On September 3–4, 2025, within the framework of the EU-funded project “Research Integrity and Ethics in Georgian Universities”, the third international consortium management meeting was held, hosted by Masaryk University (Brno, Czech Republic). Tomáš Foltýnek (Masaryk University, Project Manager) and Ketevan Darakhvelidze (Chancellor of Ilia State University, Project Manager) officially opened the event. During the meeting, they discussed the project’s ongoing progress, the work of the working groups and future activities.

Partners presented reports on several key topics, including: the accreditation process of doctoral programs and the training of experts; piloting the research integrity and ethics module; training ethics officers at universities and strengthening their role; the work of research ethics committees and policy document development; and the introduction of research integrity and ethics support services and a responsible science communication strategy. During the final part of the meeting, participants discussed the project’s third-year action plan, the dissemination strategy and final conference, the results of the external evaluation report and recommendations from the partners.

The national workshop within the framework of the Erasmus+ CBHE project “Responsible Conduct of Research – Research Integrity and Ethics in Georgian Universities (ETHICS)” was held in Telavi on June 23–24, 2025. The meeting was attended by representatives of the project’s partner 10 Georgian universities, the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement, and the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia.

The workshop discussed issues related to the project’s progress, policy documents on university research integrity and ethics, the establishment of research integrity and ethics councils, and the development and improvement of related services.

The second international meeting and study tour of the consortium took place on April 9-11, 2024, in Amsterdam, hosted by the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, within the framework of the project “Responsible Conduct of Research – Research Integrity and Ethics in Georgian Universities (ETHICS)” funded by the European Commission. 

The meeting was attended by representatives of ten Georgian higher education institutions, three European universities and European non-university partner organizations of the project consortium. The meeting was also attended by representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, the Shota Rustaveli Foundation and the National Centre for Education Quality Development. The aim of the meeting was to share key developments from the consortium members, who came together to share progress updates. The Georgian partners provided an insight into the in-house training conducted at Georgian universities as a continuation of the Kutaisi Training of Trainers (ToT) programme for Research Support Officers (11-13 October, year 2023). Foreign partners presented the results of their working groups: Research Integrity Module, Standards of PH.D. Programmes and other important topics.

On May 2-5, 2023 a Kick off and Study Visit was co-organized by Ilia State University and hosted by Charles University Prague within the frames of the European Commission Erasmus + CBHE Programme Structural Reform project Responsible Conduct of Research – Research Integrity and Ethics in Georgian Universities (ETHICS).

Participants of the event included representatives of 4 EU partner institutions, representatives of 10 Georgian universities and also 3 non-university partners (Ministry of Education and Science, National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement and Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation).

The aim of the meeting was review of ETHICS project timeline, goals and roles of the partners as well as introduction of EU Guidelines for Project Administration and New Requirements of the agency for financial management. The four-day working programme consisted of project meetings, lectures and study visit. Best practices and recommendations in academic integrity and research ethics were presented by researchers and academics from Charles University, Masaryk University, VUMC and ENAI within the study visit programme.

On March 1st, 2023 Ilia State University organized and hosted first national partners meeting within the frames of the European Commission Erasmus + CBHE Programme Structural Reform project Responsible Conduct of Research – Research Integrity and Ethics in Georgian Universities (ETHICS). The meeting was attended by the representatives of 10 Georgian Higher Education representatives involved in the project as well as the representatives of non-university partners (Ministry of Education and Science, National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement and Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation.

Prof. Nino Doborjginidze – Rector of Ilia State Universite opened the first national meeting with a welcome speech followed by Ms. Tamar Makharashvili – First Deputy Minister of Education and Science of Georgia, Maia Shukhoshvili -  Higher Education Department/Head of Higher Education Office at the Ministry of Education and Science, Erekle Astakhishvili - Director General of Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia and Lasha Margishvili  - Deputy Director at National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement.

The aim of the first national meeting was review of ETHICS project timeline, goals and roles of the partners as well as introduction of EU Guidelines for Project Administration and New Requirements of the agency for financial management.

The source: Project website.