ISET kicked off its 2017-2018 school year this Monday, September 4 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. Eric Livny, President of ISET and ISET-PI welcomed new students highlighting critical skills and knowledge they should be striving to acquire. Mr. Livny’s talk was followed by ISET Dean of Students, Sopha Gujabidze who 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.

After an overview of the program, ISET faculty briefly introduced themselves and their subjects of research and instruction. The professors also said that they are ready to devote much of their time and intellectual energy to give the students the best education possible over the next two years. Afterward, the researchers, all ISET alumni, spoke about their first-year experiences and the life-changing experience of becoming “ISETers” – an increasingly prominent title in the world of the study of economics.

The incoming class of 2019 consists of 54 students from six countries: 38 from Georgia, 7 from Armenia, 6 from Azerbaijan, 1 from Belarus, 1 from India, and 1 from Nigeria. The official academic semester started on the 4th of September and consists of five mini-terms. ISET is proud to share these life-changing, intense 2 years with new members of the huge ISET family. May these new challenges bring numerous achievements and new opportunities to the newest members of the ISET family!