The Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences (PUSPS; , ΠΠΚΠΕ), usually referred to simply as the Panteion University (Πάντειο Πανεπιστήμιο), is a university located in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, Greece. Founded in 1927, it is the oldest university of

social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

and

political sciences Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...

in Greece."''Panteion University is a very strong academic institution in teaching and research. The structure of the institution provides a perfect environment for the evolution of in intra-institutional interdisciplinary research and education structures. However, there are still dormant possibilities that have to be exploited, in order to secure the future and the prosperity of the Institution in a rapidly changing world. Too many PhD students and opaque admission standards of PhD studies: The EEC recommends a more vigorous procedure of admission to improve the quality of the PhD studies. Need to increase internal coherence, deployment of realistic and timely strategic plans that will strengthen the position of the institution in the national and international academic landscape.''" At Panteion University there is a student population of 19,000 students enrolled at graduate and postgraduate level and 360 teaching and administrative staff. The university also offers thirteen postgraduate courses and includes three research institutes, eighteen research centres and four laboratories.

History

The Panteion University has a long history of a creative development linked to the course of higher education and the development of

social sciences Social science (often rendered in the plural as the social sciences) is one of the branches of science, devoted to the study of society, societies and the Social relation, relationships among members within those societies. The term was former ...

in Greece. It was founded in 1927 under the name School of Political Sciences (Σχολή Πολιτικών Επιστημών), due to the envisagement of two persons who had studied at the Free School of Political Sciences in Paris (

Sciences Po Sciences Po () or Sciences Po Paris, also known as the Paris Institute of Political Studies (), is a public research university located in Paris, France, that holds the status of ''grande école'' and the legal status of . The university's unde ...

), Georgios Fragoudis and Alexandros Pantos.

Pavlos Kountouriotis Pavlos Kountouriotis (; 9 April 1855 – 22 August 1935) was a Greek admiral who served during the Balkan Wars, was regent of Greece, and the first president of the Second Hellenic Republic. In total he served four times as head of the Greek st ...

, the

president of Greece The president of Greece, officially the president of the Hellenic Republic (), commonly referred to in Greek as the president of the Republic (, ΠτΔ), is the head of state of Greece. The president is elected by the Hellenic Parliament; the ...

at the time, inaugurated the central building of the university, which functioned for the first time on 18 November 1930, attended by 200 students. Alexandros Pantos bequeathed his fortune to the school, which was republished by the prime minister of Greece,

Eleftherios Venizelos Eleftherios Kyriakou Venizelos (, ; – 18 March 1936) was a Cretan State, Cretan Greeks, Greek statesman and prominent leader of the Greek national liberation movement. As the leader of the Liberal Party (Greece), Liberal Party, Venizelos ser ...

, making the institute stable in the academical scene of the country. In 1931 the school was renamed to Panteios School of Political Sciences (Πάντειος Σχολή Πολιτικών Επιστημών). At the beginning, the contribution of the minister for national education,

George Papandreou George Andreas Papandreou (, , shortened to ''Giorgos'' () to distinguish him from his grandfather; born 16 June 1952) is an American-born Greek politician who served as Prime Minister of Greece from 2009 to 2011. He is currently serving as a ...

, was very important for the school, which consisted of two departments, the

Political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

-Historical and the

Social Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives fro ...

-Economical, while the studies were planned for six semesters. In 1936 the school was recognised as a "

public utility A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and ...

of higher education" and in 1937 it was turned into a "legal person of

public law Public law is the part of law that governs relations and affairs between legal persons and a government, between different institutions within a state, between different branches of governments, as well as relationships between persons that ...

". In 1951 the two departments were renamed to the Department of

Political Science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and Department of

Public Administration Public administration, or public policy and administration refers to "the management of public programs", or the "translation of politics into the reality that citizens see every day",Kettl, Donald and James Fessler. 2009. ''The Politics of the ...

, respectively, while the course of studies expanded to eight semesters in 1963. After the reorganization of the Greek educational system in 1983, the Panteios School was divided into three departments: Political Science and

International Studies International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

, Public Administration, Sociology. In 1989 the School was renamed to its current name, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences, and five new departments were created, these of: Communication and Mass Media,

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

Social Policy Some professionals and universities consider social policy a subset of public policy, while other practitioners characterize social policy and public policy to be two separate, competing approaches for the same public interest (similar to MD a ...

and

Social Anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

Economic An economy is an area of the Production (economics), production, Distribution (economics), distribution and trade, as well as Consumption (economics), consumption of Goods (economics), goods and Service (economics), services. In general, it is ...

and

Regional development Regional development refers to a broad category of policies aimed at reducing regional disparities within an economy or across economies by devoting resources to underdeveloped areas. Regional development can be national or international in natur ...

, General Department of Law. In the 1990s, two of the previous departments were split into two: Political Science and International Studies into: a) Political Science and History, b) International and

European Studies European studies is a field of study offered by many academic colleges and universities that focuses on the History of Western civilization and the evolution of Western culture, as well as on current developments in European integration. Some ...

, and Social Policy and Social Anthropology into: a) Social Policy, b) Social Anthropology. During the same period the campus expanded and improved.

Schools and academic departments

The university today consists of four schools and nine academic departments.

Research

Panteion University cooperates with many universities and institutes from 17 European countries, and offers a European MA Degree in Human Rights and Democratisation.

Academic Affiliations

The university participates in several

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

academic networks such as the Jean Monnet Programme, the Erasmus+ Programme, the

EQUAL Community Initiative EQUAL was a Community Initiative within the European Social Fund of the European Union. It concerned “transnational co-operation to promote new means of combating all forms of discrimination and inequalities in connection with the labour market� ...

, Equapol, Tempus, Geopac.

Academic evaluation

In 2016 the external evaluation committee gave Panteion University a ''positive evaluation''. An external evaluation of all academic departments in Greek universities was conducted by the Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency (HQA).

University units and services

Library

The Panteion University Library is located at the central building of the university and it covers an area of 1,750 m², divided into four floors. Its purpose is to provide the academic community with its variety of material. Provided that the university supports education and research, the Library offers automated services, printed and electronic collections, and online services as well. The library has a reading room and it also operates as a lending library. Its collection covers the wide scientific area of

and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

s with focus on sociology, history, law and political science, philosophy,

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

, economics, management, literature, information science,

social anthropology Social anthropology is the study of patterns of behaviour in human societies and cultures. It is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and much of Europe, where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. In t ...

criminology Criminology (from Latin , 'accusation', and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'', 'word, reason') is the interdisciplinary study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is a multidisciplinary field in both the behaviou ...

, mathematics and

accountancy Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the process of recording and processing information about economic entities, such as businesses and corporations. Accounting measures the results of an organization's economic activities and conveys ...

. The collection consists of material written mainly in

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

and other languages such as English, French, German and Spanish. The connection includes: 70,000

monograph A monograph is generally a long-form work on one (usually scholarly) subject, or one aspect of a subject, typically created by a single author or artist (or, sometimes, by two or more authors). Traditionally it is in written form and published a ...

s, 547 active subscriptions in a total of 763 journals, more than 10,000 electronic journals, online databases, 15 bibliographic databases in CD-ROM which cover the period 1998–2002, 60 classical music CDs, 85 educational CD-ROMs, 20 maps, 500 VHS and DVDs of classical movies, and 308 slides from the

National Gallery of London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current dire ...

Gym

Panteion University also has its own gym which is located in

Neos Kosmos Neos Kosmos ( ; meaning "New World") is a neighborhood in downtown Athens, Greece. History In classical antiquity, the area of Neos Kosmos may have been the location of the gymnasium Cynosarges. Geography Neos Kosmos is south of the historic c ...

, near the metro station.

Notable people

Professors *

Panagiotis Kanellopoulos Panagiotis Kanellopoulos or Panayotis Kanellopoulos (; 13 December 1902 – 11 September 1986) was a Greek writer, politician and Prime Minister of Greece. He was the Prime Minister of Greece deposed by the Greek military junta of 1967–1974. ...

(1902–1986), Professor of Law, philosopher, politician, prime minister of the Hellenic Republic (1945, 1967) *

Andreas Loverdos Andreas Loverdos ( ; born 15 May 1956) is a Greek politician who was Minister for Education and Religious Affairs from 2014 to 2015. Early life Loverdos was born in Patras. He graduated from the law school of the Aristotle University of Thessal ...

(1956), Professor of Constitutional Law, politician, Minister for Health and Social Solidarity since 2009 *

Christos Rozakis Christos Rozakis (, born 1941 in Athens) is a Greek judge, and currently the President of the Administrative Tribunal of the Council of Europe. He was formerly the first vice-president of the European Court of Human Rights. In 1996, he also served ...

(1941), Professor of International Law, currently the president of the Administrative Tribunal of the Council of Europe *

Konstantinos Simitis Konstantinos G. Simitis (; 23 June 1936 – 5 January 2025) was a Greek politician who led the 'Modernization' movement of Greece . He succeeded in leadership Andreas Papandreou, the founder of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), and se ...

(1936-2025), Professor of Commercial Law, politician, prime minister of Greece (1996–2004) *

Alexandros Svolos Alexandros Svolos (; 1892 – 22 February 1956) was a prominent Greek legal expert, who also served as president of the Political Committee of National Liberation, a Resistance-based government during the Axis occupation of Greece. Early life ...

(1892–1956), Professor of Constitutional Law, member of Parliament *

Michail Stasinopoulos Michail Stasinopoulos (; 27 July 1903 – 31 October 2002) was a Greek jurist and politician who served as the President of Greece from 18 December 1974 to 19 July 1975. A member of New Democracy, he was the first officeholder under the Third He ...

(1903–2002), Professor of Administrative Law, rector of the university (1951–1958), politician, president of the Hellenic Republic (1974–1975) * Dimitris Tsatsos (1933–2010), Professor of Constitutional Law, member of the European Parliament (1994–2004) *

Konstantinos Tsatsos Konstantinos D. Tsatsos (; July 1, 1899 – October 8, 1987) was a Greek diplomat, professor of law, scholar and politician. He served as the List of heads of state of Greece#Third Hellenic Republic (since 1974), second President of Greece, Pr ...

(1899–1987), Professor of the Philosophy of Law, diplomat, president of the Hellenic Republic (1975–1980) *

Neoklis Sarris Neoklis Sarris ''( Greek:'' '' Νεοκλής Σαρρής)'' was a Greek academic, jurist and politician. He was born in Istanbul on 5 May 1940, and died in Athens on 19 November 2011 from cancer. Epikaira 2016. His great-grandfather Alexandros ...

(1940–2011), Professor of Sociology of History *

Ioannis Theodorakopoulos Ioannis Theodorakopoulos (; 28 February 1900, Vassaras, Lakonia – 20 February 1981, Athens) was a Greek philosopher. Biography In 1920, Theodorakopoulos moved to the University of Vienna to study classical philology and philosophy. Subsequentl ...

(1900–1981), Greek philosopher *

Yannis Smaragdis Yannis Smaragdis () is a Greek film director. In October 2024, he was the first Greek director elected as a regular member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts. Biography He was born in Crete in 1946 and studied film in Greece and Paris, ...

(1946), film director, screenwriter *

Christos Yannaras Christos Yannaras (; also Giannaras; ; 10 April 1935 – 24 August 2024) was a Greek philosopher, Eastern Orthodox theologian and author of more than 50 books which have been translated into many languages. He was a professor emeritus of philo ...

(1935), Professor of Philosophy, theologian * Yiorgos Veltsos (1944), Professor of

Communication Theory Communication theory is a proposed description of communication phenomena, the relationships among them, a storyline describing these relationships, and an argument for these three elements. Communication theory provides a way of talking about a ...

and

Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...

* Georgios Papachatzis (1905–1991), Professor of Administrative Law (1943–1967), rector of the university (1964–1965) Notable alumni *

Anna Diamantopoulou Anna Diamantopoulou (; born 26 February 1959) is a Greek civil engineer and politician of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) who currently serves as president of the Athens-based think tank "DIKTIO" Network for Reform in Greece and Europe ...

(1959), politician, former Minister of Education, former European Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities *

Vangelis Meimarakis Evangelos-Vasileios "Vangelis" Meimarakis (, ; born 14 December 1953) is a Greek politician who served as the acting President of New Democracy and Leader of the Opposition in Greece from 5 July to 24 November 2015, competing as the challenger to ...

(1953), lawyer and politician, former Minister of National Defence, Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament *

Stamatis Kraounakis Stamatis Kraounakis ( ; born 25 December 1955) is a Greek music composer, music producer, lyricist, writer and director. He was born and lives in Athens and has studied Political Science in Panteion University. He has composed music for more t ...

(1955), music composer, music producer, lyricist, writer and director. *

Giorgos Katsaros Giorgos Katsaros () (born on 7 March 1934 in Corfu) is a noted Greek people, Greek musician and songwriter. He plays the alto saxophone. He has made a variety of recordings, collaborating amongst others with Greek people, Greek musical composers ...

(1934), musician and songwriter *

Yannis Stavrakakis Yannis Stavrakakis (; born 1970) is a Greek-British political theorist. A member of the Essex School of discourse analysis, he is mainly known for his explorations of the importance of psychoanalytic theory (Freud and Lacan) for contemporary polit ...

(1970), political theorist *

Sotiris Kovos Sotiris Kovos is a Greek automobile designer born in Athens in 1965. He studied in Greece and the United Kingdom and became known after his design of Toyota Yaris The is a supermini/subcompact car sold by Toyota since 1999, replacing the S ...

, automobile designer

Alumni Association "Aristotle"

The

Alumni Association An alumni association or alumnae association is an association of graduates or, more broadly, of former students ( alumni). In the United Kingdom and the United States, alumni of universities, colleges, school A school is the educati ...

"Aristotle" of the Panteion University is the oldest alumni association in Greece, founded in 1942 by a group of Panteion alumni, providing a wide variety of benefits to its members. Members' network strives to connect alumni to the university and to each other. Eligible to register as members are all Panteion alumni, provided they have completed at Panteion University either their undergraduate or graduate studies, or both.

References

External links

Panteion University – Official Website
{{Coord, 37.9417, N, 23.653, E, source:kolossus-ukwiki, display=title Universities in Greece Education in Athens Universities and colleges in Attica Universities and colleges established in 1927 1927 establishments in Greece Kallithea