At the College of Patras (UoP) (www.upatras.gr/en), chopping-edge investigation fulfills a mission of excellence in training. Its departments are similarly committed to championing new methods of thinking and establishing answers to sophisticated world troubles across the disciplines. Founded in 1964 in Patras, the money town of the Region of Western Greece, it has steadily crafted its very own scholastic historical past, now serving all main branches of awareness in medicine and wellbeing sciences, engineering, normal sciences, agriculture, humanities and business. Its activities are supported by 700 school members and an equal range of teaching, technical and administrative personnel. Instruction is channeled through absolutely accredited under- and post-graduate systems, complemented by lifelong finding out and teaching initiatives, defined Prof. Dionissios Mantzavinos, Vice-Rector of Tutorial & Worldwide Affairs. The university’s unswerving allegiance to internationalization is the pinpointing element of its up to date picture. The 700 inter-institutional mobility agreements for research and teaching in and exterior the European Union kind element of the university’s vigorous internationalization policy and help a massive, vibrant, cosmopolitan neighborhood.
About the previous 10 years, UoP has developed strong relations with Chinese universities on the basis of mutual trust and respect for the sake of study and instructing cooperation that meets the maximum tutorial benchmarks. It all commenced when, inside the context of European Union’s Erasmus Mundus application, the Department of Philosophy of the School of Humanities signed a partnership with Renmin’s College of Philosophy (Beijing), explained Prof. Pavlos Kontos, Head of the Office. In this context, Chinese pupils followed graduate programs in UoP and, by means of UoP, they ended up accepted in doctoral courses both in Europe and the United States. At the similar time, school members from both sides frequented, respectively, Patras and Beijing to educate post-graduate programs, that led to very long-standing and vivid scientific synergies.
The next action, a lot more comprehensive in its nature, concerns a joint educational program settlement amongst the Greek Office of Xi’an International Scientific studies College and UoP’s College of Humanities. Chinese learners are predicted to full in Patras their third yr of under-graduate scientific studies. 1 can rarely overestimate the great importance of this agreement Chinese students are predicted to continue to be in Patras one or two semesters extensive, abide by educational courses in Modern-day Greek jointly with Greek college students. They will definitely provide as ambassadors of contemporary Chinese society in Greece and, right after returning property, as ambassadors of contemporary Greek tradition in China. In addition thereto, Xi’an University has agreed to host biennially a college member of UoP as a going to scholar.
These initiatives, having said that important, are however small-scale, at the very least if when compared to the following two kinds, reported Prof. Kontos. The first problems a two-12 months extensive anglophone Master’s degree system entitled: “Greek and Chinese Civilizations: A comparative approach.” It is no exaggeration to say that this Learn software is just one of a type around the world. It has been created right after an settlement concerning, on a single hand, 4 Greek establishments (namely, UoP, Nationwide & Kapodistrian University of Athens, University of Crete, and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) and, on the other hand, Southwest University (Chongqing). The Master’s diploma aims at giving graduate pupils with good and deep information in the scientific location explained in its title, as effectively as endorsing scientific research and additional collaborations concerning the institutions associated. The to start with year of scientific studies will be taught at Southwest University and will be devoted to the review of Chinese lifestyle, while the 2nd calendar year will be taught at UoP and will be devoted to the Greek tradition with an emphasis on historic Greek philosophy and science. It is well worth mentioning that the completion of the plan contains an MA dissertation that ought to handle concerns in both equally the Greek and the Chinese civilization and, as a result, will be supervised jointly by a Greek and a Chinese college member. If practically nothing else, this exhibits how considerably we devote on the truly comparative character of the method. This initiative was formally released on Could, 6th 2022 in a ceremonial function involving the ambassadors of China in Athens and Greece in Beijing, officers from the Ministry of Instruction of the two international locations and the Rectors and Vice-Rectors of the two universities.
Furthermore, the same 4 Greek institutions stated higher than just founded a “Centre of Greek and Chinese Civilization” whose intention is to promote the exploration of historical Greek and Chinese civilizations by indicates of a comparative tactic, establish co-functions and materialize synergies with internationally acknowledged institutions and universities, and, at last, the dissemination of exploration outcomes both in Greece and China. We are keen to see it prosper and provide as the principal channel of communication and co-procedure involving the Greek and Chinese academia, not to say concerning the Greek and the Chinese individuals.
Very last but not the very least, the additional formidable venture is the institution of the so-called “Patras Worldwide Engineering Institute”, which, in layman’s phrases, is the creation of UoP campus in China, discussed Vice-Rector Mantzavinos. This initiative, which is materialized between UoP and Fujian College of Engineering (FJUT), aims at setting up joint underneath-graduate applications in 4 engineering disciplines, namely Civil Engineering, Mechanical Structure and Manufacturing and Automation, Electrical Engineering and Automation, Info and Computing Science. The joint systems will be offered to Chinese college students researching at FJUT with a number of courses offered by UoP instructors. This initiative, which has been embraced warmly by the Ministry of Training of the two nations, as well as the Area of Western Greece and the Province of Fujian, is expected to broaden further more to include things like joint write-up-graduate and doctoral scientific studies.
There is very little doubt that likely world is a strategic alternative for University of Patras and this demands strengthening our crucial partnerships with our conventional allies during Europe and in the United States but, extra importantly, discovering new opportunities in China and the far East, explained Vice-Rector Mantzavinos. In this regard, this year’s 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations among China and Greece gives the great environment for an inspiring Sino-Hellenic educational framework.
