Alexandros Bousdekis

National Technical University of Athens

The National Technical University of Athens (Greek: Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο, National Metsovian Polytechnic), sometimes known as Athens Polytechnic, is among the oldest and most prestigious higher education institutions of Greece. It is named Metsovion in honor of its benefactors Nikolaos Stournaris, Eleni Tositsa, Michail Tositsas and Georgios Averoff, whose origin is from the town of Metsovo in Epirus. It was founded in 1837 as a part-time vocational school named Royal School of Arts which, as its role in the technical development of the fledgling state grew, developed into Greece's sole institution providing engineering degrees up until the 1950s, when polytechnics were established outside Athens. Its traditional campus, located in the center of the city of Athens on Patision Avenue, features a suite of magnificent neo-classical buildings by architect Lysandros Kaftantzoglou (1811–1885). A suburban campus, the Zografou Campus, was built in the 1980s. NTUA is divided into nine academic Schools, eight being for the engineering disciplines, including architecture, and one for applied sciences (mathematics and physics). Undergraduate studies have a duration of 5 years. The university comprises about 700 of academic staff, 140 scientific assistants and 260 administrative and technical staff. It has, also, a total number of 8,500 undergraduates and about 1,500 postgraduate students. Eight of the NTUA's Schools are housed at the Zografou Campus, while the School of Architecture is based at the Patision Complex.