The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and Georgetown University signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Monday, July 7, 2025, at the NKUA’s main administrative building. Signing the Memorandum on behalf of the University of Athens was the Rector, Professor Gerasimos Siasos, while Professor Peter Marra, Dean of the Earth Commons—Georgetown’s Institute for the Environment and Sustainability—signed on behalf of his University.
Georgetown University was additionally represented at the occasion by Mr Peter Poulos, Director of Partner Relations (Greece), and Ms Katerina Downward, Managing Director (Greece). Professor Sophia Papaioannou, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs, International Relations, and Extroversion, and Professor Panayiotis Pafilis from the Department of Biology, represented the University of Athens.
Georgetown University was founded in 1789 and has been based in the nation’s capital, Washington, D.C., ever since. It was the first federally chartered University in the United States. The University comprises eleven Schools, enrolling approximately 7,500 undergraduate and 10,000 postgraduate students, and employs around 1,400 full-time and 1,200 part-time faculty members. Its seven libraries hold over 3.5 million printed items. Georgetown is classified among ‘R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity’ and maintains a strong international orientation, with students coming from 135 different countries. The University consistently places highly in national and global rankings, with many of its Departments and Schools considered among the best in the world.
The signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Georgetown University paves the way for the two Institutions to support one another in pursuing shared goals through activities including the following:
- Creation of short-term educational and research programmes (e.g., summer schools),
- Exchange of faculty members and researchers,
- Sharing of research and educational materials, publications, and scientific knowledge,
- Facilitating student mobility for educational and research purposes,
- Participation in joint research programmes and publications,
- Preparation of joint collaboration proposals for funding, and
- Arranging collaborative occasions such as research meetings, reciprocal visits, conferences, and events.
The Memorandum of Understanding formalizes the collaboration between the two Universities, which has been developing since last year through various initiatives. These include two student placements at our University’s UNESCO Chair on Climate Diplomacy, an event organized by Georgetown and Columbia Universities at NKUA, and the involvement of 15 students in a joint summer course on marine ecology using satellite oceanography.
By fostering synergies and facilitating mobility, the academic communities of the two Institutions—faculty members, researchers, and students alike—will be able to shape joint research and educational proposals that will lead to bilateral programmes and projects. The exchange of expertise and academic experiences between a leading American University located in the heart of the US capital and the University of Athens, a top Higher Educational Institution in South Eastern Europe, will benefit both parties at all levels.
