Deepening and expanding bilateral educational ties – at the level of students, teachers and leading academic institutions in Greece and the UK.

On Friday, February 10, at a special honorary event, British Ambassador Matthew Lodge welcomed the winners of the first round to the residence of the embassy “Greek-British Short Term Scholarship Program“. Program it is a product of triangular cooperation among themselves State Scholarship Fund (IKY)her british embassy in Athens and his British Advice Greece.

The first cycle of the program was fully funded by the UK Government and included 42 internships and research mobility of Greek PhD students and doctoral students from Greek universities at UK universities for four weeks between March and April 2022.

The event was welcomed by the British Ambassador Mr.. Matthew Lodge, Secretary General of the Ministry of Education for Higher Education Mr. Odysseus Zoraspermanent member of the Board of Directors of IKY and Professor Ms. Laura Maria Aliprantiand director of the British Council in Greece Ms. Anastasia Andritsova.

In their presentations, the speakers highlighted the opportunities that the program provides for talented Greek PhD students to get in touch with British education, and also mentioned the contribution of this cooperation to deepening and expanding bilateral educational ties – to the level of students, professors and academic institutions – in the era after after the United Kingdom left the EU.

The greetings were followed by a brief presentation of the opening program, after which fellows and supervising professors from Greek and British universities shared their views on the benefits of short-term mobility.

The impressive range of scientific fields covered and the wide participation of both Greek universities and British host universities, among which are leading academic institutions, ie. Oxford, Imperial College, UCL, King’s College, Edinburgh, London School of Economics. Scholars from all over Greece, as well as academicians from Greece and the United Kingdom, expressed their warmest words about their experience and expressed their hope for the continuation of the program.

The event concluded with a speech by IKY Scholarships Director Ms. Irini Drutaannounce a new program cycle for 2023. The second cycleGreek-British Short Term Scholarship Program” will be funded by the Greek government and will include 30 mobility – for 20 PhD students and 10 PhD students. The scope of the program will not change in terms of targeting, selection criteria and financial coverage. The second cycle will be officially announced in the coming months after the approval process of the fund by the relevant ministries is completed and published in the Official Gazette, and the mobility is completed by November 2023.