University of Limassol to accept first students in September

The new University of Limassol held its opening ceremony on 12 June, in the presence of the Education Minister, Deputy Minister of Research, Innovation and Digital Policy, Mayor of Limassol, the University’s Rector, as well as academics, politicians, people of letters and the arts, as well as the local authorities and selected guests.

Speaking at the event, University of Limassol’s Rector Dr Theodore Panayotou said that the founding of the university “marks the beginning of a bright future for tertiary education, research and innovation”.

He said the bar has been set high: “The University of Limassol is not just any University, nor is its philosophy, its targets or the prospects it is opening for its students. We see things through a different lens. We believe we can change the world for the better. In a constantly changing world, not always for the best, we believe that we can make a difference, as long as we constantly evolve. Hence, our motto: ‘Ever evolving’.”

Education Minister Athena Michailidou said the government is “targeting the internationalisation of [Cyprus’] tertiary education and the interconnection of universities’ research activities with the diverse challenges which our country faces”.

“University education plays an outstanding role in the economic and social development of a country, while also providing its human potential the required material in order for the economy and society to become and to remain competitive and innovative,” she said.

She spoke of how higher education in Cyprus has seen great progress in recent years and is now seen as a regional and international centre of education and research. She added that the government supports higher education and the universities “in every way”.

“Through innovative teaching methods, the connection of study programmes with the requirements of the labour market, the promotion of research in not only scientifically but socially interesting subjects, will equip its students to have successful professional and personal lives,” she said, speaking in particular about the University of Limassol.

The University of Limassol is a progression of the Cyprus International Institute of Management (CIIM), a renowned business school operating in Cyprus since 1990 when it was founded as a Private School of Higher Education, by a group of leading executives of the Cypriot economy and renowned academics from leading Universities overseas.

Students at the new university will have access to undergraduate and postgraduate courses from the CIIM Business School, as well as a new School of Technology and Innovation and a School of Economics and Finance. There are also plans to open a Law School, a School of Social Sciences and a School of Health Sciences.