HERD is a National SM initiative with the core objective to enhance the research capacity of Georgian HEIs through developing R&D units supported by professional development of research management mechanisms, skills and tools, evidence based policies & tech-transfer aiming to introduce technology and online national platforms, train admin staff and PhDs, contributing to Georgian R&I capacity nationally and internationally.Specific objectives are: 1. To introduce software online platform for Georgian HEIs R&D units facilitating planning, implementation and evaluation of R&D activities and KPIs. 2. Create an Online Georgian Research Portal accumulating and disseminating all public information on research activities, human resources and infrastructure of Geo HEIs and supporting inter- and intra- university collaboration nationally and internationally. 3. Upgrade the research management and data analysis skills of university admin staff in research management, analyzing institutional research data and providing ground for further forecasting and strategic planning. 4. Enhance the capacity of the target universities in respect to tech- transfer and university-industry collaboration. The relevance of this initiative are: a) Georgian HEIs are urged to respond to the national policies for R&I capacity building to provide high impact in socio-economic development of the countryb) Internationalization of R&D as mandatory feature after joining H2020 as associate memberc) New standards by quality assurance agency to develop evidence-based policies for R&D in Georgian HEIs and tracking the KPIsd) Georgian HEIs attempt to align their research management processes with EU standards.The HERD impact at the individual level [min 10 000 PhD students, 80 admin staff and 4 282 academics], institutional [12 GE HEIs] sector [transferable to the entire HE sector and research centers] and society level [supporting tech-transfer and innovation].