The next online meeting of the Scientific Council of Sumgayit State University was held on May 26.

Rector of the University, Chairman of the Scientific Council, Professor Elkhan Huseynov opened the meeting with an introductory speech and informed the participants about the issues on the agenda. Rector spoke about the measures taken to combat the coronavirus pandemic in the Republic of Azerbaijan, noting that in accordance with the relevant order signed by the Minister of Education Emin Amrullayev, the spring semester exam session will be held remotely from June 1 to July 5, the 2020-2021 academic year in higher and secondary special education institutions. Taking into account the organization of the spring semester of the 2020-2021 academic year online, the examination session should be organized in accordance with the existing rules, ensuring transparency and objectivity in the assessment of students' knowledge, the examination session should be held on the basis of existing normative documents. In order to promptly investigate each complaint and take the necessary measures, specific tasks were set before the deans of faculties and heads of departments before the start of the session.

Director of the Teaching Methodical Center Faig Shirinov gave information to the members of the Scientific Council on the state of preparation for the spring exam session and state exams of 2020/2021 academic year for undergraduate, Head of the Department of Doctoral and Master programs’ Office Sabir Khalilov for master students, and Director of Sumgayit State Technical College under SSU Matanat Pirguliyeva about the exams in SSTC. They noted that in connection with the coronavirus pandemic, the teaching process was carried out in an online format (remotely); the faculty made serious efforts to ensure the activity of students in the classroom and provided assistance to students. It was noted that the master's dissertation must be submitted to the university on paper and its defense must be carried out in an online format (on the ZOOM Platform).

After the speeches, the state of preparation for the spring exam session and state exams of the 2020/2021 academic year was considered satisfactory.

Vice-Rector for Humanitarian Affairs Assoc. prof. Ramiz Huseynov made a report. He noted that one of the important directions of the patriotic education work with young people is the work in the educational process. “Sumgayit State University has ample opportunities for this. Regular classes of the Heydar Aliyev School with the participation of students and youth at the Heydar Aliyev Center of SSU have an exceptional impact on the education of students in the spirit of patriotism. Also, in order to further strengthen the work on the formation of

patriotic spirit of students at SSU, the activities of the amateur club and sports club at the university were improved and the effectiveness of teaching military training was increased. Expansion of screenings of feature and documentary films on patriotism, meetings with National Heroes of the Republic of Azerbaijan, participants of the Patriotic War, visit to the Military Loot Park in Baku, as well as the Alley of Martyrs in Baku and Sumgayit are aimed at strengthening patriotic feelings among students”.

Vice-Rector for International Relations Gafar Atayev informed about the results of the international project "Erasmus + EQAC - Establishment and development of the Quality Assurance Centers in Azerbaijani Universities" at SSU. He praised the work of SSU staff in the implementation of international projects and noted the need to further expand work in this direction.

Naib Hajiyev, Vice-Rector for Economic Affairs, spoke about the improvement of the security service of SSU. He said that in order to improve security, to further increase the security of SSU staff and students, it is expedient to entrust the security of SSU to the Security Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Professor Mukhtar Samadov, Scientific Secretary, spoke about the work to be done in connection with the pandemic, the accreditation of SSU was suspended in October 2020 and will continue in September 2021. He noted that in connection with the continuation of accreditation in September 2021, the collection of relevant information is entrusted to the Self-Analysis Commission. He noted the expediency of participating in trainings conducted by specialists of the Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (AQAE) to get acquainted with these new rules and criteria, as well as the regulations of Accreditation and other normative legal documents.

In connection with the discussion of current issues in connection with the awarding of scientific titles, it was noted that the employee of the Department of Literature of Azerbaijan and foreign countries, Ph.D. D.A. Jumanova applied to the rector in connection with the application to the SAC for the award of the title of associate professor for scientific and pedagogical activities, and the document was submitted to the Scientific Council with the instruction of the rector. Following the discussions, based on the results of the secret ballot, it was decided to apply to the SAC for giving the title of associate professor to Ph.D. D.A. Jumanova.

The scientific secretary informed about the right of publication (griffin) for teaching aids. He noted that in order to grant the right to publish, the Scientific Council received a total of 6 textbooks, including 2 textbooks and 4 subject programs. The textbooks were reviewed in the departments of the Editorial and Publishing Council and the Teaching and Methodological Council of the university, and recommended to the Scientific Council with an expert opinion. After the discussions, the publication of textbooks was allowed.