The Office of Graduate Education

TSU-UTD Program (Training Programs for Georgian Scholars)

Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) has partnered with The University of Texas at Dallas to create a professional development program for early-career academic staff and advanced graduate students at Georgian universities who wish to improve their research and writing skills through a training program in the United States.

Those who complete the program will improve their skills and increase the likelihood of publishing their findings in internationally recognized journals and becoming active and effective mentors for their future students. While in the program, participants will work with academic staff in their fields to get laboratory experience and build research collaborations.

This eight-week program involves travel to Dallas, Texas, which begins with a two-week intensive English program, followed by training in academic and grant writing, dissertation preparation, presenting to academic audiences, and lessons on mentorship and student support while spending time each day in a UT Dallas laboratory, experiencing running a laboratory, interacting with students, and writing results.

Moreover, these scholars will disseminate the lessons learned and, as a result, help increase the research capacity of Georgian universities. We also expect that the research partnerships created by the program will lead to productive collaborations that may result in innovative discoveries generated by partners from Georgian Universities, UT Dallas, and other institutions of higher learning in the United States.

Information sessions will be held on November 1, 2023 and December 5, 2023. Contact Beth Keithly for details about the information sessions or the program.

Applications are due on Friday, December 15, at 11:59pm applicant time. No pre-acceptance letter from a University of Texas at Dallas academic staff is required.

Finalists will be interviewed in person on the TSU campus on March 8, 2024. Accepted participants will travel to Dallas in June 2024.

The required parts of the application depend on whether the applicant is a PhD student or an early career academic staff.

PhD Students Early Career Academic Staff
Application form Application form
Short answer: “What do you hope to gain from this program?” Short answer: “What do you hope to gain from this program?”
Short answer: “What skills/experiences do you bring to the cohort members/the UTD lab?” Short answer: “What skills/experiences do you bring to the cohort members/the UTD lab?”
Three UTD faculty members you would like to work with Three UTD faculty members you would like to work with
Your CV Your CV
Letter of support from an academic staff member Letter of support from your dean’s office
Research Statement Research Statement
Proof of status as an active student Research article
Proof of English language competency Proof of English language competency

Eligible Fields & UTD Academic Staff in those Fields

Applications will be asked to select three faculty members with compatible research areas. Please use the links below to explore the UTD faculty and their research. No pre-acceptance letter from a University of Texas at Dallas faculty member is required as part of the application.

Biology
Business/Management
Chemistry
Computer Science
Economics
Electrical Engineering
Geography/GIS
Geology
Mathematics
Physics
Water Engineering

This program is funded by the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, and the Department of State.

Questions? Contact Beth Keithly.