Tbilisi State University ranked top in Caucasus

The Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) has been ranked the number one higher education institution in the country and region and in the top 16.7 percent of universities in the world by Webometrics Ranking of World Universities.

TSU – the first national university in the Caucasus – ranked first among 64 universities in the country and 70 universities in neighbouring countries Armenia and Azerbaijan in a survey by Webometrics Ranking of World Universities.

Levan Lortkipanidze, elected member of the representation council (senate) at TSU, said he was happy with the university’s achievement and "never doubted” the reputation of TSU as the best university in the country and in the South Caucasus.

Globally, TSU gained a ranking of 2006 of 12,000 tertiary institutions surveyed. This score put TSU in the top 16.7 percent of facilities surveyed.

Lortkipanidze said he was slightly disappointed with TSU’s overall world ranking of 2006 but acknowledged there were still areas where TSU could improve.

A total of 12,000 higher educational institutions were surveyed in the latest Webometrics Ranking of World Universities. Each university was ranked according to a number of factors (impact, presence, openness and excellence).

Meanwhile TSU opened in 1918. It was the first university in the Caucasus region. It paved the way for European-type higher schooling in Georgia, based on Georgian educational traditions.

The idea of establishing a foundation university first emerged in the early 19th Century amid intensification of the struggle for liberation from the Russian Empire.

The National University in the Caucasus, as it was then known, officially opened on January 26, 1918 - the day of commemoration of King David the Builder (according to the new calendar on February 8).

In 1989 Tbilisi State University was named after its founder Ivane Javakhishvili.

Today, TSU provides higher education for more than 20,000 local and international students. TSU offers a wide variety of degree programs at Under-Graduate, Graduate and Doctoral levels, as well as short courses offered in English to attract students from all over the world.

Meanwhile Webometrics Ranking of World Universities, which was the largest academic ranking of higher education institutions, has ranked higher education institution since 2004.