Georgia Starts NSF-Inspired Agency

The Republic of Georgia has created its first independent grant-giving science foundation, with help from the US Civilian Research & Development Foundation (CRDF), a nonprofit organization created by the US State Department in 1995. The Georgia Research & Development Foundation (GRDF), modeled on NSF, will work to maintain the country’s scientific and technological infrastructure. “The main goal is to support Georgian science and help young scientists have an alternative to emigration,” says CRDF staff member Amy Prevatt-Bulat. The GRDF will also help faculty members who worked in defense-related areas make the transition into civilian research, she adds.

Nearly $500 000 of GRDF’s $720 000 annual budget is set aside to promote collaborations between US and Georgian scientists. Grant proposals will undergo peer review in both countries. The deadline for this year’s proposals is 1 July.

The GRDF is the third such agency in the former Soviet Union in which the CRDF has had a hand: During the 1990s it helped set up similar science foundations in Armenia and Moldova. “Both these programs have been very successful,” says Prevatt-Bulat. More information about the new foundations can be found at http://www.crdf.org/Centers/ecbp.html .