Visit of the General Director of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia to Japan
From February 28 to March 2, 2019, Zviad Gabisonia, General Director of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, paid an official visit to Japan at the invitation of Yasuhiro Okada, Executive Director of the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) of Japan, Naohito Saito, Director General of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC), and Satoshi Mihara, Professor at the Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies of KEK and Project Manager of the COMET scientific project. It is also noteworthy that Professor Satoshi Mihara has been appointed as a member of the Foundation's International Coordination Council starting in 2019.
The purpose of this meeting was to activate scientific cooperation between the two countries. It is noteworthy that Georgian scientists are actively cooperating with the Japanese side. Evidence of this is the COMET project (COherent Muon to Electron Transition, the aim of which is to shed light on a long-standing problem of elementary particles โ the interrelation between two similar fundamental particles, the electron and the muon), in which Georgia plays a rather active role among 17 participating countries.
The meeting was attended by:
โข Kenta Amemiya - Professor, Institute of Materials Structure Science
โข Yutaka Ushiroda - Professor, Institute of Particle and Nuclear Studies
โข Kazuro Furukawa - Professor, Accelerator Laboratory
โข Professor Petr Evtukhovich - Senior Researcher, Joint Institute for Nuclear Research
โข Professor Arsen Khvedelidze - Director, Institute of Quantum Physics and Engineering Technologies
โข Professor Zviad Tsamalaidze - Deputy Director, Institute of Quantum Physics and Engineering Technologies
During the meeting, the initiation of cooperation between the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) was planned, aiming to sign a memorandum on launching joint funding in the direction of applied research. The signing of this memorandum is of utmost importance for Georgia and serves to develop our country's scientific potential in both fundamental and applied research, as well as to promote the improvement of technological infrastructure and educational programs in Georgia, and the participation of Georgian scientists in large-scale international scientific projects.
It is significant that active cooperation with Japan in the scientific field has already begun. This year, memorandums were signed between the Georgian Technical University and the Graduate University for Advanced Studies (SOKENDAI) of Japan. According to these memorandums, Georgian doctoral students will be able to participate in exchange programs, and academic personnel will have the opportunity to engage in international research ongoing in Japan's leading technological laboratories, which are at the forefront not only in Japan but worldwide.
