During his speech at the Parliament of Georgia in the format of the minister's hour, the Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli, introduced to the deputies the steps taken and implemented projects in terms of the development of science.
Mikheil Chkhenkeli: "In order to support the development of science, our priority is to facilitate the production of the best results-oriented research, for which the Ministry is already implementing a number of measures.
It should be noted that the volume of grant funding of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia has increased in recent years, and in the future, long-term targeted scientific research programs will also increase and expand. In addition, in order to promote the implementation of interdisciplinary research, active work is underway to implement the European model of science management and administration. In particular, it is planned to take into account the model of Max Planck Institutes to develop scientific fields in clusters. The National Academy of Sciences of Georgia will be actively involved in the implementation process of the mentioned model together with the Ministry."
As the Minister mentioned, owing to the initiative of the Ministry, in 2022, the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia announced a competition for state scientific grants for applied research with a significantly increased budget, in the amount of 3 million GEL. According to him, this year the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia has announced a scientific research grant competition for the protection and development of the state language in order to promote the functioning of the Georgian and Abkhazian languages, the protection and research of the state language. The new targeted competition, which is in full compliance with the main directions of the 2021-2030 state language strategy and action plan created by the State Language Department, is a matter of national importance, since Abkhazian scientists interested in researching the Abkhazian language will have the opportunity to participate in it along with researchers of the Georgian language.
Moreover, according to the minister, for the first time in 2022, the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia has announced a state scientific grant competition for interdisciplinary studies in the direction of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and a competition to support the creation of scientific-popular, cognitive films for the purpose of popularizing science. In addition, the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia prize - "Women in Science" was established for women scientists with special achievements in the field of information technologies.
Furthermore, effective steps have been taken to strengthen scientific and research institutes. The Government of Georgia has allocated 10 million GEL in 2022 for the completion of the renovation of the Evgeni Kharadze National Astrophysics Observatory of Georgia, which will ensure the complete restoration of the observatory, the refurbishment of telescopes and the acquisition of a new telescope.
It should be noted that rehabilitation and reconstruction works are actively underway at the Institute of Morphology named after Alexander Natishvili of TSU. The infrastructural project, the cost of which is 3,521,000 GEL, envisages both the complete rehabilitation of the vivarium and gerontology buildings, as well as the implementation of architectural and engineering works in the entire area.
Additionally, owing to the decision of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, the Andria Razmadze Institute of Mathematics at TSU returned to its historical building. Accordingly, from 2022 the institute continues to carry out fundamental research in mathematics, mechanics and theoretical physics in its native building, where academician Niko Muskhelishvili founded this outstanding scientific research institute.
As for the Korneli Kekelidze National Center of Georgian Manuscripts, it should be noted that an active work process is underway in order to establish it as a basic structure in the direction of learning and humanitarian sciences of Georgia. In order to strengthen the scientific potential, the Ministry has allocated funding to the centre for the purchase of the latest equipment, which will be used for the digitization of national treasures kept in repositories and personal archives. At the same time, the collections of the National Center of Manuscripts are getting richer.