On March 29, 2023, kickoff meeting of the project "I2-PLEDGE: Innovative and interdisciplinary Programmes in Bio-medical Engineering to Leverage and Exploit the Digital Growth programme for students’ employability in Uzbekistan" was held at Tashkent State Technical University.

The meeting was attended by the representative of the Ministry of Higher Education, Innovation and Science, the Ambassador of the European Union Delegation to Uzbekistan, representatives of Italian and Greek universities participating in the European Union, and team members of 7 higher education institutions from Uzbekistan.

The “I2-PLEDGE” project aims to provide students with innovative and interdisciplinary programmes in biomedical engineering to leverage and exploit the digital growth programme for their employability in Uzbekistan. The partner universities involved in the project are University of L’Aquila and University of Western Macedonia from Europe, and Tashkent Medical Academy, Tashkent State Technical University, Andijan Machine Building Institute, Adijan State Medical Institute, Urganch branch of Tashkent University of Information Technologies, Urganch branch of Tashkent Medical Academy, and Turin Polytechnic University in Tashkent from Uzbekistan.

During the kick-off meeting, the project coordinator provided important project management information, recommendations for successful project implementation, and the latest news from EACEA representatives. The meeting also covered financial issues, the role of each higher education institution in the project, work packages, the plan of future activities, and the importance of achieving results.

On the second day of the meeting, the participants visited the brand new campus of Tashkent Medical Academy, which is one of the project partners and a leading institution in the field. The academy introduced the participants to their state-of-the-art lab rooms, which will play an important role in the project.