National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
Εθνικό και Καποδιστριακό Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών
Established	May 3, 1837 [1]
Type	Public
Rector	Theodosis Pelegrinis[2][3]
Undergraduates	>50,000
Location	Athens, Greece
Campus	Urban, Suburban
Newspaper	"To Kapodistriako" [4]
Affiliations	C.U.M., UNIMED, UNICA, EUA, ΕΑΙΕ, Atomium Culture
Website	www.uoa.gr

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greek: Εθνικόν και Καποδιστριακόν Πανεπιστήμιον Αθηνών), usually referred to simply as the University of Athens, is the oldest university in Southeast Europe and has been in continuous operation since its establishment in 1837. Today, it is the second-largest institution of higher learning in Greece (the largest is the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki), with more than fifty thousand undergraduate students. It is ranked 177th in the world.^[5]

History

The Propylaea, part of the “Trilogy” of Theofil Hansen, serves as the ceremony hall and rectory.

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens was founded on May 3, 1837, and was housed in the residence of architect Stamatis Kleanthes, on the north east side of the Acropolis. It was the first University not only in the newly established Greek State but in all the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean in general.

Before it was renamed to honour Ioannis Kapodistrias, the first head of state of independent modern Greece, the university was known as the Othonian University and consisted of four faculties; theology, law, medicine and arts (which included applied sciences and mathematics). It had 33 professors, 52 students and 75 non-matriculated “auditors”. In November 1841, classes began in a new building designed by the Danish architect Christian Hansen. “The Propylaea” () was designed by Hansen younger brother, Theophil Hansen in 1859 but the building project was not completed until 1885^[6].

A major change in the structure of the University came about in 1904, when the faculty of Arts was split into two separate faculties: that of Arts and that of Sciences, the latter consisting of the departments of Physics and Mathematics and the School of Pharmacy. In 1919, a department of chemistry was added, and in 1922 the School of Pharmacy was renamed a Department. A further change came about when the School of Dentistry was added to the faculty of medicine.

In this first and “heroic” period for Greek education, the university faculty made great efforts to fill the gap between their newly founded institution and older ones in other countries.

Between 1895 and 1911, an average of one thousand new students entered the faculties each year, a figure which rose to two thousand at the end of World War I. This led to the decision to introduce entrance examinations for all the faculties, beginning in the academic year 1927-28. Since 1954 the number of students admitted each year has been fixed by the Ministry of Education and Religion, on the proposal of the faculties.

In the 1960’s construction work began on the University Campus in the suburb of Ilissia. The Ilissia campus now houses the Schools of Philosophy, Theology and Sciences. ^[1]

Faculties and departments

The University of Athens is divided into schools, faculties and departments as follows. The naming is nοt consistent in English for historical reasons, but in Greek the largest divisions are generally named “σχολές” (schools) and are divided in “τμήματα” (departments), furthermore subdivided in “τομείς” (divisions). ^[7]

The Faculty of Law. The building was initially built around 1930. A second branch has been added in the 1960s. Extensive renovation started in 2002 and was completed by 2006.^[8]

The University Club building, founded in 1927.^[9]

• School of Theology
  • Faculty of Theology
  • Faculty of Social Theology
• School of Philosophy
  • Faculty of Philology
  • Faculty of History and Archaeology
  • Faculty of Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology
  • Faculty of English Studies
  • Faculty of German Studies
  • Faculty of French Language and Literature
  • Faculty of Italian and Spanish Language and Literature
  • Faculty of Theatre Studies
  • Faculty of Music Studies
  • Faculty of Turkish and Modern Asian Studies
  • Faculty of Slavic Studies
• Schools of Health Sciences
  • Faculty of Medicine
  • Faculty of Dentistry
  • Faculty of Pharmacy
  • Faculty of Nursing
• School of Law, Economics and Political Sciences
  • Faculty of Law
  • Faculty of Economic Studies
  • Faculty of Political Science and Public Administration
• School of Sciences
  • Faculty of Physics
  • Faculty of Biology
  • Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment
  • Faculty of Chemistry
  • Faculty of Mathematics
  • Faculty of Informatics and Telecommunications
• Independent faculties
  • Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science
  • Faculty of Primary Education
  • Faculty of Early Childhood Education
  • Faculty of Communication and Mass Media Studies
  • Faculty of Philosophy & History of Science

Campuses

University campus at the Ilissia campus

The Physics department building at the Ilissia campus.

The main campus is at Ilissia (Zografou). There the faculties of Science, Theology and Philosophy are situated. The faculty of Life Sciences is located at Goudi and the faculty of Physical Education and Sports Science is located at Daphne. The faculties of Media, Education, Economics, Law and Public Administration are housed in various buildings at the centre of Athens, along with various administration facilities. University administration was initially housed in a historical neoclassical building at the center of Athens, Panepistimiou avenue, but was relocated at the main university campus later.

Campus Location	Schools	Faculties
Ilissia	Schools of Science
	School of Theology
	School of Philosophy
Goudi	Schools of Health Sciences
Centre of Athens	School of Law, Economics and Political Sciences
		Faculty of Communication and Mass Media Studies
		Faculty of Primary Education
		Faculty of Early Childhood Education
Daphne		Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science

Research

Research in the University of Athens covers almost all research interests. Research in the University of Athensis intimately linked with that conducted in the hospitals and research institutes of the metropolitan area, including the National Research Center for Physical Sciences Demokritos, the National Research Foundation (EIE), the National Observatory of Athens, the Hellenic Pasteur Institute, the Alexander Fleming Biomedical Sciences Research Center, the Athens High Performance Computing Laboratory, the National Centre for Marine Research (NCMR) and the Foundation for Biomedical Research of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA). Research conducted in the institutes of the metropolitan area of Athens accounted for over 50% of the ISI-indexed scientific publications coming from Greece in 2004.

Notable alumni

Politicians

• Eleftherios Venizelos
• King Constantine II of Hellenes
• George Papandreou, senior
• Konstantinos Karamanlis
• Panagiotis Kanellopoulos
• Karolos Papoulias

Scientists

• Gerasimos Danilatos, physicist, inventor of the ESEM
• Fotis Kafatos, biologist
• Evangelos Moudrianakis, biologist
• Dimitri Nanopoulos, physicist
• Georgios Papanikolaou, doctor, inventor of the Pap test
• Panayotis Varotsos, physicist

Poets/writers

• Giorgios Seferis, Nobel laureate (1963), poet
• Odysseas Elytis, Nobel laureate (1979), poet

Philosophers/Philologists

• Cornelius Castoriadis
• Emmanuel Kriaras
• Helene Ahrweiler

Other

• Apostolos Santas
• George Lucas Adamopoulos, founder of the first and only school in the Philippines founded by Greeks, Adamson University, Manila, Philippines

See also

• Faculty of Geology and Geoenvironment (University of Athens)
• List of University of Athens alumni
• Education in Greece
• List of universities in Greece
• List of research institutes in Greece
• Athens
• THES - QS World University Rankings (From 2010 two separate rankings will be produced by the Times Higher Education World University Rankings and the QS World University Rankings)

References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1} "History and Perspectives". uoa.gr. http://en.uoa.gr/the-university/history-and-perspectives.html. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
2. ↑ "Νέος πρύτανης ο Θ. Πελεγρίνης" (in Greek). Eleftherotypia. 2010-06-10. http://www.enet.gr/?i=news.el.ellada&id=171386. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
3. ↑ "Rector & Vice Rectors". uoa.gr. http://en.uoa.gr/the-university/administrative-bodies/rector-vice-rectors.html. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
4. ↑ "ΤΟ ΚΑΠΟΔΙΣΤΡΙΑΚΟ - ΕΚΔΟΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΝΕΠΙΣΤΗΜΙΟΥ ΑΘΗΝΩΝ" (in Greek). kapodistriako.uoa.gr. http://kapodistriako.uoa.gr/. Retrieved 2009-03-15. 
5. ↑ Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings 2009 Retrieved 2009-10-10.
6. ↑ Documentation of the Athens Academy public meeting hall
7. ↑ "Schools and Faculties". uoa.gr. http://en.uoa.gr/schools-and-faculties.html. Retrieved 2010-06-10. 
8. ↑ "Tο υπερσύγχρονο κτήριο της Nομικής Σχολής" (in Greek). kapodistriako.uoa.gr. 2006-02-01. http://kapodistriako.uoa.gr/stories/081_co_01/index.php?m=1. Retrieved 2009-03-14. 
9. ↑ "Πανεπιστημιακή Λέσχη 80 χρόνια προσφοράς στους φοιτητές" (in Greek). To Kapodistriako (kapodistriako.uoa.gr). 2002-04-15. http://kapodistriako.uoa.gr/stories/004_th_01/. 

External links

• University of Athens Website
• University of Athens - Maps
• Athens University Museum
• The Historical Archive of the University of Athens
• Integrated website for the History of Athens University
• The official newspaper of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (Greek)