Tuesday, 3 November 2026 · 12:00–15:30 Tbilisi (09:00–12:30 Brussels, CET) · Online on Google Meet
Register Here
Event Description
Erasmus+ projects are built by consortia. A Georgian university, research institute or company can take part in almost every action of the programme, but almost always as a partner within an international consortium rather than alone. The obstacle is rarely the idea or the capacity. It is not knowing who to apply with.
Partnerships form between people who have already met, and Georgian organisations are frequently absent from the informal European networks where those introductions happen. This event exists to close that gap. It is not a training and not a conference. Nobody is taught how to write a proposal.
The day is built around two activities: every participant introduces their organisation and says exactly what kind of partner they need, and then participants are helped to identify and contact the right counterparts.
Success is measured in one way only — the number of concrete partner contacts that exist at the end of the day and did not exist at the beginning.
Who should take part
The event is open to three closely related groups, chosen because they look for the same kind of partners and apply to the same actions:
- Higher education institutions — universities and other HEIs, whether or not they already hold an Erasmus Charter.
- Research institutions — institutes, laboratories and research centres, including those attached to universities.
- Private sector organisations — companies, business associations, innovation hubs andconsultancies. Enterprise involvement strengthens applications in several actions, so the private sector is a full participant here rather than an observer.
Participants are welcome both from Georgia and from EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme.
Places are limited to 25 organisations, one representative each. The cap is deliberate:
the introduction round only works if every participant can be heard, and beyond roughly 25 people that becomes impossible within a single session.
Objectives
- Give each participating organisation a clear, structured opportunity to present its profile and its partner requirements to an international audience.
- Produce at least one concrete partner contact for every Georgian participant.
- Clarify which Erasmus+ actions are genuinely open to Georgian higher education institutions, research institutions and companies, and under what conditions in 2026.
- Create a written record of all participant profiles and agreed contacts that remains available after the event and can be used for future calls.
- Connect the academic and business sides of the group, since several Erasmus+ actions specifically reward consortia that combine universities, research capacity and enterprise.
What happens in each part
12:00 — Opening and aim of the event. Welcome, introduction of the organisers, why the
event is being held and what participants should expect to leave with. The house rules are stated at the start: each participant will have 90 seconds to speak, cameras on, and
everyone fills in their own line in the shared document while they speak. The link to the
shared document is posted in the chat.
12:15 — Erasmus+ opportunities for higher education, research and business. A
focused presentation on the actions this group can realistically apply for: Capacity Building in Higher Education, International Credit Mobility, Erasmus Mundus Joint Masters, Jean Monnet, and Cooperation Partnerships in higher education. Upcoming deadlines are given. The session closes with the eligibility rules that apply to Georgian organisations in 2026.
12:50 — Introduction round, part 1: Georgian organisations. Each Georgian participant speaks for 90 seconds and covers four points: the name of the organisation, what it works on, which Erasmus+ action it is targeting, and what kind of partner it is looking for. Participants are called in the order they appear in the shared document, and time is kept strictly.
13:45 — Introduction round, part 2: European organisations. The same format and the same four points, for participants from EU Member States and countries associated to the Programme. This is where Georgian participants identify who they want to approach, so everyone is asked to take notes.
14:25 — Open matching. The core working session. The moderator names likely pairings aloud, drawing on what was said during the introductions — for example, where two organisations mentioned the same thematic area or the same action. Participants respond, agree to follow up, and exchange contact details in the chat. Every pairing is written into the shared document as it is agreed, so nothing is lost when the call ends.
15:10 — Next steps and follow-up. The nearest application deadlines are repeated. Participants are told how long the shared document stays open, who to contact with questions, and what support is available for preparing an application. Anyone still without a match is invited to post their request in the document.
15:25 — Closing. Feedback form, thanks and close.
How the session runs
The whole event takes place in one Google Meet room from start to finish. There are no breakout rooms. Keeping everyone together means nothing depends on the platform
edition, latecomers can be admitted at any point, and the session can be recorded. Two facilitators share clearly separated roles. The host owns the meeting: admitting participants, keeping time during the introduction round, managing the chat, recording, and writing agreed pairings into the shared document. The moderator runs the content: the welcome, the presentation, calling participants in turn, and leading the matching session. A single shared online document is open throughout and is the working tool of the event:
- Before the event, every registered participant fills in one row: organisation, country,
sector, thematic focus, target Erasmus+ action, and the partner profile sought. - During the event, participants speak to their own row.
- After the event, the document remains open for at least one month, so that contacts made can be followed up and organisations that did not find a match can still be
reached.
What participants should do in advance
1. Register through the link above. Registration closes 72 hours before the event.
2. Complete your row in the shared document, which is circulated 48 hours in advance.
3. Join signed in with a named account rather than anonymously, so you can be identified in the participant list.
4. Prepare your 90 seconds. Four points only: organisation, thematic focus, target action, partner sought.
Why partner with a Georgian institution
Georgia leads projects, it does not only join them. Since 2014, Georgian institutions have coordinated 27 Capacity Building in Higher Education projects and joined a further 50 as partners.
In the current programme period, Georgia has coordinated as many Capacity Building projects as Ukraine, and roughly twice as many as Armenia or Azerbaijan.
In centralised actions, Region 2 is the target, not an extra
Capacity Building is built around the needs of third countries not associated to the Programme. Georgia sits in Neighbourhood East (Region 2) alongside Armenia, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Ukraine, and all five regional priorities apply to this region: the Green Deal,
digital transformation, migration, governance and peace, and growth and jobs. A Georgian partner does not dilute a proposal’s fit with the action — it establishes it.
A ring-fenced budget and a smaller field
The Capacity Building budget is divided into separate regional envelopes, and proposals are ranked within their own region. A consortium including Georgian partners competes inside the Neighbourhood East envelope, not against applications from every region of the world.
Across the same period, 518 Capacity Building proposals involving Georgian institutions were submitted, and Georgia’s share of mobility within the Neighbourhood East region rosefrom 26.1% to 33.6%.
Higher education in Georgia
Georgia has been part of the European Higher Education Area since joining the Bologna Process in 2005. Degrees are structured in three cycles, credits are expressed in ECTS, and every institution that awards a state-recognised diploma has passed a national authorisation procedure. For a European partner, the qualifications, credit values and quality assurance arrangements are already familiar.
One-cycle and integrated programmes: Medicine 360 ECTS, Dentistry at least 300 ECTS, Veterinary Medicine 300 ECTS, and integrated bachelor and master teacher training 300 ECTS.
Institutions. Colleges deliver bachelor programmes only. Universities deliver programmes across the cycles together with scientific research. Both may be public or private legal
entities.
Quality assurance. Authorisation is carried out by the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement. The state recognises diplomas only from authorised institutions.
Admission. Entry to bachelor, one-cycle and integrated programmes is through the Unified National Examinations. Entry to master’s programmes is through the Common Master’s Examination, with further conditions set by each institution. Doctoral admission is set by the
institution.
Teacher training. A separate 60 ECTS programme leads to a teacher preparation certificate, and can be taken on its own or integrated into a bachelor programme.
Eligibility note
Under the 2026 Erasmus+ Programme Guide, direct financial assistance from the programme to Georgian authorities is no longer considered to be in the Union’s interest, following the Council conclusions of 19 December 2024 and on the basis of Article 20 of Regulation (EU) 2021/817. For this purpose, Georgian authorities are defined as central government, local authorities, agencies and state-owned enterprises, and they are not eligible under any action of the guide.
Opportunities remain available for students, academic and administrative staff, schools, vocational education and training providers and other educational organisations, within the programme’s eligibility criteria. Georgia continues to take part in mobility and cooperation activities.