University of The Aegean

The University of the Aegean (Greek: Πανεπιστήμιο Αιγαίου) is a state, multi-campus university located in Lesvos, Chios, Samos, Rhodes, Syros and Lemnos, Greece. The university was officially founded in 1984, although its historical roots date back to the early 1920s, to the Ionian University of Smyrna (Ex Oriente Lux, Light from the East) which while established never operated.

The University of the Aegean is a medium-sized university, one of the 24 state supervised and funded universities in Greece. It is an institution mandated to provide innovative and socially committed studies. As of 2012, approximately 12,000 active students are studying at the university, 9,700 in undergraduate programmes and 1,500 in postgraduate programmes. Furthermore the Teaching and Research Staff number 292 people (55 professors, 70 associate professors, 128 assistant professors, and 39 lecturers), the Scientific Teaching Staff number 99 and the Special Laboratory Teaching Staff 23 people. This is further supported by the 30 members of the Special Technical Laboratory Staff for teaching services and the 304 members of administrative staff.

The University of the Aegean is the only higher education institution in the state region of Northern Aegean Sea. It was founded on 20 March 1984, by the Presidential Act 83/1984 and its administrative headquarters are located in the town of Mytilene, on the island of Lesvos. The first Department to operate, in the academic year 1984-85, was the department of Business Administration, in the island of Chios. In the following year, the Department of Primary School Education, in Rhodes, and the Postgraduate Course on Environmental Studies began operating. At the end of the first five years of operation, the University comprises seven departments and one postgraduate course. The University has since then seen tremendous research and academic growth to become one of the largest in size academic institutions in Greece.

The university today comprises 5 schools and 17 departments offering undergraduate and post-graduate degrees programmes, with campuses in various locations across the Aegean Archipelago. This growth was based on the University’s belief that its sustainability could only be based on its potential to grow into a substantially large institute, initially in department numbers supporting its educational side and secondly in postgraduate courses in support of its research nature. The large majority of the university's campuses is situated in the historical birthplaces of ancient and contemporary Greek philosophers and mathematicians such as Pythagoras and Theophrastus.

The University of the Aegean, as all Universities in Greece, is a public university. As such, its educational activities and a small part of its research activities rely upon government funding. These activities are also supported by funds generated by the Research Unit, as well as by the University of the Aegean Property Management Corp. Research in the University is funded through participation in competitive national, European and international research and development programs.

A university report presented by the Chancellor in the Greek parliament in late 2011 describes the current challenges faced by the institution due to economic hardship and the dispersion of its academic units in islands, which increases operational costs and adds considerable stress in the educational process.

The Ministry of Education is aiming to reform Higher Education programmes by 2014, a process which will result to a long term restructuring of the university's departments in the next decade. The university's Senate issued a formal response to the Ministry of Education's proposed plan in 2013.