UNIGIS now an Academic Member of FIG

The 35. FIG (International Federation of Surveyors) Working Week was held in Rome from the 6th to the 10th of May in 2012. The motto of Italian Working Week is "Knowing to manage the territory, protect the environment, evaluate the cultural heritage". 500+ papers have been accepted for presentation in Rome in almost 100 sessions, forums and workshops (http://www.fig.net/fig2012/downloads/tech_prog.pdf). Many of the papers are peer reviewed and published soon at the Surveyors Reference Library (http://www.fig.net/srl/). 

The FIG Council has admitted UNIGIS International Association as an academic member of FIG. The Certificate of Academic Membership was presented by FIG President, CheeHai TEO to Prof Bela MARKUS in a ceremony during the General Assembly.

Next UNIGIS course for Central Asia students

The UNIGIS study centre for Central Asia at ACA*GIScience in Bishkek has now opened the registration period for the next intake of distance learning students, starting with October 2012. Applications will be accepted until September 10, and candidates are expected to have a background in any 'spatial discipline' or experience in a GIS application domain.

UNIGIS Central Asia offers tutoring in Russian language, but as an international program requires profound English language skills for working with study materials, complete assignments and communicate within the worldwide network of UNIGIS students and alumni.

With a clear focus on continuing education for geospatial / GIS professionals, most candidates come from national and international organisations, the geospatial services industry, and academia. For the first time, candidates are offered the options of registering for a professional diploma or an MSc program of studies, with both qualifications awarded by the University of Salzburg, Austria.

Further information can be found at http://bishkek.unigis.net, email enquiries can be directed to office.bishkek@unigis.net

New students in Ecuador and Colombia

By the end of April, the UNIGIS site in Quito welcomed 70 new students from Ecuador, Colombia and other Latin American countries as new members of the UNIGIS community of learning. They will join of group of 250 active students that already are enrolled at the University San Francisco de Quito in Ecuador. Being part of an academic program that is tailored to the specific needs of GIS professionals in the emerging GIS-market between Patagonia and the Rio Grande opens up great opportunities for professional and personal development.

Welcome – Bienvenidos!

UNIGIS programmes launched in Nepal!

UNIGIS@Kathmandu (NEPAL) takes pride in announcing the first open admissions period for the UNIGIS professional diploma and UNIGIS MSc in Geographical Information Science and Systems. The two UNIGIS study programmes are being offered in Nepal by the Kathmandu Forestry College in collaboration with the Centre for Geoinformatics (Z_GIS), University of Salzburg, Austria. The academic certification / degree will be awarded by the University of Salzburg, Austria. The Ministry of Education, Govt. of Nepal has already confirmed their endorsement of UNIGIS qualifications.

This academic collaboration between Nepalese and Austrian institutions aims at providing internationally standardised high quality Geoinformatics and GIScience education to young students and active professionals within Nepal, who aspire to make a career in this vibrant field or want to enhance their capability to meet the challenges and demands of the rapidly growing international job market.

For further details: see www.unigis.net/kathmandu OR send e-mail to office.kafcol.kathmandu@unigis.net

UNIGIS Team Salzburg - Work Retreat

The UNIGIS Team Salzburg held a work retreat on April 12.-13., 2012, to discuss in depth the strategic development of two UNIGIS cornerstones:

An entire day was dedicated to reflect on the current status of UNIGIS modules and future paths to take. A particular focus was given to the alignment of content and materials between the two languages (German and English) and where adequate also between the two UNIGIS programmes (UNIGIS professional / UNIGIS MSc). To provide guidance on content development in terms of syllabi and adequate learning materials and -media several team members take a role as ‘theme lead’ for a particular subject.

The agenda for the second part of the meeting was reserved for discussing alumni-networking activities.

It was a successful and inspiring meeting in the mountainous surroundings of Salzburg. On the way home, our bagpacks were filled with fresh ideas and motivation to …educating GI-professionals worldwide.