Two days long conference is being held at Ilia State University where Georgian academic society with foreign (primarily European) partners are introduced to novel principles of development and implementation of educational programs. The conference called "Joint educational Programs: possibilities and practical advice", is attended by the Deputy minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Giorgi Sharvashidze.

The conference is organized by Erasmus+ national office. It is conducted by the experts from the Netherlands Rosa Becker and from Finland Annika Sundberg-Lindor.

58 representatives of 32 Georgian universities participate in the conference, as well as staff members of Education and Science Ministry and the Education Development Center.

The following issues will be discussed during the conference:

• Conditions for awarding Joint or double degrees
• Quality assurance of joint programs
• Recognition of joint programs
• readiness of Georgian legislative framework for the implementation of joint programs, etc.

It was also stated at the conference that preliminary results of the competition Erasmus+ exchange program for students and academic staff has been released. In terms of a number of scholarships, Georgia ranks on place 7 out of 74 partner countries.! This means that 350 students and 188 academic staff members will receive scholarships to study/work in Europe in short term format.

Erasmus + is a cooperation and mobility program in the field of higher education, which aims to enhance the quality of European higher education and promotes dialogue and understanding between people and cultures through cooperation with the countries. At the same time, Erasmus + enhances the cooperation between European Universities and the Universities of third countries.