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The 'Central Asia Forecasting' study, jointly implemented by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (FES), the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, and the SPCE Hub, aims to help strengthen EU-Central Asia relations. The study results are intended to stimulate the debate on the region, foster understanding of the common challenges and opportunities, and encourage data-driven policymaking. It is a pilot project that will be followed by an annual or biennial study to analyse regional trends over time. The audience that we aim to address with this report comprises the broader public in Europe and Central Asia, civil society representatives, regional experts, researchers and especially EU foreign-policy makers. For this study, a human-judgement forecasting method was employed in the form of an opinion survey among experts and the informed public on developments in the region in the next three years. In total, 144 respondents took our 20-minute survey. About half of the respondents are Central Asian citizens and half are from outside the region. The majority are affiliated with academic institutions and think tanks. This report launch will present the analysis of the survey responses regarding domestic politics and regional affairs, global challenges affecting the region, and EU-Central Asian relations.

Fragestellung/Einleitung: Mit der Novellierung der ÄAppO im Jahr 2002 und der Einführung benoteter Leistungsnachweise hat die Bedeutung schriftlicher Prüfungen im klinischen Abschnitt des Medizinstudiums deutlich zugenommen. Allerdings werden die Mindestanforderungen an die Qualität[zum vollständigen Text gelangen Sie über die oben angegebene URL], Gemeinsame Jahrestagung der Gesellschaft für Medizinische Ausbildung (GMA) und des Arbeitskreises zur Weiterentwicklung der Lehre in der Zahnmedizin (AKWLZ)

Objective: The amendment of the Medical Licensing Act (ÄAppO) in Germany in 2002 led to the introduction of graded assessments in the clinical part of medical studies. This, in turn, lent new weight to the importance of written tests, even though the minimum requirements for exam quality are sometimes difficult to reach. Introducing exam quality as a criterion for the award of performance-based allocation of funds is expected to steer the attention of faculty members towards more quality and perpetuate higher standards. However, at present there is a lack of suitable algorithms for calculating exam quality. Methods: In the spring of 2014, the students‘ dean commissioned the „core group“ for curricular improvement at the University Medical Center in Rostock to revise the criteria for the allocation of performance-based funds for teaching. In a first approach, we developed an algorithm that was based on the results of the most common type of exam in medical education, multiple choice tests. It included item difficulty and discrimination, reliability as well as the distribution of grades achieved. Results: This algorithm quantitatively describes exam quality of multiple choice exams. However, it can also be applied to exams involving short assay questions and the OSCE. It thus allows for the quantitation of exam quality in the various subjects and – in analogy to impact factors and third party grants – a ranking among faculty. Conclusion: Our algorithm can be applied to all test formats in which item difficulty, the discriminatory power of the individual items, reliability of the exam and the distribution of grades are measured. Even though the content validity of an exam is not considered here, we believe that our algorithm is suitable as a general basis for performance-based allocation of funds., Zielsetzung: Mit der Novellierung der ÄAppO im Jahr 2002 und der Einführung benoteter Leistungsnachweise hat die Bedeutung schriftlicher Prüfungen im klinischen Abschnitt des Medizinstudiums deutlich zugenommen. Allerdings werden die Mindestanforderungen an die Qualität von Prüfungen mitunter nur schwer erreicht. Mit der Aufnahme von Prüfungsqualität in den Kriterienkatalog zur Vergabe von LOM (Leistungsorientierter Mittelvergabe) könnte die Aufmerksamkeit der Lehrenden gelenkt und allein dadurch die Qualität der Prüfungen verbessert und verstetigt werden. Derzeit mangelt es jedoch an geeigneten Bemessungsgrundlagen. Methoden: Im Frühjahr 2014 wurde die „core group“ zur Verbesserung der Lehre an der Universitätsmedizin Rostock vom Studiendekan beauftragt, den der Verteilung von LOM Lehre zugrunde liegenden Kriterienkatalog zu überarbeiten. In diesem Zusammenhang wurde zunächst anhand von multiple choice-Klausurergebnissen ein Algorithmus entwickelt, der auf Aufgabenschwierigkeit, Trennschärfe, Reliabilität und Notenspiegel basiert und damit die Qualität der häufigsten Prüfungsform im Studium der Humanmedizin quantitativ abbildet. Ergebnisse: Dieser Algorithmus wurde anschließend auch auf Klausuren mit offenen Fragen sowie auf den OSCE übertragen. Mit seiner Hilfe lässt sich die Prüfungsqualität in den einzelnen Fächern berechnen und – vergleichbar mit Impaktpunkten und Drittmitteleinwerbungen - in eine intrafakultäre Rangfolge überführen. Schlussfolgerung: Dieser Algorithmus ist auf alle Prüfungsformate anwendbar, bei denen Aufgabenschwierigkeit, Trennschärfe, Reliabilität und Notenspiegel erfasst werden. Auch wenn eine weitere wichtige Kenngröße, nämlich die Validität einer Prüfung hier nicht berücksichtigt wird, so ist der vorgestellte Algorithmus als Bemessungsgrundlage für LOM durchaus geeignet., GMS Journal for Medical Education; 33(3):Doc44

[Introduction ...] To analyze the transformation of the relations between secular states and the emerging Muslim societies in Central Asia this paper is divided into two sections. First I introduce into the cases by highlighting recent developments in religious awakening, "Islamic economics" and the "War on Terror". Second, I compare the state institutions, policies and actual practices to regulate the religious field in the five republics. I finally conclude on the politics of state engagement and the dynamics of state & society relations in Central Asia and possible further developments in Islamic economics in the region. I contend that development trajectories depend on the available space for political maneuvering that both state and society actors can use to engage one another. An open political system like the one in Kyrgyzstan promises more innovation and eventually more stable relations than a closed political system like the one in Uzbekistan, for example. Politics as an more or less open arena for exchange between opposing forces proves essential for the development of new institutions and practices, regardless of whether they are formalized or not. Only such social innovation allows states in the region to make use of Islam and religious faith in general to serve as a source for community strengthening and economic development, both much needed in the internationally pressured and politically instable region. To test my hypothesis I will rely for most parts on recent scholarly work about the "Islamic revival" in Central Asia and on research about the states' institutional settings. In addition news reports provide evidence on current events in the "War on Terror" and on "Islamic economic" practices in the region.

[Introduction] Islamic finance has been developing steadily in the last decades since the 1970s, yet for most parts its growth was concentrated in the Arab states and in several south-east Asian parts of the world with a Muslim majority (Malaysia in particular). Perhaps the only exceptions to that were global financial centers like London or New York that serve as organizational hubs to channel and direct Islamic financial resources (Baba 2007). In comparison with that, in Central Asia Islamic finance appeared only in recent years. Triggered not least by the global financial crisis, political decision makers and financial entrepreneurs in the region were eager to develop new sources for capital. The Middle East and the Arabic states, less touched by the meltdown of Western banks, were welcoming partners for fresh capital a part of which now was labeled 'Islamic'. Before, Central Asia had experienced almost no developments in Islamic finance. Only the 'Islamic Development Bank' (IDB), a major development-aid institution that sometimes applies Islamic principles of loan-giving and investment, had been launching projects in the republics since the end of the 1990s. After the financial crisis, however, the double effect of a real-economy need for new and fresh cash-flows and the rising discourse of and the search for alternative forms of banking has opened a new chapter for Islamic finance in the region of Central Asia. The following text looks at first developments and concentrates on the emerging relations between the different states and its institutions on the one hand and Islamic finance and its practices on the other.