Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia in partnership with the “Elsevieri" publishing house, held a Science and Development forum/seminar at Ilia State University.

The Minister of Education and Science of Georgia – Ms. Tamar Sanikidze, together with the Deputy Minister - Mr. George Sharvashidze, General Director of the National Science Foundation – Ms. Marine Chitashvili and the representatives of the publishing house “Elvesier” Lucy Budova and Crishtoph Zhimanski spoke about various development strategies for scientific research. During the seminar, the instructors of “Elvesier” publishing house, also demonstrated the capabilities of working inside the “Elvesieri” data.

Furthermore, Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation cooperates with the company "Elsevieri" since 2014, which enables Georgian scientists to utilize the largest international scientific data for free. For the first time in Georgia, scientists have the opportunity to access a worldwide published scientific literature, not just a brief summary, but the whole versions as well. In addition, it is now possible to obtain all the bibliographical information including quotations and references. Moreover, Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation over the course of three years will fund the development of two Georgian scientific electronic journals and place it within the confines of “Elvesieri” electronic scientific data.

"I hope that this prosperous cooperation with “Elvesieri” will help the quality development of science in Georgia, aid its the convergence to the international standards and assist with the overall integration into the European educational system" – said Ms. Tamar Sanikidze. The Minister also mentioned, the agreement which was signed few days ago in Brussels, between Georgia and European Commission regarding the association agreement to become a member of Horizon 2020. The program budget for the years 2014-2020 is about 80 billion euros. The agreement will allow the Georgian scientists, who are actively involved in the international scientific-research to take part in EU research project consortia, which is a good prerequisite for the development of science in Georgia.