University of Cyprus

The University of Cyprus (UCY) was established in 1989 and admitted its first students in 1992. Its 22 departments and 11 research units are organised into 8 faculties. UCY aims to become a leading educational and research institution that will distinguish itself internationally through the promotion of scholarship and that will be recognized as a centre of excellence in the Mediterranean region. The main objectives of the University are twofold: the promotion of scholarship and education through teaching and research, and the enhancement of the cultural, social and economic development of Cyprus. In this context, UCY believes that education must provide more than simply accumulation of knowledge. It must also encourage students’ active participation in the process of learning and acquisition of those values necessary for responsible involvement in the community. The University sets high standards for all branches of scholarship. Research is promoted and funded in all departments for its contribution to scholarship in general and for its local and international applications.

UCY has a significant involvement in the implementation of European grants. The University participated in 145 such programmes securing €10.726.914,58 in 2015. The European programmes in which the University participates include: Horizon 2020, EU Seventh Framework Programme and the ERASMUS+ and Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission, ERC frontier research programmes, COST programmes, JIP and Teaming as well as Interreg programmes. A major portion of the University’s external funding comes from the Research Promotion Foundation, since a significant number of research programmes are supported financially by the RPF. In 2015, the University secured €5.153.576.82 for 55 research programmes from the RPF.

In 2008 UCY received the EFQM “Committed to Excellence” Award. UCY uses ECTS and awards the Diploma Supplement (DS). UCY is one of the 52 European universities to which the European Commission awarded the DS Label in May of 2009. UCY has endorsed the Charter and Code (C&C) for researchers in December of 2010 and implemented the HRS4R project which aims to the development of a Human Resources Strategy for Researchers. As a result, the European Commission approved the UCY’s Strategic plan on June 11, 2012 and since UCY is acknowledged with the “HR Excellence in Research” logo.

As a proof of its dedication in European integration teaching, it held a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence and three Jean Monnet Chairs. It has an UNESCO Chair for Equality and Gender Empowerment. UCY is also member to many European and International Networks and Associations, namely: EUA, IAU, UNICA, Santander Group, UNIMED, EAEC etc. In 2010 the first Nobel Prize winner, Prof. Pissarides Christoforos also joined the academic community of UCY.

The Department of Computer Science, belonging to the Faculty of Pure and Applied Sciences, is one of the most active Departments of the University. The Department is very active in the areas of information technology and communications, while it has also been very active in attracting funding and since Cyprus joined the E.U. it has participated in over 150 projects funded by various frameworks of the European Union. The overall funding is currently at the level of about 30 MEUROs.

The University of Cyprus participates in the Dig-It Project through the Software Engineering and Internet Technologies (SEIT) Laboratory, an integral part of the Department of Computer Science. SEIT focuses its research activities on two important areas of Information Technology, namely Software Engineering and Internet Technologies. In the second area, the Laboratory concentrates on the development of ICT-enabled Creativity and Enhanced Learning Environments, platforms and tools for implementing Health monitoring and support services, Smart and Personalised services for Elders and Assistive Technologies for people with disabilities. SEIT has extensive experience in the area of applying ICT (Information and Communication Technologies) to e-Learning, m-Learning and Open and Distance Learning in general as well as Life Long Learning in particular. This expertise is both at technical level and at developing policies and qualification frameworks for such activities. Regarding only the Erasmus+ related themes, SEIT has recently coordinated four Erasmus+ projects (VeLoCiTy, World-of-Physics, DiFens, IDEA) and currently coordinates one Erasmus+ project: wINGS (begun in 2018), and also participates in 14 more: EASIER, EPUM, ELSE, AT-SGIRES, SENSE, WINDEXT, Dig-It, ISSA, ICT-4TVET, TOOLS, PRIMAE, QHELP, Digi-Sporting and Job-Jo. SEIT has also participated in 13 Leonardo da Vinci projects, 3 EUMEDIS projects, 2 FP (Framework Programs), 1 INCO-DC and 3 projects funded by national funds. It has also participated in the EMUNI project and the VUSCC initiative, both related to policy making or reform and qualifications accreditation, as well as in the Interreg IVC project Innofun, on developing policies for entrepreneurship and innovation. SEIT is currently participating in two AAL projects: eSticky, and GUIDed, and in one national project: ReaDI-STANCE.

Alexandros Yeratziotis (Ph.D) is a Post-Doctoral Researcher at the SEIT laboratory, Dept. of Computer Science, University of Cyprus. He is also a Visiting Lecturer of Design and Multimedia at the University of Nicosia in Cyprus and of Multimedia and Graphic Arts at the Cyprus University of Technology. He is also the co-founder of a startup that offers accessible communication and educational mobile applications for users who are deaf. The topic of his previous post-doctoral research position was Usability and User Experience User Interface Design Heuristics for Deaf Users, which was funded by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (NRF). He received his doctorate from the School of Information and Communication Technology at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), which was co-funded by the NMMU, South Africa – Finland Knowledge Partnership on ICT (SAFIPA) and the German Academic Exchange Service/Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst Dienst (DAAD/NRF). He has published ten papers in the field of HCI and has served as a reviewer in well-known journals. His research interests are: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), user experience (UX), accessible computing, user-centered design and usability inspection methods.

Evangelia Vanezi (M.Sc.) is currently a Researcher at the Software Engineering and Internet Technologies (SEIT) Laboratory at the Computer Science department of the University of Cyprus. As a member of the laboratory, she is involved in numerous EU funded projects, and in research and academic publications. She is also involved in the development of Software Systems, tools and applications.

She holds a graduate (B.Sc.) degree in Computer Science from the University of Cyprus and a post-graduate (M.Sc.) degree in Internet Computing, from the same department. She is currently pursuing a PhD degree.

Her research interests and expertise include Web-based Software Engineering, User Management Systems Development, Privacy in Software Systems, Data Protection in Software Systems, Formal Privacy verification in Software Systems, Formal Methods in Software Engineering Methodologies, Privacy by Design in Software Development, and Process Calculi Modeling.

Her skills include programming in several languages, and development of web and mobile applications, Software Systems modelling and verification with Formal Methods, and experience with Software Engineering Methodologies.