NTUA hosted the 2nd Higher Education Rectors Forum of Chinese and Greek Universities

The National Technical University of Athens hosted the 2^nd China-Greece Higher Education Rectors Forum on November 1^st and 3^rd, 2023, in cooperation with the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in the Hellenic Republic and the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE).

The first day of works on Wednesday November 1^st was hosted at the NTUA Lavrion Technological Cultural Park with the participation of 58 Presidents, Vice Presidents and representatives from 33 top Chinese Universities and 21 Rectors and Vice Rectors from 14 Greek Universities.

Τhe Rector of NTUA, Prof. Andreas Boudouvis referred to the status of the China-Greece academic cooperation and the prospects of its expansion. He mentioned the recent visit to Greece of a Chinese Government delegation from the China Scholarship Council, where the foundations were laid for academic interaction with targeted collaborations. In this direction, the growing interactions between Chinese and European Universities will be used as a model for Chinese-Greek academic collaborations.

The representative of the Chinese Delegation, President of Lanzhou University, Prof. Xiaohua Gou, emphasized that the world is changing while the friendship between the Greek and Chinese people is unchanged. As two countries based on brilliant civilizations, and given that Universities always lead development worldwide, the cooperation between China and Greece in Higher Education is meaningful not only to Greece and China but also to the changing world, towards a better future.

The opening ceremony was inaugurated by the General Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Prof. Odysseas-Ioannis Zoras.

In the context of plenary and parallel sessions, the perspectives and the framework for joint undergraduate programs and double degrees were the subject of a wide discussion. The need to enhance student and academic stuff mobility, and the facilitation of joint scientific research collaboration were highlighted. Moreover, the issue of digitization in Higher Education was extensively discussed.

The range of scientific fields of mutual interest that has emerged from the discussions during the Forum at NTUA is large: from agriculture and veterinary medicine to sports, medicine, environment, astronomy. In the Panel Discussions that followed, topics related to engineering and informatics were discussed, among others, as well as topics from the field of arts and humanities, related to archaeology, social sciences and the performing arts. Afterwards, the participants were guided inside the Lavrion Technological Cultural Park and were introduced to the educational and cultural services offered and the innovation and entrepreneurship activities hosted in the Park.

The second day of the Forum, on Friday November 3, included visits of the Chinese delegation to selected NTUA Laboratories at Zografou Campus: Laboratory of Harbour Works – Prof. V. Tsoukala, Ass. Prof. M. Chondros. Wind Tunnel, Laboratory for Innovative Environmental Technologies – Prof. D. Bouris. Laboratory of Aerodynamics – Ass. Prof. V. Riziotis. High Voltage and Electric Measurement Laboratory – Prof. I. Gonos. Electric Machines and Power Electronics Laboratory – Prof. A. Kladas, Ass. Prof. A. Antonopoulos.

Attached: List of participated Universities and Forum agenda.