The most urgent issue with regard to the accommodation!!!

@gustavschweighofer I worked in Azerbaijan for a year and absolutely LOVED it! There are very few apartments to rent, and those few can be terribly expensive. The apartments are typically family owned and family lives in it. The usual arrangement is for the owners to rent out one room while they continue to live in most of the apartment. I never saw an ensuite bathroom the entire time I was there.  Many one story homes that have a small yard also still have an outdoor toilet. 99% of the toilets are squat toilets. You typically won't have water or electricity for the entire 24 hours during a day. It's possible to plan for this. For example,  many families run water into their bathtubs and save that water for dishwashing, etc. when water is not coming from the taps. You absolutely should not drink water from the tap,  but safe bottled water is available everywhere.  It is better to insist upon being paid in USD because the dollar is more stable than the manat. You cannot own a cellphone in Azerbaijan.  Ask your landlord to help you get a phone.  Typically some other person who has already been cleared by government will buy one on your behalf and you will pay the monthly bill. Government must approve anyone before they can get a cellphone,  and it's much more difficult for a foreigner to get that approval than it is a native Azerbaijani. You absolutely don't want to seek out any interaction with police.  If someone picks your pocket, just accept that it happened and move on. It is an absolutely fascinating country with much beauty.  The people are almost universally kind and generous.  I really miss the people so much! Nurses in Azerbaijan are different than nurses here in the US. They are a lower skilled person more in line with our LPN's . They have lower level functions and less respect. My writing makes it sound like a horrible place, but it isn't at all.  It's just different and there are certain things that you must work harder to make work. Have a wonderful time!

@Shirleystanley

my experience in Baku presently is far different than what you have described. When and where in Az were you??

That's great.  Did the university hook you up with housing? I still have friends in Baku with whom I'm in contact who tell me that the housing hasn't changed in Baku proper. I never lived in Ganja, although I passed through there, of course.  I lived only in Baku and Sumgayit.