He received a new, ultra-modern and functional “home”. University of Western Macedonia after two decades of life. this is news University campus in Kozani, the location of a rural university, with a total area of ​​​​20 acres on a plot of 948 acres. Until today, the educational institution in Kozani was located in the old small university campus in Koyla, as well as in … apartment buildings in the city.

The construction of a new university campus is of particular importance for scientific and operational reasons, as well as for political reasons: it is a message of support for a dry region with high academic migration and unemployment as it moves towards a new economic development. phase, in the post-lignite era. “The university will enhance brain gain in Western Macedonia and highlight the region as an example for other transition regions in Europe,” he notes. Addressing “K”, the rector of the institution Theodoros Theodulidis.

In particular, the University of Western Macedonia was founded in 2003. Initially, he worked in Kozani and Florina with three faculties and six departments. In 2019 it merged with TEI West Macedonia based in Kozani. In its new form, the University of Western Macedonia consists of seven faculties and 21 departments with 15,430 undergraduate students, 3,158 postgraduate students, 409 doctoral students, 450 full-time, part-time and auxiliary faculty, and 185 administrative staff. The educational institution is located in five cities of Western Macedonia, Florina, Kastoria, Ptolemaida, Grevena and Kozani, where the largest number of students is studying – 7300 people. For this reason, “the new Kozani campus is a symbolic project for the entire region of Western Macedonia, the newest European standard campus in Greece and marks the beginning of a new era for our university, which has been on a dynamic trajectory of growth and extroversion over the past three years, taking on a key role in the region’s transition to a post-lignite era,” says Mr. Theodoulidis.

The new facilities turn the institution into a university of international standards, which will contribute to the achievement of the national goal of transition to the development of the region of Western Macedonia.

The new Campus will cover the growing educational and development needs of the university resulting from its reorganization in 2019, as well as the need to develop into a modern university of international standards with extroversion and high competitiveness, helping as a strategic partner of the state in its national goal of a fair transition to the development of the region Western Macedonia. The complex, which will open on Monday – the presence of the Prime Minister is planned for the opening Kyriakos Mitsotakis– includes an administrative building, auditoriums, laboratories, offices, which house the three faculties of the Polytechnic School (electrotechnical, mechanical and chemical). The project was included in the Western Macedonia PEP with a final budget of 25 million euros (versus the original 49.5 million), financed by the European Regional Development Fund and national resources. The move is mostly completed in the current academic year. Only the transfer of a number of laboratories from the old campus in Koyla Kozani is expected.

According to the plan of the institution, the new campus complex in the Kozani Active Urbanization Zone (ZEP) is only the beginning of an ambitious building program that includes, for a specific campus: the expansion of educational buildings (a corresponding study is being prepared and funded by PEP West Macedonia) and Green Data Center, a €22 million project on the site funded by the Just Transition Fund.

technology park

In addition, the Technology Park, a $40 million symbolic project, will be created on the adjacent piece of land that will function as a site for an incubator, research labs, and entrepreneurship, maintaining in practice the relationship of the university, academic and student community – with businesses, especially those which they will invest in the region. “Our goal is for the university to contribute to the future by laying a solid foundation for the region. We will develop training programs based on the needs and objectives of the new production/business model emerging in the region. We want, and this is the goal, but also the challenge, for the university to be the central core of the entire ecosystem that hosts new technology companies, to develop into a pole of attraction for foreign scientists and researchers,” says the rector.

Lifelong Learning

Undoubtedly, the role of universities, especially regional ones, in the continuous education of citizens of their region is now decisive. Characteristically, among the objectives of the European Union until 2030 is to expand the opportunities for European citizens of any age and employment status to participate in higher education at any stage of their lives. Thus, the University of Western Macedonia intends to support the retraining and development of new skills of the unemployed and the workforce that will be required in new sectors in the post-Lignite era through the Center for Lifelong Learning which it manages. As Mr. Theodulidis emphasizes, “the advantage of the institution lies in its dynamic creation of a pool of students with strong prospects for adapting to the labor market, who will acquire knowledge, skills and experience in the area where the transition is taking place and in the professional fields that will play a major role in role in the era of digital transformation”.

Conference center and new student residences

The University of Western Macedonia opens new student dormitories. In particular, it is planned to build new student dormitories through PPP – 750 in all university buildings, of which 350 places in Kozani within the new campus – as well as the construction of a conference center on the site, with a total PPP budget of 67.5 million euros.

Those students who are accepted – with financial and social criteria – in the existing student dormitories that the university has in Florina, Kozani and Greven, with a total of 523 rooms, subscribe to the payment of a “rent” of 100 euros per year. any damage when they leave and they attend the minimum number of classes to maintain the room throughout their studies. These are the conditions that the senate of an educational institution has set for staying in a student dormitory, bringing a new morality to the welfare of students, while … anarchy reigns in the dormitories in Athens.

In addition, a student must not rent, sublease, or transfer their room in a student residence to third parties or ineligible students. Violators are immediately removed from the shelters and their applications for placement in them will not be accepted in the future.
At the same time, he must complete 50% of all courses before the winter semester of each academic year.

free feeding

At the same time, the University of Macedonia, after many months of effort – and at the audit conference – managed on its own initiative and from its reserve funds to feed all those who are entitled to free meals, about 2,000 more students. until December 31, 2023. Thus, he faced an ongoing problem, which is related to the limited funds available for food from the state grant, as well as problematic criteria set by law in relation to beneficiaries. Because of this situation, for more than a decade, half of the approximately 4,000 eligible students have been fed free of charge, prompting justified protests from the students themselves and their families.