Democritus University of Thrace explained

Democritus University of Thrace
Native Name:	Δημοκρίτειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θράκης
Established:	1974
Location:	Komotini, Xanthi, Alexandroupoli, Orestiada, Didymoteicho, Drama, Kavala, Greece
Students:	28,000
Type:	Public Greece University System Higher Education Institution
Website:	https://duth.gr/en/Home

The Democritus University of Thrace (DUTH; Greek, Modern (1453-);: Δημοκρίτειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θράκης), established in July 1973, is based in Komotini, Greece and has campuses in cities of Xanthi, Komotini, Alexandroupoli, Orestiada, Didymoteicho, Drama and Kavala.^{[1] [2]}

The university today comprises 10 schools — School of Humanities, Engineering School, Law School, School of Agricultural Sciences, School of Education Sciences, School of Economic and Social Sciences, School of Health Sciences. School of Physical Education and Sport Sciences, School of Exact Sciencesand School of Management Science and Accounting and 28 Departments.^[3]

As of 2020, there is a student population of 25,919 registered undergraduates and 5,071 registered postgraduate and PhD students, a research and teaching personnel of over 600 as well as approximately 300 administrative staff.^[4] As a university it is state-owned and fully self-administered. It is thus supervised and subsidized by the Greek State and the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs. The university plays an important role in strengthening the national and cultural identity of the region of Thrace, and contributes to the high level of education in Greece.

Name and emblem

The emblem of the Democritus University of Thrace represents the influential Ancient Greek pre-Socratic philosopher Democritus. He was born in Abdera, Thrace and is primarily remembered today for his formulation of an atomic theory of matter.

History

The university was established in July 1973 and accepted its first students in the academic year 1974 - 1975. The first departments to operate were the Department of Law and the Department of Civil Engineering. It was named after Democritus, the ancient Greek philosopher who hailed from the town of Abdera in Thrace.^[5]

Schools and departments

The university consists of 10 schools and 28 departments.^[6]

Schools	Departments
School of Engineering (Founding 1974)^[7] (https://eng.duth.gr/en/)(Xanthi)	Department of Civil Engineering (Founding 1974)^[8] (https://civil.duth.gr/en/the-department/) Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Founding 1975)^[9] (https://www.ee.duth.gr/en/) Department of Environmental Engineering (Founding 1993)^[10] (https://env.duth.gr/en/home/) Department of Architecture (Founding 1999)^[11] (https://arch.duth.gr/en/the-department/) Department of Production and Management Engineering (Founding 2000)^[12] (https://pme.duth.gr/en/)
School of Humanities (Founding 2013) (https://classic.duth.gr/) (Komotini)	Department of Humanities Studies (Founding 2025) (https://duth.gr/%CE%A3%CF%87%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%AD%CF%82-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B9-%CE%A4%CE%BC%CE%AE%CE%BC%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%B1/%CE%A3%CF%87%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%AE-%CE%9A%CE%BB%CE%B1%CF%83%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8E%CE%BD-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B9-%CE%91%CE%BD%CE%B8%CF%81%CF%89%CF%80%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8E%CE%BD-%CE%A3%CF%80%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%B4%CF%8E%CE%BD/%CE%A4%CE%BC%CE%AE%CE%BC%CE%B1-%CE%91%CE%BD%CE%B8%CF%81%CF%89%CF%80%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8E%CE%BD-%CE%A3%CF%80%CE%BF%CF%85%CE%B4%CF%8E%CE%BD)
School of Law (Founding 1974) (https://law.duth.gr/en/the-department/)(Komotini)	Department of Law (Founding 1974)^[13] (https://law.duth.gr/en/the-department/)
School of Physical Education, Sport Sciences and Occupational Therapy (Founding 2024) (https://duth.gr/en/Faculties-And-Schools/PESportsScience)(Komotini)	Department of Physical Education and Sports science (Founding 1983)^[14] (http://www.phyed.duth.gr/undergraduate/index.php/en/) Department of Occupational Therapy (Founding 2025) (https://duth.gr/%CE%A3%CF%87%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%AD%CF%82-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B9-%CE%A4%CE%BC%CE%AE%CE%BC%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%B1/%CE%A3%CF%87%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%AE-%CE%95%CF%80%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%AE%CE%BC%CE%B7%CF%82-%CE%A6%CF%85%CF%83%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%AE%CF%82-%CE%91%CE%B3%CF%89%CE%B3%CE%AE%CF%82-%CE%91%CE%B8%CE%BB%CE%B7%CF%84%CE%B9%CF%83%CE%BC%CE%BF%CF%8D-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B9-%CE%95%CF%81%CE%B3%CE%BF%CE%B8%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%B1%CF%82/%CE%A4%CE%BC%CE%AE%CE%BC%CE%B1-%CE%95%CF%81%CE%B3%CE%BF%CE%B8%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%B1%CF%80%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%B1%CF%82)
School of Economic, Political and Social Sciences (Founding 2013) (https://eps.duth.gr/) (Komotini)	Department of Social Policy (https://sp.duth.gr/en/homepage/) (Founding 2019) Department of Social Work (https://sw.duth.gr/en/) (Founding 2019) Department of Political Science (https://polsci.duth.gr/en/first/) (Founding 2019) Department of Economics (https://econ.duth.gr/en/home-en/) (Founding 1999)
School of Health Sciences (Founding 2013) (https://health.duth.gr/) (Alexandroupoli)	Department of Medicine (Founding 1977)^[15] (https://med.duth.gr/en/home-en/) Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics (Founding 1999)^[16] (https://www.mbg.duth.gr/index.php/en/) Department of Nursing (Founding 2025) (https://nurs.duth.gr/)
School of Education (Founding 1998) (http://www.edu.duth.gr/) (Alexandroupoli)(Didymoteicho)	Department of Primary Level Education (Founding 1986)^[17] (https://eled.duth.gr/en/frontpage/) Department of Education Sciences in Early Childhood (Founding 1987)^[18] (https://www.psed.duth.gr/en/home-page/) Department of Psychology (Didymoteicho) (Founding 2024) (https://psy.duth.gr/en/home-en/)
School of Agricultural and Forestry Sciences (Founding 2013) (https://geo.duth.gr/) (Orestiada)(Drama)	Department of Agricultural Development (Founding 1999)^[19] (https://agro.duth.gr/en/the-department/) Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources (Founding 1999)^[20] (https://fmenr.duth.gr/en/home/) Department of Viticulture and Oenology (Drama) (Founding 2025) (https://vo.duth.gr/index.php/en/) Department of Natural environment & Climate resilience (Drama) (Founding 2025) (https://neclir.duth.gr/index.php/en/)
School of Science (Founding 2024) (https://duth.gr/%CE%A3%CF%87%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%AD%CF%82-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B9-%CE%A4%CE%BC%CE%AE%CE%BC%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%B1/%CE%A3%CF%87%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%AE-%CE%98%CE%B5%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BA%CF%8E%CE%BD-%CE%95%CF%80%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B7%CE%BC%CF%8E%CE%BD) (Kavala)	Department of Computer Science (Founding 2024) (https://www.cs.duth.gr/index.xhtml;jsessionid=WzMZWPR5ZIVR_HnwOQXdBzts12j_2KX3hi18Uro4.javaee2?language=en) Department of Physics (Founding 2024) (https://physics.duth.gr/?page_id=4540) Department of Chemistry (Founding 2024) (https://chem.duth.gr/index.php/en/)
School of Management Science and Accounting (Founding 2024) (https://duth.gr/%CE%A3%CF%87%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%AD%CF%82-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B9-%CE%A4%CE%BC%CE%AE%CE%BC%CE%B1%CF%84%CE%B1/%CE%A3%CF%87%CE%BF%CE%BB%CE%AE-%CE%94%CE%B9%CE%BF%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%B7%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%AE%CF%82-%CE%95%CF%80%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%AE%CE%BC%CE%B7%CF%82-%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%B9-%CE%9B%CE%BF%CE%B3%CE%B9%CF%83%CF%84%CE%B9%CE%BA%CE%AE%CF%82) (Kavala)	Department of Accounting and Finance (Founding 2024) (https://af.duth.gr/en/) Department of Management Science and Technology (Founding 2024) (https://www.mst.duth.gr/index.php/en/homepage-en/)

Research

The research strategy of DUTH aims at one hand to further support its academic and outward-looking character and on the other hand to promote its social role.^[21]

Academic evaluation

In 2016 the external evaluation committee gave Democritus University of Thrace a Positive evaluation.^{[1] [2]}

An external evaluation of all academic departments in Greek universities was conducted by the Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency (HQA).^{[22] [23]}

See also

• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, founded in 1925, it is the largest university in Macedonia, Greece.
• List of universities in Greece
• List of research institutes in Greece
• European Higher Education Area
• Balkan Universities Network
• Outline of academic disciplines
• Education in Greece

External links

• Democritus University of Thrace

Notes and References

1. Web site: Democritus University of Thrace – External Evaluation Report . en . 2015 . "The relation between DUTH and the wider society seems to be rather asymmetric. In addition, it appears that some of the existing problems are due to the multi-city / multi-campus nature of DUTH and therefore the institution should focus on overcoming difficulties regarding connection of departments and schools with the whole region and not only within the city in which the local campus belongs. Although the intent is that the academic programs and awarded degrees are monitored there is no evidence of this objective being achieved. Library resources and operation are negatively affected by limited funding. Transportation and student housing issues need to be addressed. A center for faculty support of teaching and research/grants development is in order. The report was honest and clear in pointing out strengths as well as weaknesses. One dissenting member who finds the final rating as “Worthy of Merit” views it as a rating of “the totality of the internal evaluation process” with emphasis on the overall efficacy."
2. News: World University Rankings . 2018-09-26 . Times Higher Education (THE). 2018-09-29 . en.
3. Web site: DUTH – Presentation of External Evaluation . el . DUTH.
4. Web site: DUTH Main page statistics . el . 2020 . DUTH.
5. Web site: History – Democritus University of Thrace . en . 2017 . DUTH . 2018-01-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180113070034/http://duth.gr/first/university/index.en.shtml . 2018-01-13 . dead .
6. Web site: DUTH Schools and Departments . DUTH . https://web.archive.org/web/20171223072658/http://duth.gr/department/index.en.shtml . 2017-12-23 . dead .
7. Web site: DUTH, School of Engineering . Democritus University of Thrace .
8. Web site: Department of Civil Engineering – HQA Final Report . en . 2013.
9. Web site: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering – HQA Final Report . en . 2013.
10. Web site: Department of Environmental Engineering – HQA Final Report . en . 2008.
11. Web site: Department of Architecture – HQA Final Report . en . 2013.
12. Web site: Department of Production Engineering – HQA Final Report . en . 2013.
13. Web site: Department of Law – HQA Final Report . en . 2014.
14. Web site: Department of Physical Education – HQA Final Report . en . 2010.
15. Web site: Department of Medicine – HQA Final Report . en . 2011.
16. Web site: Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics – HQA Final Report . en . 2011.
17. Web site: Department of Primary Education – HQA Final Report . en . 2011.
18. Web site: Department of Preschool Education – HQA Final Report . en . 2013.
19. Web site: Department of Agricultural Development – HQA Final Report . en . 2014.
20. Web site: Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment – HQA Final Report . en . 2011.
21. Web site: DUTH – Research Strategy . el . 2015 . DUTH.
22. Web site: Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency – External evaluation reports of Institutions . www.adip.gr . 2016 . en . 2019-08-24 . 2018-01-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180103073101/http://www.adip.gr/gr/insteval-reports.php . dead .
23. Web site: Hellenic Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency – External evaluation reports of Departments . www.adip.gr . 2014 . en . 2019-08-24 . 2019-04-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190410085553/https://www.adip.gr/el/external-evaluation-reports . dead .