Mikheil Chkhenkeli: "Kutaisi International University will be a powerful center of science and research that will define the intellectual atmosphere in our country and throughout the region"
While delivering a speech in the Parliament, Mikheil Chkhenkeli, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, extensively spoke about the role of Kutaisi International University and noted that the project will significantly contribute to alignment with the European educational space.
“The establishment of Kutaisi International University, a mega-project underway in Kutaisi, is of crucial importance. This will be a truly European educational space. The idea of the university belongs to Mr. Bidzina Ivanishvili. His family made a charitable contribution of one billion euros for the project.
Since the foundation of the university, close cooperation has been maintained with the Technical University of Munich. As a result, academic programs have been developed. This means that the students of Kutaisi International University will study using programs identical to those of their peers in Germany. In September 2020, the university will welcome its first students. Alongside Georgian professors, lectures will be delivered by scientists from the world's leading universities, both from Germany and other European countries, the USA, and Japan. Foreign professors will deliver lectures both in classrooms and online. Through this method, Georgian scientists working abroad will also actively engage in the academic life of the university.
It is extremely important to note that a hadron therapy center will operate at the university; it is entirely funded by the Cartu Foundation. Along with state-of-the-art cancer treatment methods, the center will place a major focus on scientific research in the fields of medicine, medical physics, and nuclear physics. Thus, along with its immense medical significance, the hadron therapy center will be a powerful hub for science and research.
During the first phase of university construction, three academic buildings, three student dormitories, a residential building for professors and teachers, and a central library will be built, as well as a canteen intended for the entire campus.
The honorary president of Kutaisi International University is the world-renowned scientist, former president of the Technical University of Munich, Professor Wolfgang Herrmann.
I would also like to note that during my official visit to Japan, I met with Koichi Hagiuda, Japan's Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. I introduced him to the ongoing reforms in Georgia's education system. We discussed the details of future cooperation, including how Japan can get involved in the academic and scientific activities of Kutaisi International University.
During my stay in Japan, I also met with Kazu Yozawa, CEO of NTT Security, a leading Japanese technology company. He expressed his readiness for leading specialists from NTT Security to actively participate in the academic and research-scientific process of Kutaisi International University in the field of cyber security.
Meetings and negotiations with the world's leading scientific centers and internationally recognized researchers will continue. As a result, the university will largely determine the direction of academic processes and the intellectual atmosphere in general within our country and the entire region,” the Minister stated during his speech in the Parliament.
