Thursday, October 13, 2011 -
The Caspian coastal states have agreed to establish a Caspian Floating University, a senior Iranian academic said on Tuesday.
The institution is intended to strengthen cooperation between the five littoral countries of the Caspian Sea in the spheres of scientific and practical studies and provide opportunities for students to gain foreign academic experience.
"The purpose of establishing [the university] is to create conditions for getting education in biotechnology, agriculture, mechanics, textiles, gardening, law, mathematics and economics in the littoral countries," said Mansour Afshar Mohammadian, who heads the International Affairs Department of the Iranian Gilan Provincial University.
According to the agreement between the five, countries who exhibit high levels of teaching in these subjects may receive students from the other four.
The decision to launch the project was taken by the Caspian regional republics Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Iran, Russia and Azerbaijan during a meeting in the Russian city of Astrakhan, the Iranian Students’ News Agency (ISNA) cited Mohammadian as saying, the Trend news agency reported.
Student fees at the Caspian Floating University will be kept low, the Iranian academic said.
The university is expected to open in 2012.