Annual Report 2019 - 2020
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Annual Report 2019 - 2020 1 | CONTENTS 1 | INTRODUCTION 1.1. Message from the CEO and President of the Council, Dr. Christoforos Hadjikyprianou, and the Rector, Prof. Kostas Gouliamos 5 1.2. Senate members 2019-20 7 2 | UNIVERSITY FACILITIES 2.1. Microsoft Innovation Center (MIC) 9 3 | ACADEMIC AFFAIRS 3.1. Message from the Vice Rector of Academic Affairs, Prof. Loizos Symeou 11 3.2. New Programs of Study Accredited and Offered for the First Time during the Academic Year 2019-20 12 3.3. Re-Accredited School Departments 12 3.4. Re-Accredited Programs of Study 12 3.5. Applications for Accreditation of New Programs of Study 13 3.6. Faculty Professional Development Program 13 4 | DiSTANCE EDUCATION UNIT 4.1. Message from the Director of Distance Education Unit, Dr. Paraskevi Chatzipanagiotou 15 5 | INTERNAL PROCESSES AND QUALITY OFFICE 5.1. Message from the Head of Internal Processes and Quality, Dr Pieris Chourides 16 5.2. Times Higher Impact Rankings 16 6 | LiBRARY 17 6.1. Indicative activities 2019-2020 17 7 | RESEARCH AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS 7.1. Message from the Vice Rector of Research and External Affairs, Prof. Andreas Efstathiou 19 7.2. Faculty Distinctions and Achievements 20 7.3. Participation in Funded Research Projects 24 7.4. Participation in Research Projects 29 7.5. Research Centers 29 7.5.1. Contemporary Music Lab 29 7.5.2. Medical Innovation Center (MEDIC) 30 7.5.3. Laboratory of Instrumental Music Education and Research 40 7.5.4. SYSTEMA Research Center 41 7.5.5. Aristarchus Research Center (ARC) 44 7.5.6. Center for Sustainable Management of Tourism, Sport & Events (CESMATSE) 46 7.5.7. iCommunicate Research Center [iCRC] 48 2 7.5.8. SOSCIEATH - The Center of Excellence in Research & Innovation in Social Sciences, the Arts and the Humanities 50 7.5.9. Center of Excellence in Risk and Decision Sciences (CERIDES – Excellence in Innovation and Technology) 59 7.5.10. EUC-PEAK Innovation Center 64 7.5.11. Research Laboratory in ICT-Enhanced Education (ICTEE) 66 7.6. International Relations 70 7.6.1. Collaboration with Foreign Universities/Organizations 70 7.6.2. Erasmus + 71 8 | SiGNIFICANT EVENTS 8.1. School of Humanities, Social and Education Sciences 77 8.1.1. Message from the Dean of the School of Humanities, Social and Education Sciences, Prof. Marios Vryonides 77 8.1.2. Events 78 8.2. School of Business Administration 81 8.2.1. Message from the Dean of the School of Business Administration, Prof. George Boustras 81 8.2.2. Events 82 8.3. School of Sciences 84 8.3.1. Message from the Dean of the School of Sciences, Dr. Panos Papageorgis 84 8.3.2. Events 85 8.4. School of Medicine 98 8.4.1. Message from the Dean of the School of Medicine, Prof. Elizabeth Johnson 98 8.4.2. Events 100 8.5. School of Law 104 8.5.1. Message from the Dean of the School of Law, Dr. Konstantinos Tsimaras 104 8.5.2. Events 105 9 | STUDENT AFFAIRS 9.1. Student Distinctions and Achievements 111 9.2. Student events / Student life / Career 111 9.3. Employability 119 9.4. Alumni Association 121 9.5. University Sports 121 10 | UNIVERSITY ACTIVITIES – SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION / RESPONSIBILITY 123 10.1. School of Medicine 123 10.2. School of Sciences 126 10.3. Committee for Students with Special Educational Needs 127 10.4. Office of Student Affairs 128 10.5. Health, Safety and Environment 130 10.6. The Office of Athletics 132 3 1| INTRODUCTION 4 1.1. Message from the CEO and President of the Council, Dr. Christoforos Hadjikyprianou, and the Rector, Prof. Kostas Gouliamos It is undeniable that the COVID-19 crisis has exposed deep cracks in the European and international higher education system. However, the pandemic crisis also challenged our university to rapidly adapt to urgent situations. Indeed, European Univer- sity Cyprus was fully prepared for surviving the pandemic, swiftly converting to online teaching, using operational resources. Despite the incredibly difficult position, we succeeded in this effective transition, while maintaining our academic values; we implemented new, innovative solutions. A key lesson we learnt was “being innovative and dealing with issues openly, honestly and directly with our students and staff”. We gained credibility and trust due to our teamwork in this digital age of the “knowledge economy”. In the era of internation- alization and Global Learning, “knowledge economy” is an indispensable pillar to planning a sustainable future – economically, socially and culturally. Within this context, education is the ultimate key to safeguarding the values of sustainable growth, innovation, inclusiveness, employability, social responsibility, and creative and critical thinking. This is the very foundation of our operation at European University Cyprus (EUC): a university that is a trusted leader in providing access to high quality, innovative programs and operations. All of us – students, faculty, teaching and administrative personnel – are part of perhaps the most important institution of our Region. We are also aligned with the industry’s and society’s plan for growth, which demands educating and developing a skilled workforce and advancing students’ strengths, particularly through innovation, to build the knowledge economy. As a university, we are also aligned with both the European Union’s and the State’s economic plan and inclusive innovation agenda. In particular, given the economic imperative to innovate while at the same time remain competitive and diversify, the role of European University Cyprus in our country’s economy is more important now than ever before. We continue to be a thriving and operationally excellent academic institution and one of the Region’s top Universities with a robust core of teaching and research programs. We continue to attract top-tier students and internationally acclaimed faculty, as well as new research and industry opportunities. Meanwhile, we have one of the broadest arrays of disciplines offered by any university in the Region, and this is a crucial advantage for our future. People want to come to a country that has an innovative university at its core, particularly a “Medical” university. Whether for the development of academic programs or research projects, we engage teams of experts coming from different disciplines, scientific and academic fields, thus building and promoting cooperation of inter- disciplinary nature, while also including partners from the industry, community and government agencies. With our inclusion both in the new Magna Charta Universitatum signatory universities and in the prestigious Utrecht Network of 30 top and historical universities of Europe, we are creating an added-value for our students as well as for our academic and administrative staff. We maintain an exceptional reputation internationally for the outstanding quality of our School of Medicine. This is achieved through our own faculty’s unique expertise in Medicine and Life and Health Sciences programs and through working collaboratively with renowned universities and Hospitals. In addition, we offer the only Dentistry program in Cyprus in which students are exposed to state-of-the-art facilities equipped with the latest technology used in dental education. We are generating distinctive ideas and are identifying new venues of collaborating and accelerating innovation by building bridges through which many of the Region’s next generation of leaders will emerge. This is the university whose present and future rest on its great potential to inquire, to inform, to innovate, to produce and to transfer knowledge. Dr. Christoforos Hadjikyprianou Prof. Kostas Gouliamos CEO, President of the Council Rector 5 6 1.2. Senate Members 2019-20 Prof. Kostas Gouliamos, Rector Prof. Andreas Efstathiou, Vice-Rector of Research and External Relations Prof. Loizos Symeou, Vice-Rector of Academic Affairs Dr. Christoforos Hadjikyprianou, Managing Director Prof. Marios Vriodides, Dean, School of Humanities, Social and Education Sciences Prof. George Boustras, Dean, School of Business Administration Dr. Konstantinos Tsimaras, Dean, School of Law Prof. Elizabeth Johnson, Dean, School of Medicine Dr. Panagiotis Papageorgis, Dean, School of Sciences Dr. Charis Xinari, Faculty Rep., School of Humanities, Social and Education Sciences Dr. Georgia Petroudi, Faculty Rep., School of Humanities, Social and Education Sciences Prof. Andreas Efstathiades, Faculty Rep., School of Business Administration Dr. Lycourgos Hadjiphanis, Faculty Rep., School of Business Administration Dr. Nikolaos Koulouris, Faculty Rep., School of Law Dr. Thalia Prastitou, Faculty Rep., School of Law Prof. Theodoros Xanthos, Faculty Rep., School of Medicine Prof. George Palaghias, Faculty Rep., School of Medicine Dr. Ioannis Michos, Faculty Rep., School of Sciences Dr. Chryssoula Thodi, Faculty Rep., School of Sciences Mr. Costas Ellinas, STP Rep., School of Business Administration Ms. Monica Hadjichrysanthou, STP Rep., School of Humanities, Social and Education Sciences Ms. Venetia Argyropoulou, STP Rep., School of Law Mr. Costas Ioannou, STP Rep., School of Medicine Ms. Maria Nicolaou, STP Rep., School of Sciences Dimitris Pafitis, Student Representative, School of Humanities, Social and Education Sciences Panagiotis Skarparis, Student Representative, School of Sciences Triantafillos Salomides, Student Representative, School of Business Administration Apostolos Sideropoulos, Student Representative, School of Medicine Michalis Katsouris, Student Representative, School of Law Marianna Efstathiadou, STP Rep., School of Humanities, Social and Education Sciences