Support Letter of Associate Professor Nishant Agarwal Department of Physics and Applied Physics University of Massachusetts Lowell
Announcements
Dear Prof. Nino Doborjginidze,
I am writing to you as an international faculty member who has a strong research collaboration with faculty members at Ilia State University. Specifically, my collaborators at Ilia State University and I have an ongoing grant titled “Constraints on graviton mass through cosmological and gravitational wave observations,” funded by the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia from June 2025 to May 2028. The grant is expected to generate several publications in leading journals in the field while contributing to the Ph.D. theses of multiple graduate students.
I am deeply concerned by the recent reports regarding program reductions and admission cuts at Ilia State University. While I respect the university’s internal management, I must highlight that the success of ourongoing research grant depends on the stability of its academic environment and the availability of specialized staff and students.
I thus hope for a resolution that preserves the university’s academic integrity and research excellence and does not jeopardize the university’s standing as a reliable partner in future international research initiatives.
2026