29-06-16  Nikos Filis pledges support for Hellenic International University

Minister of Education, Research and Religious Affairs Nikos Filis today attended a news conference presenting the English-language Hellenic International University of Thessaloniki at the Onassis Cultural Centre in Athens.

“Our presence here today is a reflection of the trust and confidence of the government and the state in the work that the Hellenic International University has been able to accomplish in a short time,” Filis said, noting the intense symbolism of the project.

“The outward looking perspective that is necessary in education in general, and especially in tertiary education, is apparent here. The International University has managed to attract to Greece foreign students who want to study various academic disciplines there, due to the quality of the faculty and the historical tradition of our country,” he noted.

“The Hellenic International University is at a stage in which it requires the assistance of the state. For this reason, we are working to increase the personnel in cooperation with the governing board of the university, and this year we will be re-posting eight employees as administrative staff,” he underlined.

Filis said the ministry aims to open channels of cooperation between the International University and the faculties of other Greek universities, in order to organize graduate programmes that will cater to foreign students. The education ministry is prepared for this project, and Alternate Education Minister Sia Anagnostopoulou will undertake the relevant legislative initiative, the minister said.

Minister Anagnostopoulou said that a planned bill will allow the International University to create subsidiary programmes in English at other Greek universities, so as to share knowledge, knowhow and resources.

“We do not want a university for the elite, but one that is open to bright young minds,” she said.

“At this time of uncertainty in which we live, in both the European and international environment, if one wants to survive, this must be achieved through cooperation, not through competition. We are a small country with fine universities, and so we aim to encourage such collaboration,” she underlined.

Costas Grammenos, the president of the governing board of the International Hellenic University, presented the independent external evaluation of the university conducted by a group of foreign universities in December, 2015.

Agriculture Minister Vangelis Apostolou officially announced his ministry’s decision to cede for 25 years the tract of land and two buildings in Thermi, Thessaloniki Prefecture, that currently house the university. In return, the university will provide 15 scholarships annually for employees of the agriculture ministry and its subsidiary agencies.

Alexander Onassis Foundation Board President Antonis Papadimitriou announced that the foundation has undertaken to support financially the university’s graduate programme in Classical Archaeology and the Ancient History of Macedonia, as well as to fund teaching and research by academics of international stature.

Papadimitriou noted that as of June, 2016, the Onassis Foundation is supporting the archaeological dig in Rysio, Thessaloniki.

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