The President, Professor Mung Chiang, and a delegation from Purdue University (USA) at NKUA

On March 31, 2023, the President, Professor Mung Chiang, and a delegation of academics from Purdue University paid a working visit to the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. There, they met with the Rector of NKUA, Professor M.-A. Dimopoulos, the Vice-rector competent for International Relations, Professor D. Karadimas, the Deans of the Schools of Science and Health Sciences, Professors I. Emmanouil and E. Pikoulis, respectively, and a delegation of academics of our University.

It is crucial to note that the two Institutions have already signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing the initial fields of collaboration, with the specification of activities anticipated in the coming period.

The delegation of Purdue University consisted of:

1. Mung Chiang, President of Purdue University and the Roscoe H. George Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
2. Petros Drineas, Professor and Associate Head, Department of Computer Science,
3. Peristera Paschou, Professor of Biological Sciences and Associate Dean at the College of Science,
4. Dimitrios Peroulis, Michael and Katherine Birck Head of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Reilly Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering,
5. Lefteri Tsoukalas, Professor of Nuclear Engineering,
6. Pavlos Vlachos, St Vincent Health Professor of Healthcare Engineering, Director of the Regenstrief Center for Healthcare Engineering, and
7. Alyssa Wilcox, Chief of Staff, Office of the President, Senior Vice-president for Partnerships.

Present at the meeting on behalf of NKUA were Professor M.-A. Dimopoulos, Rector of NKUA; Professor D. Karadimas, Vice-rector competent for International Relations; Professors I. Emmanouil and E. Pikoulis, Deans of the Schools of Science and Health Sciences, respectively; Professor V. Gorgoulis, Director of the Department of Medicine’s Laboratory of Histology-Embryology; Professors C. Aggeli, Th. Psaltopoulou, and Th. Papaioannou and Associate Professor S. Golemati (Department of Medicine); Associate Professor A. Parmakelis, Chair of the Department of Biology; Professor A. Scorilas (Department of Biology); Professor C. Reppas (Department of Pharmacy); Professor E. Lianidou (Department of Chemistry); Professors D. Gunopoulos and D. Syvridis (Department of Informatics and Telecommunications); Associate Professor D. Hatzidimitriou and Assistant Professor M. Petropoulou (Department of Physics).   

Purdue University President Mung Chiang travelled to Europe, and what is more to Greece, to seek collaboration with NKUA because, as he put it, ‘Greece occupies a special place due to its history, culture, and, of course, traditionally good relations with the US’. He also referred to Purdue’s standing in global University rankings and emphasized that there would be initiatives to fund and support exchange and mobility activities and encourage the presence of Greek academics and students in the US.

The two delegations confirmed the potential for joint Master’s and PhD programmes while our University’s team briefed their counterparts on the abilities and worldwide collaborations of NKUA in fields of mutual interest.

At the end of the meeting, Rector and President agreed that there are many fields of common interest. In the coming period, the collaboration across University Departments and Schools will begin, allowing for the first joint activities to be specified.