STCU and Georgian National Science Foundation Signed a Statement of Cooperation on TRDI Program

31 Oct 2006

On 31 October 2006, the Georgian National Science Foundation and the STCU signed a Statement of Cooperation that initiates a Targeted R&D Initiative program between the two organizations. This is the first extension of the successful STCU Targeted R&D Initiative Program to a STCU Beneficiary Party beyond Ukraine.

The Georgian National Science Foundation is the science funding arm of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, led by its director Archil Motsonelidize. Mr. Motsonelidze and STCU Executive Director Andrew Hood signed this Statement of Cooperation on behalf of their respective organizations.

The Targeted Initiatives Program, established in 2005, creates an equal partnership between STCU and the governmental science bodies of STCU Beneficiary countries. The STCU and the Beneficiary country agency review and competitively select science research that targets specific national S&T development priorities of the Beneficiary country. Targeted Initiative projects are co-financed using funds from the Beneficiary country agency and from the STCU Donor Parties of Canada, the European Union, and the United States of America.

The existing Targeted Initiative Program between STCU and the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine has already conducted two successful science project competitions, with both organizations co-funding a total of 17 research projects for a total of nearly $2 million (USD equivalent).