The project “Internationalization of Doctoral Education in Georgian Higher Education Institutions,” funded by the CIF grant competition, is successfully progressing

Doctoral students of the Department of Educational Sciences of Tbilisi State University, together with their scientific supervisors, visited Germany, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz and Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg, on February 13-22, 2025.

The 7 doctoral students and 2 scientific supervisors involved in the study visit were fully funded by the winning grant project (MES-CIF-2-49) “Internationalization of Doctoral Education in Georgian Higher Education Institutions” of the second grant competition announced within the framework of the Competitive Innovation Fund (CIF).

During the visit, the participants visited Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, where they had the opportunity to get to know fellow doctoral students who are working on issues related to their research topics. During the scientific seminar, the doctoral students and scientific supervisors of the Mainz University provided the Georgian guests with detailed information about their research projects: the principles of defining the research topic, the criteria for selecting research methodology and tools, the importance of involving local and international partners in the project, etc. Also, 12 doctoral students from the Mainz University spoke about the progress of their dissertations.

In addition, the participants visited the Center for Vocational Teacher Training of Mainz University, where local students and supervisors spoke about the features and importance of organizing the educational process in this direction. This component was especially interesting and important for those Georgian doctoral students whose research topics are related to teacher training.

During their visit to the Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg, doctoral students met with representatives of the administration of the Faculty of Humanities, where they discussed their dissertations during working meetings and received advice from German scientific supervisors on the organizational details of conducting research. In addition, doctoral students had the opportunity to use the library resources of the University of Magdeburg with unlimited access and find interesting and necessary literature for them.

At the initiative of the University of Magdeburg, doctoral students and scientific supervisors were given the opportunity to attend a conference of experts on artificial intelligence and vocational education jointly organized by the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO-UNEVOC) and the University of Magdeburg.

Within the framework of the conference, participants had the opportunity to learn about the opportunities and challenges of using artificial intelligence in the field of vocational education worldwide, as well as to establish communication with international professionals in the field.

The main objective of the project, which won the Competitive Innovation Fund (CIF) No. CIF-2-2024-12, is to strengthen the institutional capacity of three educational institutions at the doctoral level. In particular, to support the equipping of students and academic staff of educational institutions with the skills and services that support them with appropriate infrastructure and internationalization opportunities.

The project coordinator is Tbilisi State University, which leads a consortium of local and international partners, namely: Akaki Tsereteli State University, Caucasus University, Otto von Guericke University of Magdeburg and Kapodistrian National University of Athens.