QUALITY DRIVEN BY EXCELLENCE PROJECTS WHAT CAN A BULGARIAN UNIVERSITY LEARN FROM A RUSSIAN BENEFICIARY OF PROJECT 5-100

Abstract

As a result of an outgoing mobility funded by the Erasmus+ program Key Action 107 for partner countries, staff members of Medical University – Plovdiv, Bulgaria bring back impressions of many successful practices adopted by Tomsk State University, Russia. Undoubtedly, some of the most impressive such practices have to do with Project 5-100. In the present article we offer a brief review of this governmental project, and examine the ramifications for Russian universities in general and for Tomsk State University in particular. We argue that it is thanks both to the desire to become a beneficiary of the project and to the benefits stemming from becoming such a beneficiary that Tomsk State University has dramatically improved the quality of the education that it offers to its students. We identify several key areas of discernible quality enhancement: a greater diversity of the majors offered, more joint master’s degrees, augmented internationalization of the student body. All this is clearly evidenced by the overall improved rating of the university: from Rank QS Word 551+ in 2013 to Word 227 in 2018. We conclude that even though at present the Bulgarian government does not fund a project of close resemblance to the Russian Project 5-100, a Bulgarian university such as Medical University – Plovdiv can surely learn from the experience of Tomsk State University. In particular, we can find inspiration in the quality improvement of the Russian university, which could not only serve as preparation for future projects, but is also valuable in its own right.