Facts and figures

Gross expenditure on research and development in Greece has been rising steadily over the past few years and is currently at around 1.5% of GDP². The General Secretariat for Research and Innovation (GSRI), tasked with co-ordinating and promoting research and innovation in Greece, has recently identified biosciences as one of several ‘Smart Specialisation Strategy Priority Areas’⁸. Actions planned for these areas, which were identified as being of significant economic importance, include supporting research staff and developing research infrastructures⁸. The GSRI also supports several national research centres including the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, Biomedical Sciences Research Center “Alexander Fleming”, and the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas⁹.

The recently established Hellenic Foundation for Research & Innovation has been created together with the scientific community. Its aim is to provide transparent funding and scholarship opportunities for young researchers and counteract the outflow of young talent¹⁰.

Greece has a rich heritage and culture of academic inquiry, priding itself on quality education⁶. There are 24 state run universities, with 140 Master programmes taught in English⁶. For example, the International Hellenic University, a collaboration with the EU, offers courses on science and technology taught exclusively in English¹¹. In addition to the universities, many private colleges collaborate with international organizations to provide accredited study programmes¹¹. All organizations take part in the ECTS credit system¹¹. For students from the EU there are no tuition fees; for others they are low, with scholarships available even for short term stays¹². Greece is very student friendly: there are around 60 student cities, over 260 sunny days per year⁶ and a student ID provides discounted tickets for transport and cultural events⁵.