University of Cyprus

The University of Cyprus, UCY, is a public university established in 1989. Based in the capital of Cyprus, Nicosia, it teaches mainly in Greek. The official languages are Greek and Turkish but only a few Turkish speakers are registered. Since September 2005 the university credit point system is based on ECTS which is a standard for comparing the study attainment and performance of students of higher education across the European Union and other collaborating European countries.

The University is a vigorous community of scholars engaged in the generation and diffusion of knowledge. Despite its brief history the University of Cyprus has earned the respect of the international academic community and the appreciation of Cypriot society.

Today the institution has almost 7,000 students and competition for places is said to be fierce with undergraduate admission by entrance examinations run by the Cyprus Ministry of Education and Culture.

Students are taught in eight faculties encompassing humanities, medicine, pure and applied sciences, social sciences and education, economics and management, engineering, letters, plus a graduate school. 

As a young institution the University of Cyprus is developing a reputation for solid research and its academics are already world-renowned in certain fields. In 2010, for example, one of its professors, Christopher Pissarides was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, for his analysis of markets with search frictions.

According to the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities 2016, the University of Cyprus ranks 304th in Europe and 696th in the world.

There are 22 departments and 10 research units within the eight faculties covering the fields of archaeology, sustainable energy, applied neuroscience, molecular medicine, international water research, economics, gender studies, intelligent systems and networks, banking and finance, and oceanography.