The Bodossaki Foundation presents the ’Action Plan for the University of 2030: Principles and Positions’

In line with its participation in the ‘1821-2021 Initiative’ and looking to secure the country’s future, the Bodossaki Foundation has undertaken to prepare four comprehensive Action Plans relating to the University of 2030, the upgrading of Public Health, the tackling of key Environmental Challenges and the empowerment of Civil Society in our country, areas that fall under its strategic action pillars. The Action Plans are developed under the auspices of H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou. They were prepared by teams of scientists who offered pro bono, high-level scientific substantiating evidence.

The Action Plans aim to lay the foundations for an exchange of views and ideas with the Greek and international scientific communities, as well as the social and professional actors involved. All of the Action Plans will be made available for the competent State authorities and other departments to make use of.

We are starting today with the Action Plan for The University of 2030, which was presented at the Athens Concert Hall on 22 November 2021. It was drawn up by a Scientific Committee established at the invitation of the Bodossaki Foundation. Coordinated by Ms Vasso Kinti, Professor of the Philosophy of Science at the Department of History and the Philosophy of Science of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, the Scientific Committee also includes the following members:

  • Vasiliki Georgiadou, Professor of Political Science at the Department of Political Science and History, School of Political Science, Panteion University
  • Achilleas Gravanis, Professor of Pharmacology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete & Researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (IMBB-FORTH) & Affiliated Research Professor, Center for Drug Discovery, Northeastern University
  • Manolis Dermitzakis, Vice President for Computational Biology, GlaxoSmithKline
  • Eleftheria Zeggini, Director of the Institute of Translational Genomics at Helmholtz Zentrum München & Professor at the School of Medicine of the Technical University of Munich (TÜM)
  • Stathis Kalyvas, Professor of Political Science, Gladstone Chair & All Souls College Partner, Oxford University

Efforts to augment and better document the plan have also benefited from the involvement of distinguished Greek academics who contributed their views, knowledge and experience.

After almost one year of work, the Scientific Committee for The University of 2030 has formulated a set of principles and positions for the future evolution of the Greek university, as the rapid progress of science and new technologies, and the interdisciplinary approach to complex problems, require a new organization of studies and research in our universities – one that will create free, democratic citizens and, at the same time, highly trained, innovative scientists. Taking academicity as the basic principle for rethinking higher education, the plan sets out detailed, concrete and achievable proposals on effectiveness, autonomy and accountability, which seek to modernize Greek higher education in line with international standards. ‘Effectiveness – Autonomy – Accountability’, the three values at the core of the proposed Action Plan, were discussed by the members of the Scientific Committee and leading academics during the presentation on November 22, 2021. Following the presentation of the Action Plan, the Scientific Committee will accept comments and questions, which should be sent by email to [email protected], in order to be considered when the Action Plan and related texts are finalised.

“In the ‘Action Plan for The University of 2030’ we wish to highlight those aspects which can help to bring Greek public universities to the top tier of the world’s higher education institutions,” is the affirmation of the members of the Scientific Committee regarding the modern, productive and innovative University of 2030 that they envision.