OFFICIALS of the Cyprus University of Technology are confident of putting their newly-launched institute on the world map despite the difficult days that lie ahead.
Around 800 candidates for each faculty applied to study in the newly-opened university, but only 450 have managed to get in.
Speaking to the Cyprus Mail yesterday, the Chairman of the Interim Governing Board, Professor Andreas Demetriou, said: “All of our academics are able to work as independent scientists. They already have research and publications to their name, and now they will continue their work in our university.”
The institute will officially be opened on September 8 and freshers will be tutored by 25 PhD academics and 15 professors, mostly from Greece.
The five faculties on offer are Geotechnical Sciences and Environmental Management, Applied Arts, Communications, Engineering and Technology, and Health science.
Demetriou admitted that setting up a completely new university was not an easy task, as the preparation committee was only founded in 2000.
“Not having an academic background was a problem, so we decided to get some advisors from well known world universities such as Cambridge, the University of Athens, Yale, and the London School of Economics,” he explained.
“To set up each faculty, we created a group of specialists from those schools. They also chose our academic stuff depending on the research, list of publications and achievements of candidates, so our university can develop in the future.”
But a lack of academic tradition may also turn out an advantage as the opened faculties are fashionable and target the new expectations of the market, he said.
Not turning its back to possibility of expanding, the board is planning to open two more faculties by the next year while changes to the structure of the university’s governing body could also take place
“As things stand now, the Interim Governing Board shares the duty as both senate and council. The chairman is both a chairman and a rector. Those two bodies need to be separated.”
International recognition is also a top aim with the university set for membership with the committee of Commonwealth universities and the committee of Mediterranean universities.
Still, Demetriou is aware of the challenges that lie ahead.
“The level of teaching we are offering allows us to be recognised as a university but it will take many years and hard work until we will be well-established and known.”
