On September 18 Rector of the Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU), Academician Vladimer Papava presented a report on his first year in office.
During the press conference TSU Rector Vladimer Papava spoke about those important events held at the university, which promote improving the quality of learning and teaching; he focused on structural changes carried out at the university and laid out new initiatives. He said that 15 new educational programs were introduced at TSU over the past one year; the Institute for Post-Doctoral Studies was established; Ivane Javakhishvili International Scientific Prize was introduced for special contribution to the development of Kartvelian studies; the best lecturers and Rector’s scholarship recipient were revealed for the first time; the problem of academic registration was settled; improved learning management system was created; the rules of holding a competition for taking academic positions were improved; over 7 000 books were added to the library book fund; international contacts with leading foreign educational institutions were deepened and intensified; number of exchange programs increased; laboratories of physics, chemistry, biology and mechanisms and molecular physics were equipped with modern apparatus; a modern multimedia center was opened; the TSU Academic Council made a decision to introduce a new faculty – the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. TSU is still a leader in obtaining research grants.
“During the meeting with TSU students several months ago, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili promised them that the universities would be financed from the state budget. This is essential for the development of universities. The state universities do not receive direct budget support. TSU exists due to the money paid by its students. This sum is insufficient for the development of expensive branches, like physics, chemistry and medicine. This sum is insufficient to renovate educational buildings, to eradicate wage differentiation and settle a lot of other problems. I hope that the sum necessary for direct budget support of universities will be envisaged in the new state budget,” TSU Rector, Academician Vladimer Papava said while talking about the problem of financing.
Papava also spoke about the establishment of the School of Engineering jointly with the San Diego State University (USA); integration of the International School of Economics (ISET) into the Faculty of Economics; new plans of the university’s strategic development, etc.
