The Brain Gain Programme is supporting the Board of Higher Education of Albania to develop and implement the new Law of Higher Education, which will make the process of inviting visiting scholars and professors less restrictive.

The academic component of the Brain Gain Programme is being piloted in the newly established Aleksander Moisiu University in Durres, and is supporting its academic management team to identify professors or people that have been engaged in the education field, either in the US or Canada, or elsewhere. Short-term lectures are already underway with senior lecturers from the United States coming to teach in Albanian universities. Support also goes to a series of incentives to develop a new model of academic management.

The Programme also works to improve working conditions in universities and research institutions through the selection of individuals based on professional rather than political criteria – those who appreciate and motivate research and maintain gender equality at all levels.

Improvements are expected to increase the mobility of Albanian academics and researchers within the international scientific community for joint projects, temporary employment in universities and research institutions abroad, participation in conferences and seminars, exchange of information, and joint publications, from a base within Albania.

The Brain Gain programme has also partnered with the Gender and Development Master's Programme.

The Brain Gain Programme encourages the return of qualified Albanians from abroad to serve in the public administration. The intention is to bring back expertise to fill urgent capacity gaps needed to carry out reforms in the country. To do this, a climate that welcomes Diaspora contributions to development is necessary as are sustainable incentives for those who choose to return to Albania.

To ensure that the Brain Gain Programme is relevant and strategic in its support to Government reforms and strategies, and is able to attract the required skills and qualifications, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government are carrying out an assessment of the public administration to identify critical capacity gaps.

The gaps will be examined within line ministries in light of ongoing reforms such as the ability to implement the Stablilisation and Association Agreement (SAA); policy development for preparation and implementation of the National Strategy for Development and Integration (NSDI), legal reforms, reforms in Information Technology (IT) and strategic management, including the Integrated Planning System. The Programme would then fill the gaps with Albanian experts, who would be hired according to seniority and research, quality of education, work experience. The Diaspora would also be involved in the drafting of laws necessary for public administration reform.

The Department of Public Administration and the Training Institute of the Public Administration (TIPA) were established as part of creating a functioning and responsive public administration. Their functions and duties are being revised, and the Brain Gain Programme is aligned with capacity development strategies for the public sector.

Given competition with the private sector, the process of hiring the best and ensuring that they will remain in the public administration becomes quite difficult. Steps taken by the current government include a relaxation of hiring policies for those with MA and PhD degrees, and compensation for those with these degrees. The goal is a politically neutral and qualified public administration.

The Brain Gain Programme is developing techniques and policies that will become laws and long-term strategies in the near future. The programme will also serve as a hiring agency for the public administration and from good practices, is intended to lead to changes in the respective laws.