Ilia State University is an educational institute located in Tbilisi

Tbilisi

Tbilisi is the capital and the largest city of Georgia, lying on the banks of the Mt'k'vari River. The name is derived from an early Georgian form T'pilisi and it was officially known as Tiflis until 1936...

, Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

. University (Iliauni) was established in 2006 on the basis of Ilia Chavchavadze State University for Language and Culture and Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani State Pedagogical University. Later - State Academy of Sport and Physical Education of Georgia, Guramishvili Pedagogical College, Gogebashvili Pedagogical Research Institute, Kharadze National Astrophysical Observatory, Seismic Monitoring Center and Institute of Zoology were incorporated into the university.

Iliauni is the only higher education institution in Georgia employing principles of liberal education. Undergraduate admissions take place in two main directions: Arts and Sciences and Business and Law. During the first year all undergraduate students study following core subjects:

• Introduction to Contemporary Thinking
• English
• Academic Writing
• Computer Skills
• Mathematics
• Communication, Discussion and Presentation Skills
• Introductory courses as per areas of study (in Arts and Sciences or Business and Law)

During the second year of their study students choose major and minor programs. At the College of Arts and Sciences they can acquire Bachelor’s degrees in Exact Sciences, Natural Sciences, Humanities or Social Sciences. College of Business and Law offers Bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration or Law.
Facts and figures

Facts and Figures

• 200 professors, 110 researchers, 8000 students
• 10 faculties (out of which one offers undergraduate programs only. The rest offer undergraduate as well as graduate degrees.)
• Best annual research rate among Georgian universities and institutions
• More than 30 active research projects
• Highest annual salary rate among higher education institutions in Georgia
• 14% of the annual budget allocated for research
• International peer review in its publications
• Internationally recognized textbooks translated into Georgian (e.g., "Sociology" by Craig Calhoun, "Biology" by Nail Campbell, "Fundamentals of Physics" by David Halliday)
• Partnership with the following universities and research centers: University of Idaho, USA; Zoological Museum of Bonn; Free University of Brussels; University of Limerick, Ireland; Suleiman Demirel University, Turkey; Vilnius College of Higher Education, Lithuania; Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Spain; University of Groningen, Netherlands; University of Nebraska-Lincoln, USA; Center for Science and Technologies in Ukraine; University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; University of California - Berkley (Research project in Biophysics); Johns Hopkins University, USA; University of Vienna, Austria; Max Planck Institute – Berlin; University of Pennsylvania, USA; University of Naples Federico II, Italy; University of Siena, Italy; University of Munich, Germany; Ruhr University Bochum, Germany; University of Heidelberg, Germany; University of Montpellier, France; University of Nantes, France; University of Fribourg, Switzerland; University of Innsbruck, Austria; etc.
• Marine Research Center in Grigolety and Alpine Ecology Institute in Stephantsminda. Both of them are first scientific research bases built after the demise of the Soviet Union

Faculties

• Faculty of Life Sciences - Newly established. Citation index of the academic staff of the faculty (individual as well as cumulative) is the highest in Georgia. Currently almost all key fields of life sciences are included in the programs of the faculty. Programs in some of these fields (e.g. biodiversity, zoology, ethology botany) are not offered at any other university in Georgia.

• Faculty of Physics and Mathematics - Newly established. Academic staff of the faculty are integrated into international scientific circles. Currently programs in biophysics and nanophysics are being developed. Abastumani Observatory is also a part of the faculty.

• Faculty of Earth Sciences - Newly established. It is for the first time in Georgia when an academic institution has formed the faculty of newly established university. Institute of Seismology (former Seismology Center) now forms a part of the faculty. The institute has the system of monitoring stations equipped with the best and most modern devices in Georgia.

• Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences - The "Oldest" at Iliauni, established in 2000 at Ilia Chavchavadze State University for Language and Culture. It has high employment rate of its graduates. Vast majority of researches in social sciences currently being conducted in Georgia has been initiated by the faculty. Along with other mainstream programs, the faculty also offers Regional Studies (Caucasus, Black Sea, Europe, Russia) Master's program.

• Faculty of Humanities and Cultural Studies - Newly established. Citation index of the academic staff of the faculty is the highest in Georgia. The faculty is developing first peer-reviewed journal. Teams of the faculty archaeologists are undertaking expedition works in Dedoplistskaro and Tetritskaro.

• Faculty of Philology of Foreign Languages - Existed already at Ilia Chavchavadze State University for Language and Culture. Iliauni is striving to improve teaching and research of the foreign languages by recruiting best scholars in the field.

• Faculty of Education - Existed already at Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani State Pedagogical University. Recently Harvard and Columbia University graduates joined the faculty. Programs of the faculty have been reformed and now they correspond national and international standards.

• Faculty of Sport Sciences - Established in 2008. Areas of Study: sociology, physiology and kinesiology of sport. It is foreseen to conduct, for the first time in Georgia, a complex research in youth sport behaviorism.

• Faculty of Business and Law- Faculty of Business and Law aims to prepare specialists in the fields of business administration and law, who will be ready to successfully take on managerial, legal and/or academic practices in corporate, academia, non-governmental and public sectors, at both local and global levels.

• Faculty of Arts and Sciences

List of the researches and studies carried out at Ilia State University

• Exploring Biodiversity of the Caucasian “Biodiversity Hotspot” with Modern Molecular-Genetic Methods and Analytical Tools
• Astronomic and Astrophysical studies (including Archeoastronomy, only in the Black Sea and Caucasus region)
• Aeronomy and Atmosphere-Ionosphere studies
• Seismic Researches of Georgia and Caucasus region
• Researches in Black Sea Biology and Archeology
• Metal and Bacteria Interrelations (with Berkley University Biophysics Lab)
• Regional studies: Caucasus and the Black Sea
• Security Studies
• Identity Studies
  • Black Sea Identity Studies
  • Soviet Studies
• Study of Political Theology in Georgia - History and Nowadays
• Study of Sexual Behavior in Georgia

External links

• Ilia State University Official web-site