[MGSA-L] Greek unis eyeing foreign collaborations

June Samaras june.samaras at gmail.com
Mon Apr 9 20:12:59 PDT 2012


Greek unis eyeing foreign collaborations

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite6_1_09/04/2012_437243

By Apostolos Lakasas

Greek state universities and technical colleges are looking all the
way to the Far East for collaborations with institutions there in a
bid to attract students from overseas and hopefully bring some
revenues into their crisis-hit coffers.

Most rectors are eyeing China as a likely source of overseas students,
while a few are exploring ways of drumming up business with Chinese
companies that are active in Greece, such as shipping giant Cosco.

Meanwhile, universities are also forging ties with institutions in
other countries, such as Russia and the United Arab Emirates, the
latter of which is expected to inaugurate the first overseas branch of
a Greek university in 2013. There also seems to be some interest from
neighboring countries such as Cyprus, Bulgaria, Romania, Albania, the
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Moldova for collaborations.

The rector of the University of the Peloponnese, Theodoros
Papatheodorou, told Kathimerini that he has already signed a deal with
the Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, which is one of the oldest in
China (founded in 1796), as well as one of the biggest.

“We have agreed on exchanges of students, professors and researchers,
on developing political, economic and technological departments in
Greece and China, and establishing permanent bodies for the study and
research of Chinese and Greek culture respectively,” Papatheodorou
said.

Within the framework of the same agreement, the Greek university will
host an institute of Sino-European studies that will be aimed at
undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The University of Piraeus, in turn, has come to an arrangement with
the China Youth University for Political Sciences. According to the
vice rector in charge of the institution’s academic affairs, Giorgos
Vasilakopoulos, the Chinese university boasts a number of high-ranking
politicians and businessmen among its graduates, while the
collaborations signed concern exchanges of students and teaching
staff, as well as the development of joint research programs.

Individual departments at the University of Piraeus, meanwhile, such
as those of Maritime Affairs and Logistics, are exploring the
possibility of collaborations such as studies with Chinese
corporations like Cosco that are active in Greece in the sectors in
which the departments specialize.

At the Agricultural University of Athens, authorities are waiting for
the license to be issued for Greece’s first university branch
overseas, which is to be located in the UAE. Rector Constantinos
Feggeros told Kathimerini that the department will be working closely
with the Hail Agricultural Development Company, which is active
throughout the region, and it is expected to go into operation in
2013-14 in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Southeastern Europe is where the University of Western Macedonia,
which has departments in the northern cities of Florina and Kozani, is
setting its sights. The institution has already forged collaborations
with universities in Cyprus, the Balkans and Russia for student
exchanges and staff training, but it would like to assume a more
active role as “a gateway of cross-border relationships,” according to
Theodoros Hatzipantelis, head of the university’s administrative
committee.

Technical colleges (TEI) such as the Serres TEI in northern Greece,
which has already embarked on a collaboration with institutions in
Russia, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania and Moldova, are making similar
overtures. The college already has two postgraduate programs in
English and wants to develop three-year undergraduate programs in
languages other than Greek in order to attract foreign students.

“The benefits are twofold for the institution and for the region,”
said the Serres TEI’s head, Dimitris Paschalidis.
	
	
ekathimerini.com , Monday April 9, 2012 (20:59)

-- 
June Samaras
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June Samaras
2020 Old Station Rd
Streetsville,Ontario
Canada L5M 2V1
Tel : 905-542-1877
E-mail : june.samaras at gmail.com



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