National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens , usually referred to simply as the University of Athens, is the oldest university

University

A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

in Southeast Europe

Southeast Europe

Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe is a relatively recent political designation for the states of the Balkans. Writers such as Maria Todorova and Vesna Goldsworthy have suggested the use of the term Southeastern Europe to replace the word Balkans for the region, to minimize potential...

and has been in continuous operation since its establishment in 1837. Today, it is the second-largest institution of higher learning in Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

, with more than fifty thousand undergraduate students. It is one of the top ranking universities in Greece, and ranked 177th in the world according to the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings 2009.

History

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens was founded on May 3, 1837, and was housed in the residence

Athens University Museum

The Athens University Museum is a museum in Plaka, Athens, Greece.The building was a structure of the Ottoman period but fundamentally restructured between 1831 and 1833 by Stamatios Kleanthis and Eduard Schaubert for their architectural office. From 1837 to 1841 it housed the newly founded...

of architects Stamatis Kleanthes and Eduard Schaubert, on the north east slopes of the Acropolis

Acropolis

Acropolis means "high city" in Greek, literally city on the extremity and is usually translated into English as Citadel . For purposes of defense, early people naturally chose elevated ground to build a new settlement, frequently a hill with precipitous sides...

. It was the first University not only in the newly established Greek State but in all the Balkans

Balkans

The Balkans is a geopolitical and cultural region of southeastern Europe...

and the Eastern Mediterranean in general.

Before it was renamed to honour Ioannis Kapodistrias

Ioannis Kapodistrias

Count Ioannis Antonios Kapodistrias |Academy of Athens]] Critical Observations about the 6th-Grade History Textbook"): "3.2.7. Σελ. 40: Δεν αναφέρεται ότι ο Καποδίστριας ήταν Κερκυραίος ευγενής." "...δύο ιστορικούς της Aκαδημίας κ.κ...

, the first head of state of independent modern Greece, the university was known as the Othonian University after King Otto

Otto of Greece

Otto, Prince of Bavaria, then Othon, King of Greece was made the first modern King of Greece in 1832 under the Convention of London, whereby Greece became a new independent kingdom under the protection of the Great Powers .The second son of the philhellene King Ludwig I of Bavaria, Otto ascended...

and consisted of four faculties; theology, law, medicine and arts (which included applied sciences and mathematics). It had 33 professors, 52 students and 75 non-matriculated “auditors”. In November 1841, classes began in a new building designed by the Danish architect Christian Hansen

Christian Hansen (architect)

Hans Christian Hansen was a Historicist Danish architect who worked 18 years in Greece where he was active in the transformation of Athens from a small town to the country's capital and an international metropolis...

. The Propylaea (37°58′51"N 23°44′02"E) was designed by Hansen younger brother, Theophil Hansen in 1859 but the building project was not completed until 1885.

A major change in the structure of the University came about in 1904, when the faculty of Arts was split into two separate faculties: that of Arts and that of Sciences, the latter consisting of the departments of Physics and Mathematics and the School of Pharmacy. In 1919, a department of chemistry was added, and in 1922 the School of Pharmacy was renamed a Department. A further change came about when the School of Dentistry was added to the faculty of medicine.

In this first and “heroic” period for Greek education, the university faculty made great efforts to fill the gap between their newly founded institution and older ones in other countries.

Between 1895 and 1911, an average of one thousand new students entered the faculties each year, a figure which rose to two thousand at the end of World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. This led to the decision to introduce entrance examinations for all the faculties, beginning in the academic year 1927-28. Since 1954 the number of students admitted each year has been fixed by the Ministry of Education and Religion, on the proposal of the faculties.

In the 1960s construction work began on the University Campus in the suburb of Ilissia. The Ilissia campus now houses the Schools of Philosophy, Theology and Sciences.

Faculties and departments

The University of Athens is divided into schools, faculties and departments as follows. The naming is nοt consistent in English for historical reasons, but in Greek the largest divisions are generally named “σχολές” (schools) and are divided in “τμήματα” (faculties), furthermore subdivided in “τομείς” (departments).

School of Theology
Theology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
- Faculty of Social Theology
  Sociology of religion
  The sociology of religion concerns the role of religion in society: practices, historical backgrounds, developments and universal themes. There is particular emphasis on the recurring role of religion in all societies and throughout recorded history...
- Faculty of Theology
  Theology
  Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
School of Philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
- Faculty of Philology
  Philology
  Philology is the study of language in written historical sources; it is a combination of literary studies, history and linguistics.Classical philology is the philology of Greek and Classical Latin...
- Faculty of History
  History
  History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
  
  and Archaeology
  Archaeology
  Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
- Faculty of Philosophy
  Philosophy
  Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
  
  , Pedagogy
  Pedagogy
  Pedagogy is the study of being a teacher or the process of teaching. The term generally refers to strategies of instruction, or a style of instruction....
  
  and Psychology
  Psychology
  Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...
- Faculty of English Language
  English language
  English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
  
  and Literature
  English literature
  English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
- Faculty of French Language
  French language
  French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
  
  and Literature
  French literature
  French literature is, generally speaking, literature written in the French language, particularly by citizens of France; it may also refer to literature written by people living in France who speak traditional languages of France other than French. Literature written in French language, by citizens...
- Faculty of German Language
  German language
  German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
  
  and Literature
  German literature
  German literature comprises those literary texts written in the German language. This includes literature written in Germany, Austria, the German part of Switzerland, and to a lesser extent works of the German diaspora. German literature of the modern period is mostly in Standard German, but there...
- Faculty of Italian Language
  Italian language
  Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
  
  and Literature
  Italian literature
  Italian literature is literature written in the Italian language, particularly within Italy. It may also refer to literature written by Italians or in Italy in other languages spoken in Italy, often languages that are closely related to modern Italian....
- Faculty of Spanish Language
  Spanish language
  Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
  
  and Literature
  Spanish literature
  Spanish literature generally refers to literature written in the Spanish language within the territory that presently constitutes the state of Spain...
- Faculty of Turkish
  Turkey
  Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
  
  and Modern Asia
  Asia
  Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
  
  n Studies
- Faculty of Slavic Studies
- Faculty of Music Studies
  Music
  Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
- Faculty of Theatre Studies
  Theatre
  Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
School of Law
Law
Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...

, Economics
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...

and Political Sciences
- Faculty of Law
  Law
  Law is a system of rules and guidelines which are enforced through social institutions to govern behavior, wherever possible. It shapes politics, economics and society in numerous ways and serves as a social mediator of relations between people. Contract law regulates everything from buying a bus...
- Faculty of Economic Studies
- Faculty of Political Science
  Political science
  Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
  
  and Public Administration
  Public administration
  Public Administration houses the implementation of government policy and an academic discipline that studies this implementation and that prepares civil servants for this work. As a "field of inquiry with a diverse scope" its "fundamental goal.....
School of Sciences
- Faculty of Physics
  Physics
  Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
- Faculty of Biology
  Biology
  Biology is a natural science concerned with the study of life and living organisms, including their structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, distribution, and taxonomy. Biology is a vast subject containing many subdivisions, topics, and disciplines...
- Faculty of Geology
  Geology
  Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
  
  and Geoenvironment
- Faculty of Chemistry
  Chemistry
  Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
- Faculty of Mathematics
  Mathematics
  Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
- Faculty of Informatics
  Informatics (academic field)
  Informatics is the science of information, the practice of information processing, and the engineering of information systems. Informatics studies the structure, algorithms, behavior, and interactions of natural and artificial systems that store, process, access and communicate information...
  
  and Telecommunications
Schools of Health Sciences
- Faculty of Medicine
  Medicine
  Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
- Faculty of Dentistry
  Dentistry
  Dentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
- Faculty of Pharmacy
  Pharmacy
  Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
- Faculty of Nursing
  Nursing
  Nursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....
Independent faculties
- Faculty of Physical Education
  Physical education
  Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
  
  and Sport Science
- Faculty of Primary Education
  Primary education
  A primary school is an institution in which children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as primary or elementary education. Primary school is the preferred term in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth Nations, and in most publications of the United Nations Educational,...
- Faculty of Early Childhood Education
  Early childhood education
  Early childhood education is the formal teaching and care of young children by people other than their family or in settings outside of the home. 'Early childhood' is usually defined as before the age of normal schooling - five years in most nations, though the U.S...
- Faculty of Communication
  Communication
  Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
  
  and Mass Media
  Mass media
  Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
  
  Studies
- Faculty of Philosophy
  Philosophy
  Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
  
  & History of Science
  History of science
  The history of science is the study of the historical development of human understandings of the natural world and the domains of the social sciences....

Campuses

The main campus is at Ilissia

Ilissia

- Notable people :*Nikko Patrelakis, musician...

(Zografou

Zografou

Zografou is a suburb in the eastern part of Athens, Greece. It is located about 5 km from downtown Athens, 2 km SW of Katechaki Avenue, 4 km from the Hymettus Ring forming part of the Attiki Odos private superhighway network, and 3 km E of Kifissias Avenue...

). There the faculties of Science, Theology and Philosophy are situated. The faculty of Life Sciences is located at Goudi

Goudi

Goudi is a residential neighbourhood of Athens, Greece, on the eastern part of town and on the foothills of Mount Hymettus. Its name descends from the 19th century Goudi family, who owned a large estate in the area...

and the faculty of Physical Education and Sports Science is located at Daphne

Dafni (Athens), Greece

Dafni, sometimes called Daphne, is a suburb of Athens, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Dafni-Ymittos, of which it is the seat and a municipal unit....

. The faculties of Media, Education, Economics, Law and Public Administration are housed in various buildings at the centre of Athens, along with various administration facilities. University administration was initially housed in a historical neoclassical building at the center of Athens, Panepistimiou avenue

Panepistimiou Street

Panepistimiou Street is a major street in Athens that runs one way for non-transit vehicles since 2002 from Amalias Avenue, Syntagma Square and Vassilissis Sofias Avenue to Omonoia Square in which is now a pedestrian crossing and before an intersection...

, but was relocated at the main university campus later.

{| class="wikitable"

|-
! Campus Location|| Schools || Independent Faculties
|-
| rowspan ="4" | Ilissia

Ilissia

- Notable people :*Nikko Patrelakis, musician...

|| School of Science
|-
| School of Theology ||
|-
| School of Philosophy ||
|-
| || Faculty of the Philosophy and History of Science
|-
| Goudi

Goudi

|| School of Health Sciences ||
|-
| rowspan ="4" | Centre of Athens

Athens

Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...

|| School of Law, Economics
and Political Sciences
|-
| || Faculty of Communication and Mass Media Studies
|-
| || Faculty of Primary Education
|-
| || Faculty of Early Childhood Education
|-
| || Faculty of Slavic Studies
|-
| || Faculty of Turkish and Modern Asian Studies
|-
| Daphne || || Faculty of Physical Education and Sport Science
|}

Research

Research in the University of Athens covers almost all research interests. Research in the University of Athens is intimately linked with that conducted in the hospitals and research institutes of the metropolitan area, including the National Research Center for Physical Sciences Demokritos, the National Research Foundation (EIE), the National Observatory of Athens

National Observatory of Athens

The National Observatory of Athens is a research institute in Athens, Greece. Founded in 1842, it is the oldest research foundation in Greece, as it was the first scientific research institute built after Greece became independent in 1829, and one of the oldest research institutes in Southern...

, the Hellenic Pasteur Institute

Pasteur Institute

The Pasteur Institute is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who made some of the greatest breakthroughs in modern medicine at the time, including pasteurization and vaccines for anthrax...

, the Alexander Fleming Biomedical Sciences Research Center

Alexander Fleming Biomedical Sciences Research Center

The Biomedical Sciences Research Center "Alexander Fleming" is a non-profit research organisation based in Vari, Athens, Greece. The Center is named after the scientist Alexander Fleming....

, the Athens High Performance Computing Laboratory, the National Centre for Marine Research (NCMR) and the Foundation for Biomedical Research of the Academy of Athens (BRFAA). Research conducted in the institutes of the metropolitan area of Athens

Athens

accounted for over 50% of the ISI

Institute for Scientific Information

The Institute for Scientific Information was founded by Eugene Garfield in 1960. It was acquired by Thomson Scientific & Healthcare in 1992, became known as Thomson ISI and now is part of the Healthcare & Science business of the multi-billion dollar Thomson Reuters Corporation.ISI offered...

-indexed scientific publications coming from Greece

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

in 2004.

Notable alumni

Politicians

Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos
Eleftherios Venizelos was an eminent Greek revolutionary, a prominent and illustrious statesman as well as a charismatic leader in the early 20th century. Elected several times as Prime Minister of Greece and served from 1910 to 1920 and from 1928 to 1932...
King Constantine II of Hellenes
Constantine II of Greece
|align=right|Constantine II was King of Greece from 1964 until the abolition of the monarchy in 1973, the sixth and last monarch of the Greek Royal Family....
George Papandreou, senior
Konstantinos Karamanlis
Panayotis Kanellopoulos
Karolos Papoulias
Karolos Papoulias
-Honours:*Knight Grand Cross with Grand Cordon of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic *Knight Grand Cross of the Grand Order of King Tomislav *Knight of the Order of the Elephant- External links :*...

Scientists

Gerasimos Danilatos
Gerasimos Danilatos
Gerasimos D. Danilatos is a Greek-Australian physicist and inventor of ESEM, the environmental scanning electron microscope.He was born in Cefalonia, Greece...

, physicist, inventor of the ESEM
ESEM
The environmental scanning electron microscope or ESEM is a scanning electron microscope that allows for the option of collecting electron micrographs of specimens that are "wet," uncoated, or both by allowing for a gaseous environment in the specimen chamber...
Nikos Hadjichristidis, chemist
Fotis Kafatos
Fotis Kafatos
Fotis Constantine Kafatos is a Greek molecular entomologist. Between 2005-2010 he was the founding president of the European Research Council and member of its Scientific Council...

, biologist
Evangelos Moudrianakis, biologist
Dimitri Nanopoulos
Dimitri Nanopoulos
Dimitri Nanopoulos is a Greek physicist. He is one of the most regularly cited researchers in the world, cited more than 35,800 times over across a number of separate branches of science....

, physicist
Georgios Papanikolaou
Georgios Papanikolaou
Georgios Nicholas Papanikolaou was a Greek pioneer in cytology and early cancer detection, and inventor of the "Pap smear".-Life:...

, doctor, inventor of the Pap test
Panayotis Varotsos
Panayotis Varotsos
Panayotis Varotsos is a Greek physicist , full professor in the Department of Physics of the University of Athens since 1986, notable for his VAN method to predict earthquakes. His group claims the ability to identify electromagnetic signals that are precursors to earthquakes...

, physicist
Sophia Frangou
Sophia Frangou
Sophia Frangou is Reader in Psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London where she heads the Neurobiology of Psychosis section. She is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and of the European Psychiatric Association and Vice-President for Research of the...

, psychiatrist

Poets/writers

Giorgios Seferis, Nobel laureate (1963), poet
Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis
Odysseas Elytis was regarded as a major exponent of romantic modernism in Greece and the world. In 1979 he was bestowed with the Nobel Prize in Literature.-Biography:...

, Nobel laureate (1979), poet

Philosophers/Philologists

Cornelius Castoriadis
Cornelius Castoriadis
Cornelius Castoriadis was a Greek philosopher, social critic, economist, psychoanalyst, author of The Imaginary Institution of Society, and co-founder of the Socialisme ou Barbarie group.-Early life in Athens:...
Nikos Kazantzakis
Nikos Kazantzakis
Nikos Kazantzakis was a Greek writer and philosopher, celebrated for his novel Zorba the Greek, considered his magnum opus...
Emmanuel Kriaras
Emmanuel Kriaras
Emmanuel G Kriaras is a Greek lexicographer and philologist, he is Emeritus Professor of the School of Philosophy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki...
Helene Ahrweiler
Helene Ahrweiler
Helene Ahrweiler, née Glykatzi is an eminent Greek university professor and Byzantinologist. She is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Greece. In the 2008 show Great Greeks, she was named amongst the 100 greatest Greeks of all time.- Life :...

Other

Saint Nectarios of Aegina
Apostolos Santas
Apostolos Santas
Apostolos Santas commonly known as Lakis, was a Greek veteran of the Resistance against the Axis Occupation of Greece during World War II, most notable for his participation, along with Manolis Glezos, in the taking down of the German flag from the Acropolis on 30 May 1941.Apostolos Santas was...
George Lucas Adamopoulos, founder of the first and only school in the Philippines founded by Greeks, Adamson University
Adamson University
Adamson University is a private university Catholic university in Manila, Philippines, founded on June 30, 1932 by Greek immigrant George Lucas Adamson as the Adamson School of Industrial Chemistry...

in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...

External links