ATHENS AND THE EUROPEAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES AND ARTS FORGE STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP
Athens, Salzburg/17 June 2026
The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA) and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday, 17 June 2026, at a ceremony held in the historic Great Hall of the University of Athens. The agreement establishes a strategic framework for joint research initiatives, academic exchanges, and interdisciplinary collaboration, reinforcing the ties between Greece’s largest university and one of Europe’s most distinguished scholarly institutions.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Professor Gerasimos Siasos, Rector of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, and Professor Klaus Mainzer, President of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts in Salzburg.
In his opening address, Rector Siasos emphasized the significance of the partnership: "Today marks the beginning of a partnership of genuine significance. It brings together two institutions that share a deep commitment to academic excellence, intellectual openness and the advancement of knowledge through research, dialogue and international collaboration."
The Rector further highlighted the importance of hosting the Greek Chapter of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts at NKUA, describing it as "both an honour and a responsibility" that strengthens Greece’s contribution to European academic life.
Addresses were delivered by Professor Klaus Mainzer, President of EASA, Professor Ioannis Liritzis, Vice-President of EASA, and Professor Emeritus Emmanuel Fragoulis, National Representative for Greece at EASA.
In a particularly distinctive intervention, Professor Ioannis Liritzis delivered his address as a linguistic synthesis, combining English syntax with Hellenic lexicon, etymology, and European phonology. He described the protocol not as a "technocratic parenthesis" but as a "programmatic synthesis" — a catalyst for episteme, pedagogy, heuristic poiesis, and academic synergy.
Professor Liritzis underscored that the Memorandum itself is a "verb" — not merely a noun or a document, but an act, energy, dynamism, and genesis: the metabasis from theory to praxis.
The programme also featured a lecture by Professor Georgios Babiniotis, Class I, Honorary Professor and former Rector of the University of Athens, titled "The Verb: The 'Becoming' and the 'Being' of Speech". The ceremony concluded with a keynote address by Professor Klaus Mainzer, entitled "Challenges of Europe's Future: From Greek Heritage to Innovative Competitiveness"
LIVE Recording of the Ceremony
IMAGES of the MEMORANDUM CEREMONY copyright: National Kapodistrian University
