The Soviet legacy has kept Georgian universities relegated to a peripheral status regionally and globally. In the post-Soviet era, some Georgian intellectuals sought opportunities to enhance creativity, openness and international collaboration at their universities for European Union integration; however, others nurtured nostalgia for unchallenged authority and hierarchy within the bounds of a tightly controlled and insular academia. These two forces give rise to important questions about the agency of professors in effecting change that would enhance local engagement with the European and global networks of science and development. This article presents insights from seasoned Georgian professors, who share their experience of the Soviet legacy and struggles in creating an open and innovative academic profession in independent Georgia. The research engages the concept of de-Sovietisation as a transformational strategy and examines the challenges of using this strategy to enhance academic engagement in the global domains of knowledge-making.