Agricultural University of Tirana

The Agricultural University of Tirana (AUT) was founded in 1951. AUT is the unique center for undergraduate and graduate studies, scientific research, training, and extension in the area of agriculture, food, and environment. AUT is among the largest academic institutions in Albania – it includes 316 academic staff. Currently, the number of enrolled students is about 6586.

AUT offers research and education at various levels: Bachelor, Master, and PhD in various fields like animal production; horticulture; aquaculture and fisheries; environmental sciences; integrated rural development; marketing; finance; agribusiness management; business informatics, etc. – which are the main focus fields for the development of Albania as well as for the Western Balkans.

The Agricultural University of Tirana is organized into 5 faculties. Faculty of Economy and Agribusiness, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Biotechnology and Food, and Faculty of Forestry Sciences

AUT has increasingly been considered the leading academic and research institution including rural development in Western Balkans – training scholars and experts from the region, e.g. Kosovo, Northern Macedonia, and Montenegro as well as collaborating with other neighboring countries, thanks to the immense support provided by EU, the German government, GIZ or USAID funded projects. AUT has signed many bilateral agreements with partner institutions involved also in Erasmus+ Programs (KA 1).

The Faculty of Economy and Agribusiness currently consists of six departments: the Department of Agribusiness Management, the Department of Economics and Rural Development Policies, the Department of Finance and Accounting, the Department of Mathematics and Informatics, the Department of Rural Tourism Management, and the Department of Foreign Languages.

The Department of Mathematics and Informatics has 19 academic staff members. It covers study programs: a 2-year professional in Information Systems Management; a bachelor in Business Informatics; a professional master in Information Management in Agribusiness, and a Master of Science in Business Informatics.

Prof. Assoc. Dr. Edmira Shahu

Project Manager/researcher

Edmira Shahu (Ozuni) is a lecturer at the Department of Mathematics and Informatics, Agricultural University of Tirana, since 2005. She graduated as a Mathematician (2004), from the Faculty of Natural Science, University of Tirana. Also, she has a master’s degree (2009) in “Probability and Applied Statistics” from the Faculty of Natural Science, University of Tirana, and a Ph.D. (2015) in “Use of Statistical Models in Evaluating Credit Risk”, from the Department of Finance-Accounting, Agricultural University of Tirana. She is the author or coauthor of several research papers in international/national conferences/journals, university lecture cycles, and books. Edmira has experience and skills in processing and analyzing quantitative data – she has participated in various studies and projects. She has worked as an external lecturer at several Universities. Edmira has two years of experience as head of GMK Statistics-Econometrics and, since September 2020 is the vice dean of teaching and curricula.

Prof. Assoc. Dr. Jona Mulliri

Junior expert/advisor/researcher

Associate Professor Jona MULLIRI is a lecturer at the Department of Mathematics and Informatics, Agricultural University of Tirana, since 2009. She graduated in Computer Science (2009), from the Faculty of Natural Science, University of Tirana. She has a PhD in Management Information Systems and Decision Making in commercial banks in Albania, Finance profile.She has worked as a database and data warehouse developer using ETL tools and MySQL in Raiffeisen Bank and also has practical experience dealing with data analysis, Databases & Programming. She has been involved as a team member in various development projects (e.g., GRADUA, NETCHEM, etc.). She has authored several research papers in international/national Conferences/journals. She is the author of several university lecture cycles and books.

Ph.D. Brunilda Baraku

Junior expert/advisor/researcher

Brunilda Baraku has been a lecturer at the Department of Mathematics and Informatics, Agricultural University of Tirana, since 2002. She was graduated as a Mathematician (2002) from, the Faculty of Natural Science, University of Tirana. She has a PhD in Methodological Issues of Agricultural Production Planning and agribusiness profile. She has worked as an external lecturer at several Universities. She has authored several research papers in international/national Conferences/journals.

Prof.Assoc. Dr. Blerina Zanaj

Senior expert/advisor/researcher

Blerina Zanaj has been a full-time lecturer near the Department of Mathematics and Informatics since 2014 and at the Faculty of Economy and Agribusiness, at the Agriculture University of Tirana. She followed her Ph.D. studies and fulfilled them at Universita Politecnica delle Marche in Ancona, Italy. Her field of expertise regards the algorithms and protocols of data communication and spreading in Wireless Sensor Networks. She also specializes in Operating Systems such as Linux, Unix, and VMS. Her field of research now concerns Fuzzy Logic and the application of different Artificial Intelligence algorithms in the economy for decision-making and risk management.

She took part and won the individual project in the program of Basileus V (in 2014). The project plan designed includes working as a researcher near the Faculty of Information Engineering at La Sapienza University of Rome for a period of 6 months (September 2015 – March 2016). Her work consisted of applying different data elaboration methods in Matlab for UWB signal elaboration for human vital sign extraction. She also participated in another program SunBeam where she worked on another individual project entitled “Data Scientist for Security”. She worked for 1 month near Universita Politecnica delle Marche near the Faculty of Information Engineering for writing and specifications for the different fields of expertise that a Data Scientist role includes.

Ph.D. Blerta Leka

Junior expert/advisor/researcher

Blerta Leka is a lecturer in the Mathematics-Informatics Department of the Faculty of Economics & Agribusiness, with 15 years of academic experience. She earned her Doctor of Science degree in Informatics from the Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Tirana, in 2016. Dr. Leka has taught a variety of programming subjects and has actively participated in numerous national and international conferences. She is also the author of several scientific articles published both domestically and internationally.

In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Dr. Leka is involved in Erasmus programs, where she focuses on information systems and decision-making within economic contexts. Her recent publications include studies on the application of Business Intelligence in banking systems and public procurement. Dr. Leka’s main research areas encompass Databases, Business Intelligence, programming languages, and Virtualization.

Prof.Assoc. Dr. Aurora Thoma

Technical personnel

Aurora Hoxha has been a lecturer in the Department of Finance and Accounting at the Agricultural University of Tirana (AUT) since 2009. She is the responsible contact person for the modules “Accounting,” “Managerial Accounting,” and “Accounting Information Systems.” Aurora brings over 15 years of experience in accounting, having worked with private companies, NGOs/NPOs, and governmental organizations. She has managed several projects funded by FAO, MADA, and GIZ. Most recently, she has been involved in the GRADUA project, funded by the European Commission, which includes partners from Albania and abroad such as AUT, the University of Bologna, the University of Barcelona, the Albanian Ministry of Education, and the Chamber of Commerce. Aurora holds both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Agribusiness Administration from AUT. Her PhD thesis focused on the implementation of national accounting standards for SMEs, analyzing the challenges and benefits associated with these standards. She has published several articles and actively participates in conferences, contributing to the field of accounting with her extensive knowledge and experience.