On 16 April 2020, the national Erasmus+ Office (NEO) in Palestine conducted a virtual field monitoring visit to the Erasmus+ funded project “Palestinian Research and Library Platform PALIB” using Zoom meeting. The meeting was attended by NEO Director Dr. Nedal Jayousi, UCAS rector Prof. Rifat Rustom, the vice rector of Planning and External Relations affairs Dr. Tamer Eshtawi, the vice rector of Academic affairs Dr. Ahmed Abedelal, PALIB coordinator Dr. Ahmed Aldahdoh, Dr. Ahmed Othman the General Director of Development and Scientific Research at Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) as well as representative from the partner institutions.
The visit mainly aimed at looking at the outputs and achievements of the operational objectives of the project to‐date, and at drawing out the reality of the project environment regarding how it is being implemented under the current circumstances of Covid19.
The meeting started with an official welcome by UCAS rector Prof. Rifat Rustom and Dr. Tamer Eshtawi. Rustom expressed his appreciation for being able to conduct the meeting virtually where the current circumstances of Covid19 making challenges for higher education institutions to continue its missions. Rustom assure that UCAS is making progress in achieving PALIB objectives and work hard the exploit the obstacles into fruitful opportunities.
NEO Director Dr. Nedal Jayousi wished the participants good health and asked them to keep safe and secured. Dr. Al-Jayousi thanked UCAS for the distinction of PALIB and expressed his expectancy for the impact of the project in meeting the challenges that facing the scientific research and libraries in Palestine. He also highlighted the aims of the first field monitoring visit to looking at the outputs and achievements of the operational objectives of the project to‐date.
Dr. Ahmed Aldahdoh talked briefly about the progress of the project, the deliverables that were achieved, partners’ main roles, the work packages at hand, and their progress and the challenges that faces the project.
During an active discussion, the steering committee board: Rawia Radi (IUG); Mohammed Abu-Taha (PPU); Imad Braik (ANNU); Andres Pacheco (UCAM); Federica Tomassoni (UNIVAQ); Alessandro Pernice (ARCES) expressed their willingness to provide their academic expertise and knowledge to assist the applicant in achieving PALIB objectives.
As representative of MOHE Dr. Ahmed Othman emphasized on the importance of such a project to MOHE in establishing a suitable infrastructure for scientific research in Palestine.
As feedback, Dr. Nedal emphasized on the progress achieved in term of quality assurance especially in this inception phase, he also praised the quality and diversity of the consortium.
Dr. Nedal and Dr. Ahmed Aldahdoh thanked all participants in the virtual field monitoring visit for the time they devoted to the discussions and for having provided updated and detailed information on the current situation in a structured and accessible way.