University of Ioannina

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The University of Ioannina, Greek Πανεπιστήμιο Ιωαννίνων, Panepistimio Ioanninon), is a university lying in the plains about 6 km southwest of Ioannina, Epirus, Greece. The campus is linked to the town by Greek National Road 5. It now hosts over 15,000 students in 17 departments (2006). The university was founded in 1964, as a department of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and became an independant university at 1970. There is a prominent medical school that performs research and provides doctors to the local University Hospital.

Navigate into the University of Ioannina campus via Google Earth (greek legended) and/or Google Maps.

The University of Ioannina, Greece - Past and Present

The efforts to establish a University in Ioannina and in the wider region can be traced back to the last pre-revolutionary years. During that period, leading Epirot intellectuals had attempted to found higher Education Institutions in Epirus. From the early fifties and directly after the founding of the Society for Epirot Studies (1954) a strong demand was voiced for the founding of a Higher Education Institution that would reflect the cultural background of Epirus and promote Ioannina and the wider region from every aspect.

In 1962, a delegation of visionary intellectuals was set up in Athens with a single aim: "the most effective assertion and widest possible promotion of the fair Epirot request to establish a third university or an independent theoretical or technical training school in Ioannina". In an announcement in July 1962 the Committee called on every official and unofficial body, as well as on every Epirot citizen, to take action so that the above request would be realised.

On 8 May 1964 the founding of a School of Philosophy in Ioannina was announced in the daily press, as a branch of the same School of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Initially the Department was housed in the old building of the Zosimaia Academy. In 1966, Georgios Mylonas, undersecretary to the premier's office at the time as well as education undersecretary, not only favoured the relocation of the School, but also commissioned the drawing up of plans for a custom built campus in the area near to Dourouti Monastery.

In 1966, the Department of Mathematics, which fell under the School of Mathematics and Physics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, came into being.

In 1970, the University of Ioannina, an independent Higher Education Institution was founded in Ioannina, which grew rapidly in the coming years to encompass today the following academic Departments:

• The Department of Physics was founded in 1970 and together with the Department of Mathematics constituted the School of Mathematics and Physics.

• The Department of Chemistry was founded in 1976, the School of Medicine in 1977 and the Departments of Primary and Pre-School Education in 1982. The last two Departments comprised the School of Education in 1996.

• In 1983 the Department of Mathematics, the Department of Physics and the Department of Chemistry comprised the School of Sciences.

• In 1984 the School of Philosophy was split into three Departments, which are the Department of Philology, the Department of History and Archaeology and the Department of Philosophy, Education and Psychology.

• In 1990 the Department of Computer Science was founded as the fourth academic unit of the School of Sciences.

• In 1998 the Department of Economics was founded. In the same year the School of Natural Resources and Enterprises Management (located in Agrinio) was founded with two Departments: the Environmental and Natural Resources Management Department and the Department of Agricultural and Food Products Enterprise Management, which in 2006 was renamed Department of Business Administration of Food and Agricultural Products.

• In 1999, three new Departments came into being: a) the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, b) the Department of Biological Applications and Technologies, and c) the Department of Art Sciences, which in 2003 was renamed Department of Plastic Arts and Art Sciences.

• In 2002, the School of Sciences and Technologies was founded and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering as well as the Department of Biological Applications and Technologies were integrated into the School.

• The Department of Cultural Heritage Management and New Technologies (located in Agrinio), started to operate in 2005 as an independent non-School Department.

Today, the University of Ioannina includes 17 academic Departments which altogether number 13,523 undergraduate students. A number of organised postgraduate study programmes are on offer that combine taught and research elements both at Master's and Doctoral level. Approximately 1,300 students are involved in full-time study mode progressing to a Master's degree, while 2,217 students are currently pursuing their studies at Doctoral level. The postgraduate student population is increasing yearly. The University faculty numbers 549 Members of Academic Staff, while teaching in all the Departments is further supplemented by 171 Teaching Fellows and 132 Technical Laboratory Staff. Finally, the University Administrative Services are staffed with 420 employees. A significant step for the organization of the University was the approval and publication of the University Statutes in 2005. Within a 42-year span the size of the University of Ioannina has almost doubled and its development prospects appear to be particularly promising. This is likely to have a continuing positive contribution to both the academic community and the region as a whole.

List of Schools and Departments of the University of Ioannina

The University of Ioannina is divided into the following Schools and Departments:

School of Philosophy

School of Sciences

School of Education

School of Medicine

School of Sciences and Technologies

Independent (Non-School) Departments (located in Ioannina)

School of Natural Resources and Enterprises Management (located in Agrinio)

Independent (Non-School) Departments (located in Agrinio)

The University Campus

Navigate into the University of Ioannina campus via Google Earth (greek legended) and/or Google Maps.

The University premises are situated in one of the largest campuses of Greece, an attractive location about six kilometers from the centre of Ioannina. The University is easily accessible from the city by bus or by car.

The Campus is set in 350 hectares with extensive green areas surrounding the building complexes, which house the University Schools and Services.

The buildings, covering a total area of 170,000 sq. m., boast modern lecture halls, student and research laboratories, offices and a central library. Lectures with large audiences are delivered in the auditoriums, whereas scientific conferences and other events take place in the Conference Centre of the recently-constructed building complex of the School of Medicine.

Two large building complexes house the residence halls and a multi-purpose building accommodates the Student Refectory and the Main Ceremony Hall. The same building houses "Phegos", the restaurant where the academic community as well as visitors can enjoy a good meal or celebrate special occasions, such as graduation days.

One of the most beautiful sites on campus is the old Monastery of Agios Georgios of Dourouti, which was built in the 18th century and is picturesquely perched on the hillside overlooking the campus. The Monastery has been restored and today is used as the University's Cultural Centre.


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