Meeting of the Prime Minister with the president of Yale and the Rector of the NCSR
With the president of the university YaleMaurie Mcinnis, and the Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Gerasimos Siasos, was met this morning by the Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Maximus Mansion.
The meeting took place On the occasion of the common postgraduate program that will be provided by the two institutions, entitled “World Environmental Sciences and Public Health” and funding from the Recovery and Resilience Fund.
At the start of the meeting, the prime minister expressed his satisfaction because “just a few days ago, the law we voted on was constitutional by the Council of State”. He also emphasized that for him the priority was always to ensure that “our public universities, where almost all Greek students will ultimately study, are open and promoting these kinds of collaborations.”
During the meeting, the very good cooperation between the two universities was highlighted and discussed the possibility of deepening it, while the prime minister pointed out the importance of the government to stimulate the extroversion of public universities and cultivating partnerships.
The Joint Postgraduate Program is part of the Memorandum of Understanding between the EKPA and Yale, signed in 2021, and in this context exchanged views on the prospect of establishing an Excellence Research Center in Attica for the housing of wider academic cooperation between the two institutions.
At the start of the meeting, the Prime Minister said:
“Welcome. It makes me very happy that we welcome you to Athens, Mrs. President. Congratulations on taking up your duties and for your very impressive speech at the graduation ceremony, which I had the opportunity to hear, in a really moving, magnificent ceremony, and especially traditional.
It is a great pleasure for me to be here and I am very happy about the fact that this collaboration between Yale and the University of Athens is really flourishing, with the first postgraduate program ready, but also with other very interesting projects being launched. It is especially important for us to cultivate such partnerships between our public universities and leading international academic institutions.
The process of establishing non -profit, non -state universities in Greece is in progress. Just a few days ago, the legislation we voted on was constitutional by the Council of State. However, for me, the priority has always been to ensure that our public universities, where almost all Greek students will eventually study open and promote such partnerships.
So I am very happy that this program is starting. I look forward to hearing your ideas on how we can further enhance this collaboration. “
Yale President Maurie Mcinnis noted:
“Thank you very much, Mr Prime Minister. It’s a great honor to be here. The University of Yale has long been focused on Greek studies, classical studies. And now this opportunity to develop a program with the University of Athens, to deepen partnerships, especially here, around public health and environmental studies, is a great opportunity for our University to deepen our commitment to Greece, and we are very excited about it.
We greatly appreciate support from your government and the University of Athens for a collaboration that we know will grow over the years. Thank you very much. “
The Rector of the EKPA, Gerasimos Sias, said:
“It is a great honor for us to welcome you and work with a leading institution, Yale University. It is a great honor to have the new president. Yesterday, at our university, we had a constructive debate that lasted more than five or six hours. I would also like to thank the Prime Minister, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, for the enormous support he provided in this program. “
The meeting was attended by the Minister of Education of Religions and Sports Sofia Zacharakis, the Minister of State Akis Skrtsos and the Deputy Minister of Education, Religions and Sports responsible for Higher Education, Nikos Papaio. Also participated by the Professor of the School of Public Health at Yale University Basil Vassiliou, Professor and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Administration of the EKPA Nikolaos Thomaidis and the head of the “Yale Club of Greece”, Kyriakos Sabatakakis.
