In frames of the project, San Diego State University will provide American university education in Georgia focused on STEM disciplines. In doing so, SDSU collaborated with three state universities: Tbilisi State University, Ilia State University, and Georgian Technical University. Using the facilities of these three universities, SDSU-Georgia provides STEM education to train an advanced workforce to meet the growing needs of Georgia.

The purpose the project is to improve the standards of Georgian academic research and strengthen the quantitative and qualitative research skills and the academic writing of young Georgian researchers including assistant professors and doctoral students in partnership with SDSU’s main campus. The goal of the project is two-fold:

• A series of short courses held in Georgia via Zoom (and in person when and if possible) conducted by SDSU home campus professors and researchers in STEM. These short courses are meant to cover several modern, western approaches to research methodology, scientific writing, publishing, communication, oral and poster presentations, use of scientific literature, preparation of modern bibliographic resources and scientific publications and ethics, funding proposal preparation and potential sources, and resources available for graduate education in the US.
• Internships for Ph.D. students in San Diego State University, California, where they will conduct graduate research and studies under the direct guidance of an SDSU Faculty Mentor and learn, in depth, about conducting STEM research in the US setting. Students will benefit from state-ofthe-art equipment, approaches, and research questions at SDSU. Candidates will go through an open, national competition for participation in both - the short courses (below) and the graduate research positions in the US. The selection committee, manned by SDSU and the Georgian faculty will rank all applicants, and the mentoring faculty in the U.S. will select students with the interests and background that best match their project and areas of research.

As the Covid-19 pandemic has delayed travel to the US, the selection process and initiation of internships in the US has been delayed. Therefore, the series of mini courses is a unique opportunity for students, who have not participated in the first stage of selection, to get involved in this process. Attendance in the mini courses is one of the criteria students must meet for selection for the internship in San Diego State University, California. In collaboration with SDSU Georgia, starting October 2020, SDSU main campus representatives have already delivered 3 mini-courses for Georgian University students. The fifth mini course is scheduled for May, 2021.

The application process is open until all available slots are filled. For more details, please visit web-page.