Ilia State University

Ilia State University was founded in 2006 as a result of a merger of six different academic institutions with long and varied histories. Currently, it is one of the leading research and educational institutions in Georgia. Representing a union of students and professors, ISU is a multifunctional educational and research institution offering a common space for academic and professional education and research with the joint efforts of its students, professors, teachers and researchers.

The union is based on the three following principles:   

• Academic Freedom
• Freedom of Conscience
• Freedom of Choice

These principles are closely interrelated and interdependent: Students, teachers, professors and researchers are free to choose areas of study and research, as well as colleagues and supervisors to work with. No one has the right to forbid them from conducting studies on a certain topic or publishing research findings for political or moral reasons. Students and professors are free to choose any form of transparent and responsible self-governance they believe is best for the advancement of their union– the university–and its goals and objectives. 

The ISU mission is to generate, disseminate and apply knowledge to advance science and contribute to the society both at local and international levels.
 
The ISU mission relies on the three following principles of unity:
Unity of research and teaching; knowledge is generated and disseminated by the same individuals, while students are provided with an opportunity to engage in the creation of knowledge;
Unity of general and specialized education: ISU is one of the first universities to have introduced significant elements of liberal arts into Georgia’s higher educational programmes, combining them with strict requirements for specialized education;
Unity of the universal and local, which combines generating universally applicable scientific knowledge with regional, national and local focuses, and a clear understanding of the civic mission of the university.