The College of Social Sciences has won funding of €120,000 to support its participation in a large three-year EU Tempus project in Georgia and Ukraine.

Coordinated by Central and East European Studies and its wider Centre for Russian, Central and East European Studies, the project brings Glasgow together with a total of 12 partners, principally Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ilia State University (Tbilisi) and the Universities of Maastricht and Paris-Est. Glasgow will bring to bear its internationally-recognised excellence in social science research methods and East European Language-based Area Studies through the project, which will establish two doctoral schools according to EU Bologna specifications, one at Kyiv-Mohyla and one at Ilia.

Both in Ukraine and Georgia, the need for systemic reform of university management regarding research and postgraduate training is widely accepted by policy makers. However, increasing research mass in universities and integrating this research in education requires a paradigm change in these two countries. Project activities will include drafting and disseminating legislative changes required to move from the current aspirantura system to structured PhD studies. Ultimately, the project aims to jointly establish, verify and accredit new university management structures and procedures that will provide improved services for doctoral students seeking EHEA (European Higher Education Area) and ERA (European research Area) integration.

Professor of Baltic History and Politics at Glasgow, David Smith said: “The invitation the join this project was a testament to Glasgow's reputation both in graduate training and in East European area studies. The collaboration with Kyiv-Mohyla, Ilia and our other partners will be an important part of the College's internationalisation strategy going forward and will in time hopefully open up possibilities for research collaborations, too.”

Tempus supports the modernisation of higher education and creates an area of co-operation in countries surrounding the EU. Established in 1990, the scheme now covers 27 countries in the Western Balkans, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.

First published: 26 January 2011

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