A new joint master’s degree program of the Tbilisi State University and the Defense Institution Building School of the Ministry of Defense of Georgia aims to award a higher academic degree of civilians and military personnel employed in the state security and defense agencies.

The learning process for the one-year master’s program will start at the TSU Faculty of Economics and Business in September 2023 and the program graduates will be awarded the academic qualification of Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) in Public Administration. The first semester of the program will involve the Higher Defense and Security Program of the Ministry of Defense, and the second semester - the part of public administration. Graduates will receive two diplomas - 1) Diploma of the Higher Defense and Security Program; 2) Diploma of the EMBA in Public Administration.  

A trilateral memorandum of cooperation was signed between TSU, the Ministry of Defense and the Defense Institution Building School to develop, implement and support the joint master’s program. The memorandum was signed by Rector of TSU, George Sharvashidze, Deputy Minister of Defense, Grigol Giorgadze and Director of the Defense Institution Building School, Tea Nikolashvili.

“This is the first case in Georgia and throughout the region. A lot of experts will be involved in developing the new program. The program is designed for a broad range of users. It covers security, military affairs, which will be interesting for our country. We believe to undergo accreditation very quickly and will be expecting future students,” Rector Sharvashidze said.

Deputy Defense Minister Grigol Giorgadze noted that the master’s program integrates the Higher Defense and Security Program of the Ministry of Defense (career program - higher (strategic) level of officer education), which is fully created by the military personnel of the school. He said that the career program is designed for the military servicemen with the rank of Colonel, Vice-Colonel (possibly General) of the Ministry of Defense, as well as civilians employed in the state security agencies.

“This program will serve not only the representatives of the Ministry of Defense, but also public officials employed in the security sector, and we deemed it expedient to integrate this program with the master’s program of Tbilisi State University. We have very good collaboration with TSU and today’s memorandum is a clear example of it,” Grigol Giorgadze said.

The program will be co-led by representatives of the faculty and the school. The school and faculty professors, as well as security experts from the Ministry of Defense and other state agencies will be involved in the program implementation.