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News & Events
5th International Strategic People Management Workshop
The Laboratory for Strategic People Management of the Business Department , of The University of Sheffield International Faculty, CITY College, organised the 5th International Strategic People Management Workshop entitled ‘Taking the ‘i’ out of crisis: Leadership and Learning’.
28/05/2013
Career Fair 2013
Themed ‘Out There, Are They Looking for a Rockstar: Your Chance to Dazzle the World!’ the Career Fair 2013 was successfully organised by the Student Affairs and Career Planning Department on the 24th of April, bringing together students and alumni of the International Faculty with company representatives from a variety of industry sectors. The event took place at the Information and Learning Commons (ILC) at the main campus of the Faculty in Thessaloniki, creating a very special and warm atmosphere for all participants.
28/05/2013
Sheffield’s SURE scheme 2013
Congratulations to our students namely, Alexandra Cristina Patrascu, second level student at our Computer Science Department and Florenta Iuliana Solomon, second level student at our Business Administration and Economics Department , who received research funds through the University of Sheffield’s SURE (Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience) 2013. Alexandra won the research scholarship with her project entitled ‘Pre-college girls - perception about Computer Science’ while Iuliana’s winning paper is entitled ‘An Integrated Model for eHealth Implementation Analysis and Simulation in South Eastern Europe’. The scholarships came through ‘SURE - Sheffield Undergraduate Research Experience’ , a scheme of the University of Sheffield which invites undergraduate students of the university to conduct research in subject areas of their interest and offers scholarships to the best research proposals submitted. Alexandra commented on her success: “My research area of interest focuses on women in computer science, since I am one of the founding members of ‘Muses, ACM-W Student Chapter’ at CITY College. This chapter mainly aims at increasing the number of women interested in studying computer science and building a career in IT. Unfortunately, women are underrepresented in the disciplines of Science, Technology and Engineering and this is a consequence of many factors such as the influence of society, the misconception that IT is only for men, which determine pre-college girls to avoid choosing Computer Science as field for studies. The project that I proposed for the SURE Scheme intends to reveal the actual perception of females about a possible career in IT. As an interdisciplinary project, during my research, related studies from other disciplines will also be used (e.g. Psychology for the study of human behaviour). The whole experience will help me in the final year project, where I intend to continue the work that I am starting now, but it will also help me better coordinate the activities of the ACM-W Chapter that will be more oriented towards the needs of the computing society.” Iuliana said: “I applied to SURE 2013 because I thought it was a good opportunity to explore other research areas except for business. SURE represents an interdisciplinary project and I chose my topic on eHealth Implementation and Simulation because it combines multiple areas of knowledge that I wish to explore. Nowadays there is an increase in the demand for online, low cost and user-friendly applications for personal care and monitoring health status. My research project will focus on the South-East European region and I intend to create a model of eHealth solutions for the population of this region. This project combines the disciplines of Psychology, Computer Science and Business, making it truly interdisciplinary. I plan to continue my research in this area even after SURE and I aim to publish it either as part of a conference or as an individual journal article. My supervisor for this project, Prof. Panayiotis Ketikidis, offers me great support and access to all the resources necessary for a successful research outcome. Finally, I believe that with all the support that I get from my supervisor and from the staff of the University of Sheffield International Faculty, my project conclude with positive outcomes. I believe that SURE offers a great opportunity for students to explore more options for their future careers.” Many students from the International Faculty have received funding from SURE in the past and produced quality research papers while gained experience in research at the same time.
28/05/2013
New Insights from the Balkan Venture Forum in Sofia - SEERC participates with Greek delegation
The “most successful Balkan Venture Forum so far“, as summarized by Mr. Aleksandar Tasev, Executive director of Balkan Unlimited and one of the co-organisers of the Balkan Venture Forum, was held at the National Palace of Culture in Sofia on 21st and 22nd May 2013. The South-East European Research Centre (SEERC), the research centre of the International Faculty of University of Sheffield, CITY College, in Thessaloniki, participated at the event with the active engagement of the 17 members of its delegation consisting of innovative start-ups, experienced entrepreneurs, and innovation experts. The delegation was also joined by Ms Jelina Makrantonaki, Vice Governor of the Prefecture of Central Macedonia in International Outlook, Innovation and New Technologies. Ms Makrantonaki and the Director of SEERC, Mr. Nikos Zaharis, participated as panel speakers in the ‘High-Level Policy Meeting’ that opened the Forum on the topic of maximization of structural funds as a financial instrument for innovation and development in the region. The Balkan Venture Forum (BkVF - www.balkanventureforum.org ), a leading regional investment and innovation forum, gathered more than 500 international participants ranging from start-up companies, established SMEs, serial entrepreneurs, support agencies and innovation experts to policy makers and a wide array of high-level international venture capitalists and investors. A series of captivating speeches and panel discussions by high-level experts and investors, on various topics regarding innovation, risk investments and business development were held throughout the event. Emphasis was given to themes dedicated to the growth perspectives of start-ups in the region of South-East Europe and the future of cross-border investing in the Balkans. “Building more bridges than (Silicon) valleys” and the emphasis on building the entrepreneurial ecosystem through personal relationships with a mentality of “first give - then take” were statements heard during the Forum. The Forum ran also a pitching competition in which 36 start-ups presented their venture in front of expert panelists, competing for investors’ interest as well as exclusive prizes and benefits. Parallel there was a Seedcamp event aimed to accelerate up to 10 local startups through master classes and pitching. Greek young entrepreneurs participated actively in the highly competitive pitching competition with such start-up companies as Redback, Mageca, and Codebender and in the Seedcamp event with the start-up Aterin. Codebender won one of the exclusive prizes. The South-East European Research Centre (SEERC) welcomed this opportunity to help with its participation to foster the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of the region. The next Balkan Venture Forum will be held in Tirana, towards the end of the year. Balkan Venture Forum is one of the main objectives of the SEE Programme project VIBE (Venture Initiative in Balkan Europe) and is being co-financed by the European Union. VIBE (www.vibeproject.eu) is an EU funded project in the framework of the ‘SEE Transnational Cooperation Programme’ with the primary objective to support facilitation of innovation and entrepreneurship in the region of South-East Europe. VIBE aims at fostering the creation and growth of innovative SMEs and start-up companies through a large array of actions. SEERC (www.seerc.org) is the only Greek partner in the VIBE project. Story in the press: 29.05.2013 Typos Thessalonikis Balkan Venture Forum
23/05/2013
BAED students visit Hyatt Regency Hotel in Thessaloniki
A company visit to Thessaloniki Hyatt Regency Hotel took place on Monday 13th May for our 3rd level business students of the management track. Mr. Serafini Giovanni, Human Resources Manager at Hyatt welcomed the students and while giving them a tour of the hotel facilities, he explained interesting issues related to human resources in the hotel industry. The students gained valuable knowledge and experiences and realised the importance of offering a luxurious five-star hotel experience to customers while wandering around the luxurious facilities of the Hyatt Regency Hotel. The students enjoyed this visit and the opportunity to get insight from one of the leading hotels in the region of Northern Greece.
21/05/2013
Seminar on 'Fostering Personal Creativity - Boosting Organization Innovation' by Mr Hatziapostolou in Tirana
Mr. Thanos Hatziapostolou, Lecturer at our Computer Science Department delivered an insightful seminar on ‘Fostering Personal Creativity - Boosting Organization Innovation’. The seminar took place at the premises of the Faulty of Economics, University of Tirana on 30th of May. Mr. Hatziapostolou focused his lively presentation on personal creativity and innovation. He discussed why innovation is important for companies, what types of innovation exist, the roots of innovation and the sources of opportunity. The seminar continued with the second part focusing on how personal creativity can be measured and enhanced and how this can help companies’ growth. Mr. Hatziapostolou also pointed out the components and barriers to creativity and creativity’s relation to innovation. The seminar was very successful and interactive and was conluded with discussion between the audience and the speaker. The event took place in the frame of the University of Sheffield postgraduate programmes delivered by the International Faculty in Tirana. Visit the official Innovation Challenge website.
17/05/2013
Guest lecture by Dr. Nikolaidis on Service Development
A very interesting guest lecture entitled ‘Developing your Service — Time to Reassess, Time to Differentiate’ was delivered by Dr. Dimitrios Nikolaidis, Head of Business Administration and Economics Department. The lecture was addressed to 2nd year Greek stream business students and took place on 23 April in the context of the unit ‘Principles of Marketing’. In his presentation Dr. Nikolaidis underpinned the importance of services and the necessity for today’s businesses to reassess their services strategy, upgrade their services standards and differentiate themselves from competitors by increasing customer satisfaction. Students enjoyed the guest lecture that ended with an open discussion with the lecturer.
14/05/2013
Training workshops for Fibank and EAGLE Mobile by Dr. Nikolaidis in Tirana
On 9 of May 2013 Dr. Dimitrios Nikolaidis, Head of our Business Administration & Economics Department (BAED) delivered two training workshops to groups of executives at two major companies of Tirana, Fibank (Financial Investment Bank) and EAGLE Mobile. The 2-hour workshop themed ‘From Customer Satisfaction to Customer Loyalty: From Theory to Practice’ focused on the concept of service quality and its influence to customer satisfaction and retention and touched upon a series of related issues such as the marketing service triangle, factors that influence customer satisfaction, the new era of marketing services and the importance of customers. Dr. Nikolaidis enhanced his presentation with real cases and examples that participants found particularly useful. The executive groups that attended the workshops from Fibank and EAGLE Mobile were representatives from the companies’ marketing department, customer relations, HR department, sales and technical support. All participants found the workshop very interesting and educative and thanked Dr. Nikolaidis for his lively presentation.
14/05/2013
Seminar on ‘Developing New Products as growth strategy’ by Dr Nikolaidis in Tirana
Dr. Dimitrios Nikolaidis, Head of the Business Administration and Economics Department and Senior Lecturer in Marketing Communications delivered a very successful seminar on New Product Development (NPD) in Tirana on 9 May 2013 at the premises of the International Faculty’s partner institute in Albania, The American University of Tirana (UAT). Dr. Nikolaidis focused his presentation on how new product and service development can prove a very successful growth strategy for businesses even in times of crisis. He presented the whole process of NPD: from idea generation, to market research, to the design production of the product and final evaluation. Dr. Nikolaidis noted that this strategy requires a strong understanding of the existing market and also require pairing the right strategy to product growth objectives. He also mentioned that such an investment usually involves a level of risk but, if businesses work methodically, it generates substantial profits. The event more than 100 participants coming from the fields of business, industry and academia, who found Dr Nikolaidis’ presentation particularly interesting. The seminar took place in the frame of the University of Sheffield postgraduate programmes delivered in Tirana by the University’s International Faculty, CITY College.
13/05/2013
SEERC participates with Greek delegation at the Balkan Venture Forum in Sofia
The South-East European Research Centre (SEERC), the research centre of the International Faculty of University of Sheffield, CITY College, in Thessaloniki organises a Greek delegation to participate at the Balkan Venture Forum (BkVF) in Sofia, on May 21-22, 2013. The delegation contains start-ups, SMEs, young and experienced entrepreneurs, innovation experts, support agencies, venture capitalist investors, and policy makers. The BkVF is the largest venture capital, private equity and investment forum in the region, (http://www.balkanventureforum.org). It gathers top startups, VC investors, serial entrepreneurs, and innovators from the Balkans, Europe and the USA. As a regional SEE event dedicated to innovative entrepreneurship, access to finance and business opportunities, the Balkan Venture Forum in Sofia takes place for the third time, after Skopje and Belgrade. Apart from the excellent networking opportunity in Sofia as a vibrant startup hub, participants will be able to follow a program of startup coaching, startup competitions, keynote speeches, workshops and discussion panels. Some of the confirmed participants and speakers are: Jon Bradford - founder/CEO at Springboard, TechStars, F6S; Salim Virani - founder at Leancamp, Founder-Centric; Dan Lupu - CEO at EarlyBird Venture Capital; Phillip Moehring - Principal at Seedcamp, Maciej Zak - Investment Director CEE at Intel Capital; Giannis Papadopoulos - CEO at Attica Ventures; Vadim Tarasov - Investment Director Bright Capital; Oliver Holle - CEO at Speedinvest; Marius Ghenea - Chairman at VentureConnect; Yavuz Kaynar - Principal Banker at EBRD Venture Capital; Todor Breshkov - Managing partner at LAUNCHub accelerator VC fund; Lyuben Belov - Managing partner at LAUNCHub accelerator VC fund; Dilyan Dimitrov - Founder at Eleven Startup Accelerator; Hubert Cottogni - Head of regional business development at European Investment Fund; Peter Brodsky - Director at SoundCloud; Apostolos Apostolakis - Founder of e-shop.gr , doctoranytime.gr , Taxibeat; and many more. Participants of the BkVF will also be able to attend the Pitching Competition for 36 selected startups . In addition, there will be two partner events: Seedcamp on 22nd and Leancamp on the 23rd of May, to create an exciting startup festival alongside the Balkan Venture Forum. Balkan Venture Forum is organized by Balkan Unlimited Foundation, and co-organized by the VIBE project. Balkan Venture Forum is one of the main objectives of the SEE Programme project VIBE (Venture Initiative in Balkan Europe) and is being co-financed by the European Union. VIBE is an EU co-funded project in the framework of the ‘SEE Transnational Cooperation Programme’ with the primary objective to support facilitation of innovation and entrepreneurship in the region of South-East Europe. VIBE aims at fostering the creation and growth of innovative SMEs and start-up companies through a large array of actions. SEERC (www.seerc.org) as the only Greek partner in the VIBE project fosters through this engagement its contribution to the developing innovation and startup scene in Greece. More information about the Balkan Venture Forum and the full programme can be found at: http://www.balkanventureforum.org/programme-new/ Interested parties are also most welcome to engage with the social media dedicated to the event: http://www.facebook.com/BalkanVentureForum http://twitter.com/balkanventurefo http://www.linkedin.com/groups?trk=myg_ugrp_ovr&gid=4272414 http://www.balkanventureforum.org
13/05/2013
New Career Path in the Middle East for our graduate, Cristina Postolache
Congratulations to our graduate from Romania, Cristina Postolache, on her recent appointment as Chief Coordinator and Marketer at the Media One Hotel in Dubai. Cristina graduated last year from the MA in Marketing Advertising and Public Relations programme and started her career pursuit beyond Europe. After several interviews she was shortlisted and then appointed as Chief Coordinator and Marketer at the Media One Hotel in Dubai. Media One Hotel communication executive Siti Farida, Media One chief coordinator and marketeer Cristina Postolache and Rotana sales manager Osama Sark at Hot Hoteliers on TOMO's terrace. Photo source: www.hoteliermiddleeast.com Cristina’s main responsibilities involve working closely with the Marketing Director for the Internal Communications in the hotel, working with Marketing Team for the development and implementation of various loyalty card programmes which include maintaining accurate database information, managing regular guests, producing reports and also communicating the hotel’s activities by building relationships with key stakeholders and thus building its brand image. Cristina commented about her new job: “The Middle East, and especially Dubai, is a place that offers amazing opportunities for professional development and incredible life experience. I am planning to work here for at least the next 5 years and continuing to grow and improve my professional skills in marketing and communication in the hospitality industry. I have to admit that it is not easy living so far from home, and in a totally different cultural mix, but one thing that the Middle East guaranties is that if you work hard you will get rewarded and recognized for your efforts. I owe a great part of my success to CITY College, International Faculty of the University of Sheffield, and to the amazing lecturers that helped me develop as an individual, and helped me build up valuable knowledge in the areas of marketing and public relations.”
12/05/2013
The International Faculty joins the Vice Chancellor’s Celebration of Enterprise from overseas
The week 15-19 April 2013 was dedicated to enterprise across the University of Sheffield. It was a week full of events, lectures, workshops and activities organized by the University of Sheffield Enterprise (USE) to celebrate and showcase the University’s enterprise activity. This year the Vice Chancellor of the University of Sheffield, Professor Sir Keith Burnett supported the enterprise celebration, putting emphasis on the importance that the University placed on enterprise. The International Faculty of the University, CITY College joined the celebrations from overseas with a series of events that took place during that week at the main campus of the Faculty in Thessaloniki, Greece. On 17th April a seminar on ‘INVENT: Gaining Enterprise Skills’ was delivered by Dr Dimitris Dranidis , Director of the MSc in Software Engineering & Telecommunications programme, as well as by two computer science students, Yannis Panayiotou (3rd level student) and Tomor Pupovci (postgraduate student). The seminar presented how through the projects of INVENT our students gain enterprise skills during their studies. The presentation included examples of projects undertaken by our students. ‘ΙNVENT’ (Innovative Enterprise Technologies) is run by students of our Computer Science Department. It is supervised by faculty members, and develops for its clients software solutions free of charge. It aims at providing timely, innovative and high quality software and IT service support to external clients and in this way creating a bridge between academia and industry. On the 18th of April a seminar entitled ‘From Idea to Profit: Finance and Support your Business Idea’ took place at the Auditorium of the International Faculty. The seminar hosted three guest speakers who delivered three very interesting speeches on the main theme of the seminar. Mr. Andreas Baresel-Bofiger, Lecturer at the International Faculty and Project Manager at our research centre SEERC, delivered a very insightful presentation on ‘Current trends in start-up financing - Venture initiative in Balkan Europe and the Balkan Venture Forum’. In his turn, Mr. Sotiris Karagiannis, Sales Director of N. and W. Greece, SPACE HELLAS S.A. talked about ‘From a tech idea to a global meaningful company - a mentor’s view’. The seminar concluded with a presentation by Dr. Lambros Lazuras , Lecturer at the International Faculty and Research Associate of SEERC on ‘Breaking barriers for enterprises in Europe - Insights from the projects ELIE and ELIEMENTAL. The entrepreneurial case of Cocomat was presented in a seminar delivered by the CEO of Cocomat Mr. Paul Efmorfidis, Mr. Efmorfidis, presented to the participants the company’s development and its steps to success. He elaborated on the aspects that made Cocomat a huge success, not only in Greece but also abroad. The company’s mission is to manufacture the best beds in the world in the most sustainable way possible. As Mr. Efmorfidis stressed out, one major success factor was that Cocomat is known for using natural materials from renewable sources, such as coco fibre, natural rubber, wool, cotton, sea grass, horsehair, silk, linen, wood and goose down. Cocomat is established in 1989, COCO-MAT today is a recognized leader for natural sleep products, bed linen, towels and furniture for homes and hotels. Cocomat has a growing network of stores operating now in 12 countries. Also, the frame of enterprise celebrations the Director of Student Affairs and Career Planning, Ms. Maria Mariaki , presented an insightful seminar on ‘Career Planning: Techniques and Strategies’ to Computer Science students. Ms. Matiaki presented useful techniques and strategies necessary for the pursuit of a successful career in their field of interest. She also provided students with practical advice and tips on how to best write their CV and use it in their job hunting. During her seminar, Ms Matiaki pinpointed the constant increase of skilled graduates and emphasised how a well-written CV can be a success factor that differentiates candidates. The well-attended event proved to be a good opportunity for students to learn more about strategies for their effort to find a job after graduating in the field of computer science. The events that took place at the International Faculty in the frame of enterprise celebration were well-attended and proved to be very appealing to the audience.
12/05/2013
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