On March 1, TeSaU representatives participated in the first national meeting under European Commission funded project “Responsible Conduct of Research – Research Integrity and Ethics in Georgian Universities (ETHICS)” organized by Ilia State University.

The representatives of the Georgian higher educational institutions of the project consortium were welcomed and the importance of the project was emphasized by the Rector of Ilia State University Nino Doborjginidze, the first Deputy Minister of Education and Science Tamar Makharashvili, Head of the Higher Education Division of the Department of Higher Education and Science Development of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, Maya Shukhoshvili, Deputy Director of the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement, Lasha Margishvili, and Director of Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia, Erekle Astakhishvili.

Work packages, role of each partner and action plans were discussed in detail at the meeting, administrative and financial regulations for grant management too.

The project is being implemented under the coordination of Ilia State University and will contribute to raising the research culture in universities. Its main objective is to improve research ethics and integrity mechanisms, procedures and services at the university level. Along with 10 Georgian universities, the consortium's European partners are the Free University of Amsterdam, Charles University, Masaryk University and the European Network/Association for Academic Integrity.

The non-university partners of the project are: Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement and Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia.

The project was financed by the European Commission and its duration is four years.