University of Crete

University of Crete
Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης
Established 1973
President E. Stephanou
Academic staff
 548
Administrative staff
 420
Undergraduates 14,688
Postgraduates 2,099
Location Rethymnon and Heraklion, island of Crete, Greece
Campus Voutes, Galos, Knossos
Affiliations FO.R.T.H
Website http://www.uoc.gr

The University of Crete (UOC) is the principal higher education institution on the island of Crete, Greece, and one of the country's most academically acclaimed and reputable ones. The University ranked 48th in the The Times Higher Education (THE) annual list of the top 100 universities founded in the past 50 years.[1] [2]

The University of Crete, is a multi-disciplinary, research-oriented institution, located in the cities of Rethymno and Heraklion, in the island of Crete. It is a University well known both nationally and internationally for its state of the art research, undergraduate curricula, and graduate programmes.[3][4][5] It is considered the best University in Greece (2011) by The Times Higher Education mainly due to its research influence in which it ranks 145th out of the top 400 Universities of the World,[1] and also in 2012 by QS World University Rankings. It is notable that it achieves this distinction although it has less than 30% of the faculty members in comparison to other larger Universities in Greece. The University was established in 1973 and started functioning in the academic year 1977-78. Since its establishment, it has developed considerable research activity and has undertaken innovative initiatives that reflect its dynamic. As a higher education institution, it is a legal entity of public law, i.e. it operates under the supervision of the State. The seat of the University is in Rethymnon.

The supreme administrative body of the University is the senate, which is presided over by the Rector of the University. The Head of the University is the Rector who is assisted by three Vice-Rectors in the exercise of his duties; all four together form the institution's high authority. They are elected for a period of three years by the teaching staff and representatives of the student body. The current rector is Prof. Evripides Stefanou.[6]

During the 2011-2012 academic year the University of Crete had 16,767 undergraduate students (14,668 at the undergraduate level and 2,099 at the postgraduate level), more than 548 Faculty members as well as approximately 420 administrative staff, in Schools and their Departments in the cities of Rethymnon and Heraklion. On several research topics the University of Crete collaborates closely with FO.R.T.H.

The School of Letters, the School of Social Sciences and the School of Education are based in Rethymnon. The School of Letters consists of the Departments of History, Archaeology, Philosophy, Social Studies, and Philology; the School of Social Sciences consists of the Departments of Economics, Psychology, Sociology and Political Sciences; the School of Education consists of the Departments of Primary Education and Pre-Primary Education.

The School of Sciences and the School of Health Sciences are based in Heraklion, the School of Sciences includes the Departments of Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics, Materials Science and Technology, and Physics, while the School of Health Sciences includes the faculty of Medicine.

The Natural History Museum of Crete, established in 1981 at Heraklion, is also part of the University of Crete.[7]

Although still very young, the University of Crete has already shown its commitment in the evolving process of European integration, and it operates as an integral member of the European Research and Education Areas. It is currently coordinating and participating in European Union programs and activities such as ERASMUS, LINGUA, TEMPUS etc. and has important links and cooperations with other Mediterranean and Eastern European countries as well as with many U.S. Universities and Colleges, through international Programs.

The student union also operates a radio station.

Emblem of University of Crete

The emblem of University of Crete is based on a Hellenistic coin found in Gortyn (430-300 B.B.) and depicts Europa in reflecting stance while sitting on olive tree branches. The emblem was designed in a medal by the sculptor Aspasia Papadoperaki.[8]

Faculties and departments

The University of Crete is organized into Faculties, which are composed of Departments with related disciplines.[9] University of Crete has 3 campuses (Galos, Voutes, Knossos) in 2 different cities (Rethymnon, Heraklion): a) Rethymnon: Galos campus and b) Heraklion: Voutes and Knossos campuses.

Academic Evaluation

An external evaluation of all academic departments in Greek universities will be conducted by the Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency (HQAA) in the following years.[10] The reports are publicly available.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Times Higher Education World University Rankings University of Crete 2013-2014 Retrieved in 07-05-2014.
  2. ↑ University of Crete in global list of top 100 Newspaper article (english edition) Retrieved in 07-05-2014.
  3. ↑ External Evaluation Report - Department of Physics, University of Crete
  4. ↑ "Τα Νέα" article, 12 Feb 2009
  5. ↑ "Οι πρώτοι αξιολογητές στο Πανεπιστήμιο" Newspaper "Πατρίς", 20 Jan 2009
  6. ↑ Personal web page of Prof. Evripides (Evris) Stephanou
  7. ↑ The Natural History Museum of Crete, Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History, The Biodiversity of Crete at the Yale Peabody Museum
  8. ↑ The emblem of University of Crete
  9. ↑ "Schools and Faculties". uoc.gr. Retrieved 2011-11-03.
  10. ↑ Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency
  11. ↑ Internal Quality Assurance Unit - list of external evaluation reports 2008-2014. Retrieved in 07-05-2014.

External links

See also