The Rector of the University of Nicosia, Professor Philippos Pouyioutas, now a member of the Governing Rectors Board of the Alliance, said: ''I am excited and proud of the ever-increasing international recognition that our university enjoys, which was a major criterion for our inclusion in the NEOLAiA Alliance, which now consists of nine leading European Universities. Together with our partners, we are creating an innovative European University with campuses in nine countries, including Cyprus, building on our success and initiatives towards establishing our country as an international centre for quality Higher Education''. 

Regarding the participation and the role of the University in the alliance, Rector Pouyioutas stated: ''Following my suggestion, the University of Nicosia will undertake a very important part of the realization of the goals of the alliance, focusing in particular on the difficult task of the digital transformation and the development of innovative virtual and augmented reality applications in Education, in line also with our recently announced Open Metaverse initiative. Furthermore, we will have an active role in the development and offering of joint programmes and research, while continuing to contribute to society and culture, fully implementing the Knowledge Square alongside the other partners''.

The NEOLAiA alliance consists of nine (9) leading, young, forward thinking, and innovative universities, considered amongst the best in the world. The table below presents the ranking positions of the members of the alliance according to the three main international university rankings, namely:

a)    Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE WUR)

b)    Shanghai Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU)

c)     QS World University Rankings (QS WUR)

*THE WUR, **ARWU, ***QS WUR

The NEOLAiA alliance is designed to achieve ambitious goals reaching to 2030 aiming by that time to have established itself as:

• A strong, highly integrated European University representing a mainstay of European values and high-quality education for all the member university regions.
• An open and inclusive educational and social environment, fostering equity at university and in European society at large, ensuring that the diverse communities within academia and in the regions feel connected and committed to work together to face the challenges of Megatrends and improve well-being for all.
• A model international educator motivating widening cohorts of students to engage in innovative research-informed and socially relevant study programmes crossing the borders of disciplines, research areas, countries and cultures, keeping pace with the digitalization of teaching and learning and at the same time cherishing personal contact and a tailor-made approach.

Source: Knews