GMIT Declares the 2026–2027 Academic Year the “Year of Digitalization”
GMIT Declares the 2026–2027 Academic Year the “Year of Digitalization”
Opening Remarks by Prof. B. Battsengel, Rector of the German-Mongolian Institute for Resources and Technology
Distinguished guests, partners, dear colleagues, faculty and staff, and most importantly, our students,
I wish you all a very warm welcome to the new academic year.
It is my great pleasure and honor to welcome you to the opening of the 2026–2027 academic year at the German-Mongolian Institute for Resources and Technology – GMIT.
A particularly warm welcome to our newly enrolled 150 freshmen and 31 BEP students. You are now becoming part of the GMIT family, and we are very pleased to have you with us.
I hope your years at GMIT will be a time of knowledge, discovery, friendship, personal growth, and preparation for a successful professional future.
Looking Back: A Year of Quality, Research and Innovation
Every new academic year is a time to look back at what we have achieved and to think about where we want to go next.
It was a very important year for GMIT. All our degree programs successfully achieved international accreditation by "ASIIN", and we also completed our national institutional accreditation with the **Mongolian National Council for Education Accreditation**.
These achievements demonstrated the quality of our academic programs and our commitment to internationally recognized standards.
Last academic year, 2025/2026, we declared the "Year of Research and Innovation", with a clear focus on strengthening the connection between education, research, innovation, and industry.
Our research activities continued to grow. Our faculty and students became more actively engaged in research projects, and our cooperation with national and international partners continued to expand.
I want to express my sincere gratitude to GIZ for its valuable support of our faculty research projects through the SRDF.
We also continued to build our research infrastructure and to create new opportunities for our students to take part in real research and innovation. In this regard, I would particularly like to highlight our advanced mineralogical laboratory, equipped with a Mineral Liberation Analyzer (MLA) donated by Oyu Tolgoi company.
Launching a PhD Program
Another important achievement was the development of our PhD program.
Following its successful pre-accreditation, we received official approval from the Ministry of Education to launch the program in this academic year.
I look forward very much to implementing it together with our partner universities — especially our longstanding partner, RWTH Aachen.
International Engagement and Knowledge Sharing
As part of our social responsibility and commitment to sharing knowledge, this summer we successfully organized Mongolia’s first International Mathematics Competition, bringing together around 600 participants from 32 countries.
We also successfully organized joint summer schools with our partner Korean universities, including KAIST and Konyang University, not only for GMIT students but also for students from other higher education institutions in Mongolia.
Together, these achievements have created a strong foundation for the next stage of GMIT’s development.
Quality gave us the foundation. Research and innovation strengthened our capacity. Now, digitalization will help us transform the way we teach, learn, research, and operate.
"2026–2027: The “Year of Digitalization”
Today, I am pleased to announce that we are declaring the 2026–2027 academic year the “Year of Digitalization” at GMIT.
Why digitalization?
Because the world around us is changing faster than ever.
Artificial intelligence, automation, data-driven technologies, and smart systems are transforming industry, science, and education.
As an engineering university, GMIT must be ready for this transformation.
But digitalization is not simply about computers, software, or new IT systems.
It is about changing the way we teach, learn, communicate, collaborate, conduct research, and create knowledge.
It is about using technology to make education more flexible, accessible, engaging, and effective.
And it requires the participation of the entire GMIT community.
e-GMIT: A New Digital Learning Environment
One important step in this journey is the launch of e-GMIT, our Moodle-based Learning Management System.
e-GMIT is more than a place to upload lecture materials.
Our vision is to develop it into an integrated digital learning environment where students can access learning materials, submit assignments, participate in online activities, receive feedback, and monitor their learning progress.
For our faculty, it will provide new opportunities to organize learning activities, share resources, assess students, and introduce new approaches to teaching.
And our ambition goes beyond our degree programs.
In the future, e-GMIT can support professional training, short-term courses, lifelong learning, and training for our industry partners.
Digitalization will also help us strengthen our international connections.
Preparing Students for the Age of Artificial Intelligence
Digitalization also means preparing our students for the growing role of Artificial Intelligence.
AI is already changing engineering and industry — from mineral exploration and processing to energy, manufacturing, environmental monitoring, design, and simulation.
We want our students not simply to use AI, but to understand it and use it creatively, critically, and responsibly.
Because, ultimately:
"Technology is a tool. People use it and create a better life"
A Message to Our Students
Dear students,
Especially to our freshmen, I would say: you are entering university at a very exciting moment.
When you graduate from GMIT, many of the technologies we use today will have changed. Some of the jobs you will do may not even exist yet.
Therefore, our responsibility is not simply to teach you today’s knowledge.
Our responsibility is to prepare you to learn continuously, adapt to change, think critically, and create new solutions.
Take advantage of every opportunity GMIT offers you.
Learn from your professors.
Be active.
Ask questions.
Learn from one another.
Use our laboratories.
Use e-GMIT.
Participate in research.
Explore new technologies.
Work with our international and national partners.
And most importantly, never stop learning.
Our Commitment to Mongolia’s Future
Dear colleagues, partners, and students,
Our goal is to educate engineers who can contribute to Mongolia’s sustainable development and technological transformation — in responsible resource development, mineral processing, renewable energy, environmental protection, advanced manufacturing, and other fields important to our country’s future.
In closing, let me express my sincere gratitude:
* to our two Governments, for their continued support and commitment;
* to our faculty and staff, for their dedication and contribution to the development of our university;
* to our national and international partners, for their trust, cooperation, and continued support;
* and, most importantly, to our students, who are at the heart of GMIT and the reason for everything we do.
Dear students,
Believe in yourselves, believe in your ideas, and believe in your future.
With these words, I am pleased to officially open the "2026–2027 academic year at GMIT — the Year of Digitalization".
I wish all our students, faculty, staff, and partners a successful, inspiring, and rewarding academic year.
Thank you.