Graduates of Georgian universities to benefit from EU Intellectual Property Office-funded traineeship

Graduates of two higher educational institutions in Georgia will have the opportunity to undergo a Pan-European Seal Professional Traineeship Programme in Spain, offered by the European Union Intellectual Property Office, Georgia’s National Intellectual Property Centre said on Wednesday.

Soso Giorgadze, the Chairman of the body, provided an update on Georgian universities' involvement in the Programme to Education Minister Giorgi Amilakhvari in a meeting that also involved David Gurgenidze, the Rector of the Georgian Technical University, and Erekle Astakhishvili, the Vice-Rector of the Tbilisi State University.

The programme provides graduates with the opportunity to undergo a fully funded, one-year traineeship at the EUIPO office in Alicante starting from September. The Georgian Centre said the traineeship would provide participants with “valuable teamwork skills in a multicultural setting” through specialised training from field experts and participation in “various departmental activities”.

They will also have access to training courses on intellectual property and learning opportunities available in seven languages, it added.

Established in 2014, the programme aims to “forge a robust connection between academia and the job market” in a fully funded, one-year Pan-European traineeship, as well as training courses and events for students, graduates and university staff.

The programme features 126 partner universities from 27 EU member states and 11 signatories to the European Patent Convention.

The Centre added it had offered a paid traineeship programme last year to six Georgian students including four trainees, who it said had showcased “ability to apply theoretical knowledge into practice and demonstrated a strong professional interest” and were now employed at the body.