FORGE-AI: Selection Phase for European Secondments

Funded by the EU’s Horizon Europe program, the three-year FORGE-AI project is officially underway, uniting 13 organizations across Georgia, Armenia, and Europe. The initiative aims to strengthen the regional research and innovation ecosystem in Artificial Intelligence, creating new opportunities for both academic researchers and the private sector.

A central objective of the program is advancing the professional skills of early-career AI researchers and research managers. To achieve this, the project is currently in its rigorous selection phase, evaluating nearly 40 candidates. Ultimately, 25 selected talents will be matched with leading European host organizations to complete 6- to 12-month secondments in Germany, France, and other partner countries.

During their mobility periods, these participants will work on cutting-edge technological challenges, with research topics including:

• Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Large Language Models (LLMs)

• Computer Vision (CV) and object recognition

• Artificial Intelligence applications in healthcare

• AI-driven scientific grant management systems

The applicant pool represents a strong cross-section of Georgia's academic and technological landscape. Candidates hail from the Georgian Technical University (GTU), Tbilisi State University (TSU), the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia (SRNSFG), and Georgia's Innovation and Technology Agency (GITA), alongside leading Georgian AI enterprises such as Helio.AI, AILab, and the Data Analysis Laboratory/Enagram.

The FORGE-AI project is driven by a broad international consortium and is coordinated by the Muskhelishvili Institute of Computational Mathematics (MICM) at the Georgian Technical University.