Inauguration ceremony of UNIC Athens at Elliniko marks major success

The first phase of the University of Nicosia’s new campus in Greece was inaugurated in the presence of distinguished guests from Greece and Cyprus

With great success and in the presence of distinguished guests from Greece and Cyprus, institutional representatives, members of the academic community and administrative staff, the official inauguration ceremony of UNIC Athens, the academic and research base of the University of Nicosia in Greece, was held on Thursday, 30 April 2026, at Elliniko.

The ceremony was attended by the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides, the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis and His Beatitude Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens and All Greece.

Also in attendance were the Minister of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports, Ms Sofia Zacharaki, and the Minister of Education, Sport and Youth of the Republic of Cyprus, Dr Athina Michaelidou, among other distinguished members and representatives of the Greek and Cypriot Governments. Also present were the Regional Governor of Attica, Mr. Nikos Hardalias, representatives of local government, and of the academic, research, medical, business and diplomatic communities, while the Mayor of Elliniko–Argyroupoli, Mr. Ioannis Konstantatos delivered a welcome address. The ceremony was also attended by strategic partners of UNIC Athens from LAMDA Development, the Hellenic Healthcare Group (HHG), PureHealth and Samsung.

The landmark ceremony seals the strong relationship between Cyprus and Greece, placing it within a new strategic framework of cooperation in the field of higher education and scientific research. UNIC Athens marks a new chapter for learning, innovation and research in Greece, making use of a building of particular historical and symbolic significance. The site, formerly associated with Olympic Airways and the country’s international connectivity, is today being redefined as a modern university environment, dedicated to teaching, research and discovery.

The first phase of UNIC Athens has been completed and is operating in state-of-the-art facilities of 12.500 sq.m. at Elliniko, specially designed for educational, research and laboratory needs. Today, UNIC Athens hosts programmes in Medicine, Law, Pharmacy, Psychology, Business Administration, Accounting, Marketing Management, Computer Science and Data Science. The second and third phases will be completed with a further expansion of 150.000 sq.m. within The Ellinikon in 2028 and 2031 respectively, gradually shaping a fully integrated university ecosystem.

The operation of the Medical School and the School of Law of UNIC Athens constitutes a milestone for higher education in the country, as it marks the establishment of the first non-state Medical School and the first non-state School of Law in Greece.

In the context of the event, UNIC Evolve was also presented, the flagship research initiative of the University of Nicosia focusing on artificial intelligence, robotics and biotechnology, with an emphasis on longevity, wellbeing and biological resilience. Launched from UNIC Athens, UNIC Evolve aspires to connect nutrition, the environment, human biology and real-world data into new models of preventive healthcare and personalised support.

“The field of Education today is one of the most important sectors for the Cypriot economy, with clearly tremendous prospects. We are investing even more in our Education system, which is why the largest part of our Government’s budget is allocated to the sectors of Education and Health. We are particularly proud of the University of Nicosia, which started in 1980 as a college, known as Intercollege, and has today grown to approximately 14,000 students from 100 different countries around the world. Today it is here (in Athens) and I am confident that very soon it will also be present in other European capitals. We stand by it and support this effort”, said the President of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Nikos Christodoulides.

“When we decided to take the big step and legislate the possibility of establishing branches of foreign universities in our country, equal to Greek public higher education institutions, we always had in mind modern institutions of exceptionally high academic standards with excellent infrastructure, care for students, and studies connected to employment. We now have four non-state higher education institutions operating with licenses in our country, such as the one we are at today, the University of Nicosia, with programs that we know belong to high-demand fields such as Medicine, Pharmacy, Law, and Business Administration. Our ambition is for our country to become a strong regional hub and center of studies, creating around it dozens of partnerships in many different fields”, said the Prime Minister of the Hellenic Republic, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

“Today we are inaugurating more than just a new university campus. We are inaugurating a new chapter for higher education in Greece, one defined by extroversion, academic freedom, and trust in knowledge and excellence. UNIC Athens comes with respect for the Greek academic tradition and with determination to contribute to a modern, high-quality, and internationally competitive university environment”, said the President of UNIC Athens, Professor Panagiotis Skandalakis.

“Our goal is to create here one of the leading internationally oriented, research-intensive universities of the Mediterranean. By this we mean a university that is relentlessly focused on the future, on the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and on reducing the time from discovery in the classroom to application in healthcare, society, government, and the legal system, and then back to the dissemination of knowledge to students and professionals,” said the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the University of Nicosia, Mr. Antonis Polemitis.

UNIC Athens has been operating since autumn 2025 in a fully renovated and purpose-built 12,500 sq.m. building, which hosts modern infrastructure for teaching and research in the fields of health and life sciences, as well as for the development of clinical skills. It is worth noting that the building is expected to receive LEED certification, which will make it the first university building in Greece to achieve this distinction. UNIC Athens will be the only university campus to operate within the framework of the “smart city” at The Ellinikon, the largest urban regeneration project in Europe, with a budget of €8 billion. The campus will extend across 75,000 sq.m. of building infrastructure for teaching and research purposes, as well as student residences. These facilities will integrate technologies in artificial intelligence, robotics and wellbeing. The next phases of the campus development within The Ellinikon are expected to be completed in 2028 and 2031, respectively.

The University of Nicosia (UNIC) is ranked among the 501–600 Top Universities worldwide in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2026, and serves more than 11,500 students from over 100 countries, across more than 100 degree programmes. In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subject 2026, UNIC is ranked among the top universities worldwide in six subject areas: Business and Economics, Education, Psychology, Social Sciences, Medicine, and Health and Life Sciences.