Technical University of Crete

History

Soon after the end of the German occupation of Greece, the issue of establishing a University on Crete was brought up and reached its peak during the 1960’s. Ιn 1977 the Prime Minister Konstantinos Karamanlis, after a unanimous public demand, approved the establishment of a University with faculties in Heraklion and Rethymnon and the establishment of a Technical University in Chania. The Technical University of Crete was established by the Law 545/77 on the “Establishment of a Technological Institution under the title Technical University of Crete and other provisions”. On July 17th 1977, the first Executive Committee of the Institution convened under the presidency of Professor Perikles Theoharis and in the presence of the then Minister of National Education G. Rallis, consisted of the Mayor of the City of Chania and the President of the Western Crete Section of the Technical Chamber of Greece. The main task of this first Executive Committee in 1977 was to find land for the erection of permanent university facilities by commencing the expropriation procedure of 350 hectares of land. It is worth mentioning, at this point, the immense support of the local community on this matter.

In 1984, the first faculty members were appointed. During the academic year 1984-85, the Production Engineering and Management Department started running its educational programme and admitted its first 120 students together with the Sciences Department. The Mineral Resources Engineering Department followed in 1987-88 and the Electronics and Computer Engineering Department in 1990-91. Later on, and after the University had become independent, the Chemical Engineering Department became an Environmental Engineering Department and admitted its first students in 1997. Finally, in 2004 the Architectural Engineering Department was established and welcomed its first students. In September 1989, the new Executive Committee, presided by the Professor of the National Technical University of Athens Mr. Ioannis Tegopoulos together with the Professors of the Technical University of Crete Mr. Antonis Foskolos and Mr. Joachim Gryspolakis as vice-presidents, decided to change the spatial planning orientation of the expansion of the university. The implemented policy enabled the housing of all academic departments within the campus of Akrotiri, which offered the possibility for the erection of suitable lecture halls, laboratories and infrastructure that modern requirements dictate for a Technical University.

Since 1993, the Technical University of Crete has been making continuous and significant progress. The high quality of the faculty staff, the scientific partners and the administrative and technical personnel guarantee the University’s future growth. The campus is certainly one of the best in Greece, with modern lecture halls and research facilities, library, student hall of residences, restaurant and recreational areas. New Departments are scheduled for the future and at the same time, the contribution of the Technical University of Crete in research is broadly appreciated, as the Institution is now recognized as one of the most prestigious research institutions in Greece with hundreds of research programmes in progress. The Technical University of Crete is now recognized both as an educational and research institution in Greece and internationally and can therefore envision with great optimism its future.

Future Goals

• Emphasis on providing top quality education (TUC graduate unemployment rates between 3 & 4%, first-time employment 1 to 6 months after graduation)
• Conducting innovative research (the Technical University of Crete is one of the two most active universities in the country with the highest number of research results)
• Creation of a Regional Innovation Pole and Technological Park
• Effort in supporting innovation (through incubators)
• Organization of seminars for the proliferation of technology and innovation
• Cooperation with local authorities in solving environmental & organizational problems etc.

Campus

The campus is undoubtedly the heart of TUC: students, professors, lab technicians, administrative employees, all meet on campus on a daily basis. Common reference points of all students are the Library, the IT & Communications Centre, the Hall of Residences, the University Restaurant and Cafeterias as well as the Sports Facilities. And because your time as a student should not be spent only on books and study, make sure you discover a life outside classrooms and lecture halls, even more, interesting and exciting, by participating in one of the student groups and associations (cultural and political), which set the tone on campus!