Georgia: Mikheil Chkhenkeli meets French Ambassador Sheraz Gasri

Tbilisi, Georgia: Minister of Education and Science Mikheil Chkhenkeli held an acquaintance meeting with Sheraz Gasri, the newly appointed Ambassador of France. The parties discussed the details of existing and future cooperation between Georgia and France in the field of education and science. The Minister congratulated the French Ambassador on her appointment and wished him success in his work.

Mikheil Chkhenkeli thanked the French side for supporting the education system and said that the French-Georgian University is a prominent example of the long-term friendship between Georgia and France in the field of education.

 According to the Minister, it is important to further expand this project by adding new academic programs. Chkhenkeli offered the French Ambassador to implement joint professional programs under the umbrella of French-Georgian University. 

As Chkhenkeli stated, the internationalization of vocational education is one of the main priorities of the government. On the initiative of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili, foreign teachers are involved in the educational process in colleges from 2022, which gives them the opportunity to implement international standards in the learning process.

 In addition, foreign language centres and exchange programs will soon be available for students and vocational teachers. Mikheil Chkhenkel offered close cooperation to the French Ambassador in this direction.

During the meeting, the Minister provided information to Sheraz Gasri about main mega-project of the education system – Kutaisi International University and focused on its development prospects. 

According to the Minister, the author of the idea and concept of the University comes from Mr Bidzina Ivanishvili. It was because of his and his family’s very important charity that the worldwide academic and scientific research space was created in the country.

Mikheil Chkhenkel assessed that the high standards and quality of internationalization of the University are determined by an approach that incorporates academic programs in a particular field in collaboration with world-leading universities. The Minister noted that the programs at the University at this stage are analogues of Munich Technical University. 

According to him, cooperation with the world’s leading universities is actively continuing and new academic programs for all three levels of education are gradually being added in higher education institutions. According to the Minister, Kutaisi International University is ready to actively cooperate with leading French universities in order to implement joint academic programs.

As the Minister said, Kutaisi International University, which started operations in 2020, has a rapidly growing rating, indicating that its development is going on with the right strategy – the result of the 2022 Unified National Examinations Based on EB, according to average competition score, Kutaisi International University is the first in the ranking.

During his meeting, Mikheil Chkhenkeli also noted that with the funding of the Fund “Kartu,” an Adron Therapy Center is being built on the base of the International University of Kutaisi, where there will be a production process of research oncology and proton therapy International scientific circles will be involved. 

Notably, Ultramodern cyclotrons of the Adron Therapy Center for the scientific and research process have already been installed in the world-leading company of proton therapy equipment (IBA). 

It must be considered that one cyclotron will be devoted entirely for the scientific research process in medicine and nuclear physics, while the other will be used for cancer treatment. The Minister said that one cyclotron would be allocated for research has drawn particular interest from the international scientific community. 

The proof of this is that many well-known foreign scientists have already expressed their desire to participate in the research process with Georgian scientists. According to Mikheil Chkhenkeli, it will be good if Georgian and French scientists will implement joint scientific projects at the Adronic Therapy Center.

During the meeting with the newly appointed Ambassador of France, he also touched on the Horizon Europe program. According to the Minister, in 2021 with the immediate involvement of the Prime Minister of Georgia, Mr. Irakli Gharibashvili, Georgia became a member of the new EU Research and Innovation Framework Program, Horizon Europe. 

The association’s international agreement was signed in Brussels in a ceremonial situation. As a result, the Georgian scientific community has the opportunity to participate in competitions announced within the Research and Innovation Program budget of 95.5 billion euros under the same conditions and rights as the EU countries Nero and innovators are benefiting.

 It is noteworthy that Horizon Europe’s national and grant offices are already functioning in Georgia. In her turn, the French Ambassador to Georgia, Sheraz Gasri, gave a positive evaluation of the ongoing mega-project in the education system of Georgia and said that the establishment and development of a new university of European quality is really impressive. 

Sheraz Gasri also expressed her willingness to cooperate with the University. The meeting was attended by the advisor of the French Ambassador and the director of the French Institute, Kamil Nora.