Dr. Irine Darchia is an Associate Professor in Classics since 1996, Deputy Head of the Institute of Classical, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) and Higher Education Reform Expert (HERE) of Tempus/ Erasmus + National Office Georgia since 2009.

Dr. Irine Darchia studied Georgian and Classical Philology at TSU (Georgia) and Modern Greek Language and Culture at National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greece). She did her Internship at the Universities of Jena and Saarbrucken (Germany), defended her dissertations (equivalent to PhD and Habilitation) at TSU (Georgia).

Dr. Irine Darchia teaches classics at TSU (Georgia), but as a visiting professor she has delivered courses and public lectures at the universities of Germany, Greece, France, Italy, Norway and Denmark. She is an author of two monographs, dictionary and over 40 articles published in Georgia and abroad, a co-author of Handbooks, Dictionaries and Encyclopedia in Classical and Modern Greek Studies.

Dr. Irine Darchia participated in international seminars, symposiums and conferences, dedicated to Classics and Modern Greek Studies held in the countries around the world. Her research interests include: Plato’s Phaedo, color perception in ancient world, history of Greek Language, digital classics, reception of classical antiquity.  She has translated Plato’s Phaedo, Heiner Mueller’s MEDEAMATERIAL and Leonidas Pantelides’ Eudemos (About Time) from Ancient Greek, German and Modern Greek into Georgian.

Dr. Irine Darchia is a director of Bachelor Program in Classics, Master Program in Greek-Roman Philology and International Doctoral Program in European Literature, awarding double degree of Tbilisi State University (Georgia) and University of Bologna (Italy). She is a member of Digital Humanities Consortium SunoikisisDC run in collaboration with the University of Leipzig (Germany) and Center of Hellenic Studies of the University of Harvard (USA). She has served as a coordinator of the Program “Teaching Modern Greek to the Students of Greek Origin at the Agrarian University of Georgia” (2001-2004) and as a coordinator of the Program “Teaching Modern Greek to the Greek Diaspora” (1999-2001).

Dr. Irine Darchia chaired organizing committees and has coordinated organization of the following international events: International Summer and Winter Schools in Digital Humanities (2013, 2014), International Conferences “Medea’s Image in World Artistic Culture” (2017), “Plato’s Philosophy in Interdisciplinary Context” (2018), International Online Conferences “Teaching Classical Languages in the XXI c. – Vitae Discimus” and “The Ancient and Byzantine World in the Light of Interdisciplinary Research” (2021), Students International Conference “Contemporaneity of Antiquity” (2022), etc.

Dr. Irine Darchia has received the following scholarships, grants and awards: Erasmus Mundus Grant CLE (2009, 2019), Erasmus Mundus Grant HERMES (2016), DAAD Research Grant (2014), Scholarship of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs of Hellenic Republic for post-doctoral research (2003), Research grant in the frame of D.A.C., Development Assistance Committee of Greece (1999), Scholarship of IKI, Foundation of State Scholarships of Greece (1997), 1995: Red Diploma for excellent studies at TSU (1995), Ilia Chavchavadze Scholarship for excellent studies at TSU (1993-1995), Award of the Municipality of Kalymnos (Greece) for excellent knowledge of Modern Greek Language.

Dr. Irine Darchia combines her academic carrier with administrative and consulting activities, expertise in higher education reforms and development. Since 2005 Dr. Irine Darchia has served as a Head of Quality Assurance Service and Vice-Rector of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Rector’s Adviser at National Defence Academy, TSU, University of Georgia and St. Andrew Georgian University, Vice-Rector of East European University, Head of Higher Education and Science Development Department of the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia.

Nowadays Dr. Irine Darchia is an authorization and accreditation expert at NCEQE (Georgia), SKVC (Lithuania), AIKA (Latvia), SQAA / NAKVIS (Slovenia). She was a member of Accreditation Council of Georgia (2008-2009) and nowadays she is a member of International Advisory Board of NAQA, National Agency for Higher Education Quality Assurance, Ukraine.

Dr. Irine Darchia’s fields of expertise are: Quality Assurance, Curricula Development, Doctoral Studies, Integration of Teaching and Learning, Lifelong Learning/Continuous Education. Dr. Irine Darchia took part in development of Georgia’s Lifelong Learning Strategy in 2010 and Higher Education Development Strategy approved by the Government of Georgia in December, 2017. As a Head of the Department for Higher Education and Research Development in the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia she took part in updating of NQF of Georgia and in development of Authorization and Accreditation Standards of HEIs in compliance with European Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance (ESG 2015). She has coordinated the Tempus Project “Strengthening Specific Role of Universities as Lifelong Institutions (SSRULLI)”, has participated in numerous Tempus/Erasmus+ Capacity Building Projects and since 2020 she in an expert of Erasmus + Projects “PROFFORMANCE  - Assessment Tool and Incentive Systems for Developing Higher Education Teachers' Performance”, coordinated by the Ministry for Innovation and Technology of Hungary and “Bologna Hub Peer Support”, coordinated by DAAD (Germany).

Dr. Irine Darchia is a member of International Plato Society and Honorary Member of the Organization for the Promotion of Greek Language.Dr. Irine Darchia speaks English, Russian and Modern Greek languages. She has a command of Ancient Greek and Latin, uses Italian and German for academic purposes.