Since its inception in 2014 the International Education Center (IEC) has awarded more than 500 scholarships to citizens of Georgia, seeking their academic degrees abroad. Many of them have already completed their studies and returned to the country contributing to progress of their homeland through gained knowledge.

Paving way for highly qualified human resources and ensuring access to high-quality education abroad are of strategic importance for Georgia’s economic and social development. In line with national development priorities the International Education Center (hereinafter, the IEC), aims to support young professionals in their endeavors to get high quality education and get exposed to highest international professional standards. Upon completion of their studies fellows have a legal commitment to return to Georgia and to deploy their knowledge and experience in service of their country and society for at least 3 years.
Scholarships are awarded based on just, competitive and transparent competition.

Procedure of the Competition –Applicants apply for scholarships using electronic application system. The decision is taken by international selection committee formed by the IEC. Each applicant is evaluated according to pre-determined criteria. Members of the selection committee evaluate each application independently via electronic system.

The IEC administers the following scholarship programs:
International Masters Scholarship Programs – the aim of the program is to facilitate access of the citizens of Georgia, holders of neutral ID cards or neutral travel documents to masters’ programs offered by higher education institution abroad.

International Doctoral Scholarship Programs – the aim of the program is to educate professionals to respond to the needs of labor market and country’s socio-economic development and to facilitate their integration in relevant areas/institutions. The program also strives to integrate the IEC alumni in higher education sphere to foster development of the latter.
Public Servants’ Professional Retraining and Qualification Enhancement Programs – citizens of Georgia and holders of neutral ID cards or neutral travel documents, employed by the state (budgetary) organizations can obtain funding through open competition to complete professional retraining and qualification enhancement courses abroad. Professional retraining and qualification enhancement courses should respond to substance of responsibilities accrued to relevant public servants.



French Master’s Programs - the program provides merit based scholarships to citizens of Georgia for their Master’s and Ph.D studies at the designated French universities. The program is administered jointly by IEC and the French government.

International Masters and Ph.D Scholarship Program in Arts – the program is offered in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and Monument Protection of Georgia and grants merit-based full and partial scholarships for Arts students, embarking on their studies in Master’s and Ph.D level programs abroad.

The Stipendium Hungaricum Scholarship Program – In 6th of February, 2017 the Ministry of Human Capacity of Hungary and the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia signed new program agreement to support the Stipendium Hungaricum for 2017-2020. The designated managing partners for the Stipendium Hungaricum are the IEC and Tempus Public Foundation, Hungary.

The Program aims to support on an annually basis studies of Georgian students in public schools and universities across Hungary at Bachelor-, Master - , Integrated (5 year Master)- and Doctoral Level in academic fields of STEM, humanities, social sciences, life sciences, health sciences, sport- and art studies.

The program also envisages exchange for Hungarian students, willing to have short-term study and research visits to Georgian universities. In 2017 the government of Georgia funded and IEC coordinated visit of three Hungarian students to the Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University.

Fulbright Academic Exchange Program - starting from 2017 the IEC coordinates from Georgian side the implementation of the Fulbright Graduate Program in Georgia. The respective Memorandum of Understanding was signed by the Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili and the U.S Secretary of State John Kerry. The bi-national selection committee will select 12 Georgian nominees for Fulbright scholarships, covering the full tuition fees, living and travel expenses and insurance. Interests of Georgia shape prioritized fields of funding within the program.

Small Scale Alumni Grants Program – this year the IEC will announce small scale alumni grants, which aim at taking engaging intellectual resources of the IEC fellows and providing them financial support for implementing their social, community, cultural, educational, scientific, economic projects, contributing to positive changes and developments on national or community level in the country. Moreover, the program aims to encourage creation and development of social, academic and professional network of IEC’s graduates.

University Support Program – in 2017 through the University Support Program the IEC launches new strategic line of its activities, which is intended to provide support to HEIs of Georgia in capacity-building of their academic, scientific and administrative personnel.

The program is conceived to propel internationalization of higher education institutions of Georgia and their integration into international education network.
  U.S.A. – 88 fellows;
U.K. – 75 fellows;
Hungary – 75 fellows;
France – 40 fellows;
Netherlands – 21 fellows;
Germany – 17 fellows;
Italy – 15 fellows;
Spain – 11 fellows;
Sweden – 8 fellows;
Estonia – 8 fellows;
Czech Republic – 7 fellows;
Switzerland – 5 fellows;
Norway – 3 fellows;
Canada – 3 fellows;
Belgium – 3 fellows;
Poland – 3 fellows;
China – 2 fellows;
Denmark – 1 fellow;
Finland – 1 fellow;
Austria – 1 fellow;
Ireland – 1 fellow;
Malaysia – 1 fellow;
Russia – 1 fellow;
Japan – 1 fellow;
Lithuania – 1 fellow;
Bosnia and Herzegovina – 1 fellow.



 

 2014-2018