The Rector of the Technical University of Georgia, Academician Davit Gurgenidze, met with the Chairman of the Rural Affairs Committee of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, Viktoras Pranckietis, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Lithuania to Georgia, His Excellency Andrew Kalinda and the delegation of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.

The members of the Rural Affairs Committee of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania: Juozas Baublis, Jonas Gudauskas, Vigilius Yukna, Kestutis Majeika, Head of the Committee's Office Auguste Matuleviciene, President of the Supervisory Board of the Technical University of Georgia, Professor Zurab Gudavadze, Chancellor, Professor Karlo Kopaliani of the Department of Agricultural Sciences and Biosystems Engineering, deans, professors, representatives of the university administration and students of the faculties of chemical technology and metallurgy, informatics and management systems participated in the meeting.

According to the Rector, Academician Davit Gurgenidze, the Technical University of Georgia has a long-term partnership with the higher educational institutions of Lithuania, which provides for exchange programs of students and scientific-academic personnel, joint research, and the format of scientific conferences and seminars.

As Davit Gurgenidze noted, in the Technical University of Georgia, with the patronage of the First Lady Diana Nausedienes, the “Lithuanian Language, Culture and Education Center named after Professor Vidas Kavaliuskas”, for 14 years has been functioning productively and implementing educational projects. The center was created by the joint efforts of the Ministry of Education, Science and Youth of Georgia and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports of Lithuania. According to the Rector, about 400 students have already studied the Lithuanian language and history of the friend country.

At the meeting, the parties discussed the prospects of educational and scientific collaboration in the agrarian field. The rector, academician Davit Gurgenidze has talked to the chairman of the Rural Affairs Committee of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, Viktoras Pranskietis, and the members of the committee about the teaching-scientific opportunities, infrastructure, educational programs, and teaching-research laboratories equipped with modern standards of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Biosystems Engineering of the Technical University of Georgia.

“The Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Biosystems Engineering, which has existed already for 11 years, we can safely say that it is one of the leaders in our university space, along with traditional engineering-technological and modern humanitarian directions. The 24 educational programs, including English, are implemented at all three levels of education. We also have a newly accredited veterinary program. The faculty, with its capabilities, totally covers the agrarian field and offers young people versatile opportunities to acquire knowledge or to carry out research. The faculty is effectively running two-degree undergraduate programs in partnership with the French University Ren-1 - in the production management of the dairy products industry and partnership with the University of Milan - in the direction of viticulture-enology. In addition, from 2021, the master’s program in Viticulture and Oenology of the Technical University of Georgia is a member of the EMAVE consortium, a European equivalent master’s program. Universities of France, Portugal, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Switzerland are united in the consortium. Our students on master’s degree level are given a unique opportunity to travel to any of the consortium member countries for one year, to receive a European education in the field of viticulture and winemaking, to prepare a master’s thesis and to obtain two diplomas - from the Technical University of Georgia and a leading European university. Alongside this, faculty students and academic staff, within the framework of “Erasmus +” mobility, successfully participate in exchange programs in various European higher education institutions. It should be noted that the faculty has 32 educational, research, and expert laboratories. Among them are the laboratories of plant genetics, physiology and biology, organic, colloidal, physical and analytical chemistry, micro and molecular biology, biologically active substances, food, soil and water, hydraulics, and agro-engineering, as well as breeding laboratories. The educational and research infrastructure, which our bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral students use, is equipped with the latest equipment, apparatus, and devices according to modern standards and requirements. Taking into account the above, the Technical University of Georgia expresses its full readiness to activate educational and research collaboration in the agricultural sector with relevant higher education institutions, scientific and research organizations, and the business sector of the Republic of Lithuania to expand the exchange and internship programs of specialists, especially young researchers, and students. The main goal of the Technical University of Georgia is to participate in the development of the agricultural sector, to add professional young staff to it, and to contribute to the growth of the economy”, said the rector, Davit Gurgenidze.

The representatives of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Biosystems Engineering of the Technical University of Georgia presented the educational, research, and expert laboratory complex of the faculty in the form of a visual presentation to the delegation of the Rural Affairs Committee of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.

The Chairman of the Rural Affairs Committee of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, Viktoras Prantskietis, thanked the Technical University of Georgia and the Rector, Academician Davit Gurgenidze, for their readiness for future cooperation. As he has noted, cooperation with the Georgian engineering-technological high school, which has a 100-year history and traditions, is a harbinger of future success for both countries.

“The support of the Technical University of Georgia and its rector personally has great importance in deepening the friendly relations between the two countries. The meeting is another important step that will promote mutual understanding and cooperation, both in the agricultural field and between the Technical University of Georgia and the universities of Lithuania, scientific organizations, researchers, and students of the two countries.”

After the meeting, the delegation of the Rural Affairs Committee of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania, accompanied by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Lithuania to Georgia and representatives of the Technical University of Georgia, visited the University Center of Lithuanian Language, Culture and Education.