On Thursday, March 13th 2025, representatives of 40 UK and Greek higher education institutions together with high level representatives and leadership from the Greek Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, the Greek Embassy in London, the UK Department for Education, the British Council, Universities UK, and Study in Greece, convened in London for the conference titled: Advancing Academic Collaborations Between the UK and Greece, organized in the framework of the flagship program: UK-Greece Strategic Partnership in Education.
In his opening remarks, the Greek Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Mr. Kyriakos Pierrakakis underscored the importance of the UK-Greece strategic cooperation in higher education for the internationalization of Greek higher education, and his commitment to supporting Greek universities in their internationalization efforts, emphasizing the critical role of SiG in this national strategic priority.
The Deputy Head of Mission of the Greek Embassy in London, Ms. Ioanna Kriebardi stated that academic partnerships between the UK and Greece are “consequential to strengthening our people to people ties”.
The Regional Director for Education of the British Council Europe, Ms. Erika Boak, and her colleague Ms. Anastasia Andritsou, Director of the British Council for Greece and Cyprus shared their enthusiasm regarding the innovative products of the collaboration between Greek and UK universities, and expressed their eagerness to enhance this bilateral cooperation.
The Head of Europe of the UK Department for Education, Ms. Clare Colvin, stressed the importance and impact of the UK-Greece strategic partnership in education on the two countries political and cultural relations. Furthermore, the Head of TNE at Universities UK International, Mr. Griff Ryan presented the UK higher education internationalization strategy along with the organization’s mission and activities.
From the Greek side, the President of SiG, Prof. Christos Michalakelis, and the Director General of the organization, Dr. Theodoros Papaioannou presented the organization’s vision, mission and activities with regards to the internationalization of Greek higher education, and shared their willingness to further promote synergies between the two countries universities.
In the second part of the event, the Vice-Rector for Strategic Internationalization at the University of Patras, Prof. Dionisios Mantzavinos presented the Greek Ministry of Education call for Joint and Dual Degrees, delving into the opportunities and challenges of international partnerships.
The third part of the conference hosted a panel discussion dedicated to the design and development of academic and research partnerships. The Rector of the University of Ioannina, Prof. Anna Batistatou, the Vice-Rector for Internationalization and Growth of Athens University of Economics and Business, Prof. Nancy Pouloudi, University of Patras Prof. Athanasios Skodras, Prof. Pantelis Georgiou, Professor of Biomedical Electronics at Imperial College London, and Prof. Bryony Whitmarsh, Associate Dean (International), Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Southampton, shared their experiences, best practices, insights and reflections on academic and research collaboration between the UK and Greece. The discussion was moderated by Prof. Pinelopi Manousou, Professor of Medicine at Imperial College London.
In the closing session of the event, Prof. Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos, Head of the Department of Law at Goldsmiths University London, shared his perspectives on UK-Greece educational collaborations, presenting the summer program of Goldsmiths in Athens, a tangible outcome of the UK-Greece SPE Program.
At the end, as well as during the conference, participants had the opportunity to network, exchange, explore potential collaborations, and engage in fruitful discussions with their counterparts.
This impeccably organized and insightful event is part of the range of activities included in the UK-Greece SPE, an ongoing project aimed at promoting enhanced collaboration between the universities of the two countries.
Plenty to come in the near future.
