensive report about current situation of “Web of Science®” base twice a year.

Afterwards executive director of Science Development Foundation under the President of Azerbaijan Republic Elchin Babayev notified significance of partnership with “Clarivate Analytics”. Noting special state care and attention to the advancement of science and education, E.Babayev pointed out the orders in this field, usage of modern technologies and importance of cadre preparation. He gave information about “Web of Science Azerbaijan-2018” awards and said that new nominations are also included here.

Head on Consortium Development of “Clarivate Analytics” Isabelle Reiss and vice-president of Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences Dilgam Taghiyev spoke about strides toward development of science in the country and importance of ensuring recognition of gained scientific results in the world.

The event then featured Clarivate Analytics’ presentation called “Azerbaijan’s higher education institutions in Web of Science® in 2015-2018: results and prospects”.

The Ministry of Education and Clarivate Analytics signed a cooperation agreement for 2019-2021. The agreement provides for the expansion of the existing cooperation and gives Azerbaijan access to Russian science database and InCites platform of Web of Science®.

At the end, “Web of Science Azerbaijan-2018” awards were presented to Azerbaijani scholars on different categories and nominations.