On October 9, Agricultural Policy Research Center organized an excursion to Phoka Nunnery of St. Nino, in the Javakheti region of Georgia. The Javakheti highland is a mountainous terrain at an altitude of 2000 m above sea level and home to the ominous Abul Mountain (3301 m) which can be seen from every side. Students from both ISET and researchers ISET-PI joined the excursion.

On October 7th, the head of the Agricultural Policy Research Center (APRC), Pati Mamardashvili, and researchers Lasha Lanchava and Irakli Kochlamazashvili attended a parliamentary discussion regarding the 2016 budget of the Ministry of Agriculture. This meeting was organized by the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) in the framework of the project "Strengthening the System of Parliamentary Democracy in Georgia".

Lasha Lanchava, a research fellow at ISET Policy Institute, published a new paper titled “No Evidence of Association between Toxoplasma Gondii Infection and Financial Risk-Taking in Females” in PLOS ONE, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. He co-authored a paper with Mr. Nave and Mr. Carlson – researchers from California Institute of Technology, Ms. Šebánková, and Jaroslav Flegr – of Charles University, and a leading scholar of adverse influences of Toxoplasma Gondii infection on human personality and behavior.

On the 21st of September, Salome Gelashvili, senior researcher at APRC, attended a workshop on the topic of “Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) of the M4P and Value Chain Projects supported by SDC in the South Caucasus” organized by the Swiss Cooperation Office for the South Caucasus.

ISET kicked off its 2015-16 school year this Monday, August 31 with an orientation session for incoming students. ISET faculty, staff, and researchers warmly greeted the students and gave them a sense of what they can expect out of their next two years of study. ISET Dean of Students, Sopha Gujabidze spoke about the program’s rigor, encouraging students to study hard in their time in the program, but also detailed the close-knit alumni community, and all of the former students’ impressive accomplishments.