Collaboration with Armenia - AG Ingenieurökologie

Earth Sciences in Focus: Cooperation with Armenia

Armenia is a mountainous landlocked country in the South Caucasus. The country is characterised by the Armenian Highlands, Lake Sevan and a high level of biodiversity. Due to its rugged terrain, with steep slopes, gorges and steppes, Armenia is particularly vulnerable to natural hazards, especially landslides. The climate is continental: summers are hot at lower elevations, while winters in the highlands are cold and snowy.

Start of the Cooperation and Partner Institutions

Cooperation with Armenia has been ongoing since 2023. That year, a delegation from the National Polytechnic University of Armenia (NPUA) in Yerevan visited Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences. The delegation was led by Dr Sargis Asatryants (Deputy Director for Internationalisation and Reforms). In addition to academic discussions, the visitors were introduced to the university's campus and sustainability initiatives, including its educational nature trail.

With a Memorandum of Understanding signed on 23 September 2026, Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences and NPUA established a framework for their future collaboration. Planned activities include joint research, collaborative funding applications and exchanges of students, lecturers and researchers. There are already opportunities for student collaboration, particularly through the Master's programme in "Sustainable Cities Engineering" at NPUA and the Master's programme in Engineering Ecology in Magdeburg. Potential areas for joint Master's theses include reservoirs, landslides and urban green spaces. In the longer term, the partners also intend to explore the possibility of establishing a dedicated Master's degree programme in Engineering Ecology at NPUA, based on the model developed in Magdeburg.

Key Areas of Cooperation

The cooperation focuses on the following areas:

Water management
Climate change adaptation
Natural hazard management

There is an ongoing collaboration between the Engineering Ecology Research Group and the Climate Change and Sustainable Development Laboratory at NPUA (headed by Dr Hayk Igityan). Joint projects are currently being developed in the fields of engineering ecology, environmental modelling, water management and the circular economy.

Current Research Activities

As part of ongoing work on scientific publications, isotope hydrological data from the Caucasus have been analysed to estimate periods of groundwater recharge.