Competitive Innovation Fund (CIF) – the Second Call for Proposals for HEls

The second Call for proposals of a Competitive Innovation Fund (CIF) created in frames of a program – “Georgia I2Q – Innovation, Inclusion and Quality”, approved by Ordinance #338 of the Minister of Education and Science of Georgia of March 9, 2020, is announced.

The strategic objective of the CIF is to foster modernization of higher education programs and learning environment and strengthen the labour market linkages. CIF is aimed at public Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and the consortia projects encouraging cooperation of the public and private HEIs targeting specific development and innovation issues.

The 2^nd Call for proposals is announced for the education programs of the following broad fields of “Classification of Fields of Study”:

a) Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Statistics;

b) Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs);

c) Engineering, Manufacturing and Construction;

d) Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Veterinary;

e) Education; f) Health and Welfare.

Themes for the 2^nd Call:

1. Joint elaboration/development/implementation of academic programs, including with partnership of public-private HEIs, focused on quality enhancement of learning and teaching methods and tailored to the industry/labour market needs (joint teaching/practice and/or other initiatives on different levels of education, including structured doctoral programs).
2. Elaboration/development of academic programs in cooperation with a foreign higher education institution recognized in accordance with the legislation of a foreign country for the purpose of awarding joint academic degree (including “double degree”) and/or promoting international accreditation.
3. Supporting HEIs to be awarded with accreditation of a foreign organization recognized by the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement.

A grant proposal must include a combination of following activities (different combinations due to a field specifics) to demonstrate the aim of developing a joint academic program (both elaboration and development of the programs):

• Introducing innovations in terms of teaching and learning including support for classroom teaching utilizing technology and modern pedagogical approach, such as problem-solving and project-based learning, and improvement of e-learning methods;
• Developing program content to reflect the latest trends in the field;
• Modernizing and upgrading labs and physical infrastructure to meet the program objectives;
• Reinforcing practice component in academic programs and enhancing students’ practical skills;
• Engaging relevant employers with curriculum development to reinforce the linkages with the labour market;
• Supporting HEIs to attract female students to STEM programs in higher educational system.

Eligible applicants for the funding window (call for proposals) are:

• The public HEI (single applicant);
• Consortia projects that involve two or more eligible HEIs (in that at least one is a public HEI), who are the main beneficiaries of the project).

For further information on the call, please view Ordinance.

Applicants must submit project proposals on the web portal – www.grants.gov.ge, following the instructions and information given in the documents “For information and “To be submitted”. The funding window is open from the 28^th of September 2023 till the 11^th of December (23:59) 2023.

Additional questions about the call for proposals may be sent by email no later than the 20^th of November 2023 at cif@iiq.gov.ge. The questions asked in the duration of the first call with the relevant answers are available on the following webpage: www.iiq.gov.ge.