Grant Agreement between the Executive Agency for Education and Audiovisual Culture of the European Union (EACEA) from Brussels and the University of Sarajevo as the coordinator of the IQPharm project signed

A grant agreement for action with multiple beneficiaries was concluded between the University of Sarajevo, as the coordinator of the IQPharm project, and the Executive Agency for Education and Audiovisual Culture of the European Union (EACEA) on Thursday, 10 December 2020.
The project “Innovating quality assessment tools for pharmacy studies in Bosnia and Herzegovina” - IQPharm, is a national project focused on raising the quality and modernization of pharmacy studies at public universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina that have a pharmacy study.
The Faculty of Pharmacy coordinates and implements the IQPharm project on behalf of the University of Sarajevo. The project consists of eight partners, which, in addition to the University of Sarajevo, consist of the University of Banja Luka, BiH, University of Tuzla, BiH, and the University of Mostar, BiH, University of Novi Sad, Serbia, University of Split, Croatia, D’Annunzio University of Chieti – Pescara, Italy, and Trinity College Dublin the University of Dublin, Ireland.
Pharmacy study programs at public universities in BiH are in line with European Union (EU) directives, however, teaching aids and quality assurance tools require significant improvements.
Therefore, the general goal of the IQPharm project would be to improve the professional and pedagogical competencies of academic staff for a more interactive and practical approach to teaching, i.e. teaching students, evaluation of existing pharmacy programs through exchange of practices between partner and program institutions and active involvement of main partners in the real sector, introduction of Knowledge Retention Evaluation Framework (KREF) and Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) for pharmacy students, and training of educators in the field of professional practice and development of a platform for management and administration of professional practice.
Furthermore, the implementation of activities planned by the IQPharm project will create a basis for drafting recommendations for changes in legislation in accordance with EU Directives 2005/36 and 2013/55 on the recognition of professional qualifications, then raising the quality and modernization of pharmacy studies at all public universities in BH with pharmacy study, and strengthening professional practice in accordance with EU standards and regulations of higher education.
The end result of the IQPharm project should be an increase in the quality of pharmaceutical health care through an increase in higher education standards. Real sector stakeholders (employers, regulators) will be active participants as associate partners in the various phases of the project, which will have a direct contribution and impact on improving the competencies and skills of graduates with a master's degree in pharmacy.
The project also envisages the procurement of significant equipment that will modernize the teaching and practical training of students, but also increase research potential, which is crucial in order to better position the Faculty of Pharmacy and the University of Sarajevo at the regional and European level.
Implementation of project activities will run from 15/01/2021 to 14/01/2024. The total project budget is 797,542 euros.