24 June 2021, Tbilisi – The Twinning project on collaboration between research and industry has organised a workshop that is aimed to identify the needs of companies for applied research grant calls.

Workshop was a unique opportunity to find out the needs and desires of the companies. The project team appreciates active participation and feedback provided by business representatives during the workshop. Moreover, the opportunities for Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia were explored as well.

All participants had an opportunity to discuss the main challenges. The discussion was focused on the following topics: What are the biggest hurdles related to science and business cooperation in Georgia? What would you wish in terms of improved science-business cooperation? and What are the most important ingredients for an attractive applied research grant call for collaborative research?

"The EU is a long standing partner of Georgia and is committed to Georgia's development, including in the area of science, technology and innovation. To maximize these areas, we need to look at connecting science and business as only with joint efforts can the existing challenges and gaps be minimized and full potential reached", noted Catalin Gherman, Deputy Head of Cooperation, EU Delegation to Georgia.

Wolfgang Polt, the Project Leader from Joanneum Research underlined the significance of applied research grant calls in development of science, technology and innovation system in Georgia. It was noted that Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia has a great potential for fast development that can contribute to bridging the gap between research and industry, if it further and continuously develops processes and selection mechanisms in this direction.

The interaction between science and business is not always smooth and Georgian situation is not an exception. The gap between science and business is quite wide. However, there are two institutions addressing this problem. The first is Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia that promotes development and popularization of research in Georgia enhancing science and business links and contributing to making science and business more diverse and inclusive. Another institution is Georgia’s Technology and Innovation Agency, which input is highly valuable for the overall process related to facilitation of science and business interplay.

It is important to note that we are working in accordance with the recently developed “quintuple helix of innovation model” that shows significance of collaboration among five main sectors of any society: government, research, industry, civil society, culture and media, and environment. Current International Year of the Creative Economy for sustainable development shows the significance of collaboration, especially inclusion of civil society and culture that is at the heart of the challenges we face globally.

The agile consortium of Environment Agency Austria in partnership with Joanneum Research (Austria), Austrian Science Fund, Austrian Research Promotion Agency, DLR Project Management Agency (Germany) and Daugavpils University (Latvia) enhances the capacity of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia by revising and improving grant programmes, considering regional and international contexts.

For more information, please contact:

• Ms Tamriko Mikadze, Press and Information Officer, Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, Mikadze@eeas.europa.eu
• Ms Inese Gavarane, Resident Twinning Advisor, EU Funded Twinning Project, “Supporting inter-sectoral collaboration possibilities between Research and Industry”, gavarane@du.lv