German and Georgian researchers have been working together for more than 20 years. The Georgian-German Science Bridge (GGSB) forms the basis for this collaboration. The focus is on research projects and new technologies as well as on the promotion of young scientists. Together with colleagues from RWTH Aachen University, the German-Georgian partners are currently working on design of the planned courses of study at the "Kutaisi International University", which is still under construction.
From casual contact to strong partnership
Great ideas often start small. Thus, the Georgian-German Science Bridge (GGSB) also found its beginning in the contact between two scientists who were considering working together. Otto Schult (at that time director of the Institute of Nuclear Physics at Forschungszentrum Jülich) and Mikheil Nioradze (director of the Institute of High Energy Physics at Tbilisi State University (HEPI TSU)) got to know each other in 1992 and initiated a cooperation that led to their first joint project just three years later. Since then, there has been a lively exchange between Forschungszentrum Jülich and several scientific institutions in Georgia. With the founding of GGSB in 2004, the casual contact finally turned into a strong partnership. In the meantime, regular workshops, jointly operated with SMART|Labs in Georgia, guest lectures as well as research stays of Georgian scientists and internships of Georgian students at the Research Centre have become an integral part of the cooperation.
More than a scientific cooperation
The three major keywords of the GGSB are research, training and knowledge transfer. The cooperation therefore goes far beyond pure research activities. Above all, training of young scientists is of great importance. For example, qualified Georgian students have the opportunity to participate in a student exchange program. Within this programme, they can learn and perform research at Forschungszentrum Jülich. The returnee programme offers these students the option of running a SMART|Lab in their home country after their stay abroad. In these labs, young scientists can continue the research they started in Germany.
Special block lectures are offered at Georgian universities. At the Kutaisi International University (KIU) currently under construction, partners are even going one step further. The German-Georgian partners are working together on the design of the planned courses of study. The university is scheduled to start operating in 2020 and will offer STEM courses of study in which scientists from RWTH Aachen University and the Forschungszentrum Jülich will not only provide advice, but will also be actively involved in teaching. A Memorandum of Understanding signed in May 2020 declares the university to be part of the GGSB. It provides for cooperation in education and science, including supercomputing, data analysis and machine learning.
The German partners are not only supporting their Georgian colleagues in the field of education, but also, the Georgian experts can rely on the expertise from Jülich and Aachen for the planned hadron therapy centre. The KIU centre will be active in biomedical, applied and medical-technical research.
A look into the future
In the future, partners plan to focus the Science Bridge on "Health as a global challenge". The thematic focus is primarily on developing the activities in various GGSB groups and SMART|Labs. However, in addition to pure health research, topics of energy research, engineering science and computer modelling are also to be promoted. Through planned workshops, summer schools and educational events, as well as online and face-to-face courses, lectures, seminars and the offer of early education in the STEM subjects for schools, young scientists in particular are to benefit from even stronger cooperation in the future.
