Mikheil Batiashvili: "Development of the Country and Quality Education without Science is highly unlikely"

Within the framework of the Education Reform, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia Mikheil Batiashvili, together with the deputy Minister Irina Abuladze, and the Director of the Georgian National Science Foundation – Zviad Gabisonia, introduced the news to the general public.

"The country's development and quality education without science is unimaginable. There is no example of this. Consequently, we tend to care for more that science as one of the main priorities of education and we strive to see the results as quickly as possible, "said Mikheil Batiashvili.

According to the minister, in the future, the ministry will present a new presentation for the field of science, where further projects will be implemented, including maximizing and increased the valuable resources. The results will be measurable and visible for everyone interested.

Within the framework of the reforms initiated by the Ministry, together with the Georgian National Scientific Foundation and the international organizations have identified several important priorities in the field of science, namely more integration with the EU research and innovation system, popularization of science amongst the youth and young Scientists, Development of Flexible and Effective Schemes in Science funding, Initiation and Development of Science and Private Sector, Commercialization of Research and so forth.

As the Director General of the Fund Zviad Gabisonia noted, in 2019 Georgia plans to join the EURAXESS as commissioned by the European Union, in order to strengthen the international cooperation bond. For this purpose, EURAXESS-Georgia portal will be created, which will be integrated with EURAXESS's Pan-European portal. More than 40 countries are now involved in the portal. Involve in EURAXESS will assist Georgian researchers in career growth and will attract foreign students to Georgia.

In order to facilitate scientific research, the European Research Council - ERC - Standards, Blockchain and 3D technologies will be implemented in Science Management. Also, the role of foreign experts in the evaluation of the results of the research will be strengthened. The state will fully fund the Georgian universities and scientific-research institutions access to ELSEVIER scientific databases.

A variety of scientific editions will be published by in the newly planned "Georgian Science" magazine. The magazine will provide Georgia's scientific product for international scientific scene.

According to the Minister, the purpose of promoting young scholars is to set up scholarships and increase the funding of research visits (ERC, DAAD, French Institute, etc.).

As Zviad Gabisonia specifically noted, the competition will be increased by participation of adolescents and young students.