At the Founding conference that took place on Saturday May 26th 2018 in the historic old building of the Faculty of Philosophy at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Rectors and delegates form 26 Universities, signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the foundation of the Black Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Academic Network (BSEMAN).

BSEMAN is an association of over 50 Universities in the broader region aiming, as described in the preamble of the MoU, to strengthen their cooperation “in serving a peaceful, collaborative, creative, socially and environmentally sustainable future in the region and in counteracting any discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, religion, gender, age, physical or mental ability and martial status”.

As a founding member of BSEMAN, the University of Nicosia actively participated in the Task Force Committee that prepared the MoU and the founding conference. Among other tasks, the University’s Marketing Department designed BSEMAN’s logo and worked for the creation of the Network’s website. The Rector of University of Nicosia, Professor Philippos Pouyioutas singed the MoU, while Dr Michalis Kontos, Assistant Professor at the Department of Politics and Governance of the School of Law, was appointed as the representative of all participating Cypriot Universities in BSEMAN’s Coordinating Committee. The University of Nicosia, as part of a group of the Cypriot Universities members of BSEMAN, will co-host BSEMAN’s annual General Assembly in 2020.