Mechanisms for Evaluating Research Competencies in Georgian Higher Education Institutions: Challenges and Opportunities
Project manager: Sergo Chelidze
Field/discipline: Education Administration/Interdisciplinary
The present research project is an attempt of the researchers and other members of the group to examine and analyze certain important issues in the actualities of the country, faced by the scientific community today. Although Georgia has been already participating in the Bologna Process for 17 years, a number of issues still remain in its education system, which are critically important for the future of the country to allow its sustainable development. It should be noted that intellectual drain and certain difficulties in scientific circles still remain a challenge, hindering the country. Another issue is associated with the circumstances, the academic staff employed in universities seem to experience, namely the lack of appropriate conditions (resources: time, finances, professional development) in order to devote a significant amount of their time to research, to create a valuable product, and thereby to contribute to the development of the country.
Accordingly, in the research process, the group aims to identify the challenges and problems faced by the academic staff, their possible solutions, and at the same time, to evaluate the country’s opportunities and potential in relation to scientific research, their sustainability and further development prospects.
Migration: The European Experience - Approaches, Challenges and Opportunities
Project manager: Irakli Samkharadze, Head of the European Integration Research Center
Field/discipline: Interdisciplinary
At the beginning of the 21st century, parallel with the growth of the migratory movement, the protection of migrants’ rights and the regulation of the migration processes by the states became relevant, as well as the issues of the state’s sovereignty, its security, and, at the same time, internal sociopolitical conflicts.
The issue became especially relevant in 2022, following the occupation of Ukraine by the Russian Federation. In addition to the Ukrainian civilian population being forced to leave their homes and relocate to safer places, there is a large outflow of Russian citizens from Russia as well, especially to the visa-free nations. In this context, the Georgian pattern appears to be particularly interesting. Arguably, the migration policy is one of the hottest political topics in the European Union. The recent events have led the very issue to become a topic of heated debates at the national or international level. Therefore, it is even more important to discuss it in scientific terms, because on the one hand, people should not be discriminated on ethnic or national grounds, and on the other, the sovereignty of the state will be protected. It is significant that the topic of migration is a key issue on the agenda of the world in 2030 (Agenda 2030) and the goals of sustainable development of the United Nations.
A two-day scientific conference and presentations by speakers will be held. The presentations will be later published in a scientific journal or relevant coursebook;
The obtained results will be collected and presented to the interested parties. Considering that the topic of the project is an authentic issue of the very field with limited delivery in the framework of the discipline, allowing the syllabus of the relevant educational course to be outlined.
Mechanisms for Evaluating Research Competencies in Georgian Higher Education Institutions: Challenges and Opportunities.
Legal Settlement of the Child’s Property Disposal and Existing Challenges
Project manager: Natia Makhatadze
Field/discipline: Law
With the amendments made to the Civil Code of Georgia on September 20, 2019, the disposal of the child’s property became permissible only with the consent of the court, which, in turn, limited the decision-making process to the reservation of the examination of the best interests of the child. It is significant that this pattern of regulation of the issue is completely new for the Georgian reality. Accordingly, in addition to referring to the need for judicial control over the disposal of the child’s property, a number of issues related to the proceedings need to be settled. It should be considered that the legislator did not make a complete legal regulation of the procedural and legal aspects of the mentioned legislative innovation, which led to a number of ambiguities both in the process of the proceedings and in terms of putting the decision in effect. In addition, it should be noted that judicial practice regarding the mentioned issue is heterogeneous and often essentially inconsistent, which basically complicates the achievement of the main goal of the state to protect the best interest of the child. It is significant that there is no in-depth research or monograph on the mentioned subject, which only intensifies the interest of its research. In the conditions of completely unregulated legal aspects of the process, there are increased risks of different treatment of the process participants. In addition, the absence of a coordination mechanism hinders the interest of achieving the effectiveness of justice and the welfare of the child.
The project envisages the implementation of an in-depth study in order to fully identify the existing challenges regarding the disposal of the child’s property and to overcome them. As part of the research, both the existing local and international legal framework and judicial practice analysis will be carried out regarding the disposal of the child’s property. Finally, a textbook will be developed, which will analyze the peculiarities of the discussion of the issue of disposal of the child’s property and the effective enforcement mechanisms of the decision.
Challenges Faced by the Pre-school Education and the Need for Alternative Education
Project manager: Madona Kekelia
Field/discipline: Psychology
The legislation of Georgia recognizes the process of both formal and non-formal education and, while administering general educational activities, in specific cases, allows the opportunity to receive alternative education, and yet non-formal education does not imply an alternative to formal education. Non-formal education includes activities and qualification-raising measures carried out in order to complete and supplement formal education.
Standardization of pre-school education and authorization of institutions poses certain risks for alternative education providers, with the likelihood for the written standards to be inflexible, establishing certain specific forms of education administration, going beyond the autonomous planning to achieve educational goals and to determine the limited arrangement of the process, thereby terminating the status of pre-school education providers for alternative education nurseries operating in Georgia.
The research aims to justify the need to consider alternative education forms in the authorization process of pre-school institutions. In order to achieve the goal, it is planned to determine the compatibility of the nurseries providing alternative education in Georgia with the educational goals stipulated by the legislation in effect.
A Study of the Dominant Managerial Style in Georgia in the Context of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Theory
Project manager: Davit Chakhvashvili
Field/discipline: Human Resource Management
The desire of companies to expand the boundaries of their operational capacities and turn into large multinational corporations, the participation of organizations in various forms of international cooperation, as well as the globalization of the world economy as a whole, have revealed new problems of organizational behavior that are related to intercultural differences.
Recently, it has become clear that the effectiveness of international business depends on the understanding of the characteristics of the national culture of other countries and the ability to adapt to the cultural differences of nations. As these factors significantly affect people’s behavioral patterns and decision-making in the organization, national culture and its related determinants and values should be studied as a characteristic of the population of a particular country, since their exploration is very important for solving the challenges and problems in the management process.
The proposed research aims to reveal the dominant style of decision-making for Georgian managers. Within the framework of the research, the target group will be divided into the following categories: age, education, managerial level and gender, which will allow us to describe 16 profiles of Georgian managers and related decision-making and management styles.
