Within the scope of the anti-crisis plan in the field of education, the Minister of Culture and Sport of Georgia, Mikheil Chkhenkeli, also spoke about the importance of Georgian science in the fight against the pandemic.

Mikhail Chkhenkeli: "The importance of fundamental and research science in the fight against the pandemic has become evident, because this challenge will be defeated, first of all, only by scientists."

According to the Minister, the group of Georgian scientists are currently participating in the international interdisciplinary project "Georgia's Reality: Sustainability of Scientific Research during the COVID-19 Pandemic" supported by the World Organization for the Pandemic Prevention. The data and findings of the project will be particularly important not only for the current Georgian reality, but also for the need for sustainability in case of other global challenges.

Due to the situation in the country, several scientific research institutes have been actively involved in the production of products required for COVID-19 prevention.

In his speech, Mikheil Chkhenkeli also stressed the importance of UNESCO's participation in the online ministerial conference "COVID-19 and Open Science", which aimed at discussing effective ways to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus whilst sharing the experience of different countries.

The Minister noted that despite the pandemic, the development of Georgian science continues to be promoted. The CAPTAIN: Science is the Captain project, presented by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, won the European Scholarship, and was granted a sum of EUR 197,500.

Within the framework of the project, large-scale events will be held in six cities of Georgia together with European cities in the fall of 2020 aimed at popularizing science.

In addition, the reporting periods for 2020 have been extended for grant projects funded by the Shota Rustaveli Georgian National Science Foundation.