President Nikos Christodoulides and rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Gerasimos Siassos, announced their shared intention for NKUA to establish a branch at the University of Cyprus (UCy).

The plans include launching courses in nursing, medicine, psychology, education, philosophy, and economics, Siassos said during a meeting with the president and Education Minister Athena Michaelidou at the presidential palace on Thursday.

Additionally, he announced the introduction of foreign-language programmes in philosophy and the history of literature, with the goal of expanding to other disciplines once the branch becomes operational.

“We are here to move forward as soon as possible,” Christodoulides stated. He emphasized that cities across Cyprus had expressed interest in hosting the NKUA branch, calling this enthusiasm “indicative of Cypriots’ deep appreciation for the oldest institution of Hellenism.”

Michaelidou echoed this enthusiasm, highlighting that the branch would support the government’s strategy for the “internationalisation of higher education.”

“Ninety per cent of Cypriots want the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in their country,” Siassos claimed, citing a private poll, though he did not provide further details. He added that NKUA has longstanding ties to Cyprus through historical struggles and would play a “significant role in providing high-quality education in the country”.

Siassos noted that the decision to establish the branch had been unanimously approved by NKUA’s administrative bodies. However, he acknowledged that specific steps for implementing the “historic project” were still pending.

“How these will be implemented in the coming years is something that we will discuss,” he concluded, adding that no timeline has been set as of yet.