Student news and events
Our students compete in the IBM Universities Business Challenge (UBC) 2013-14
A group of five students from all our academic departments, namely, Maria Gaci, Alexandra Patrascu, Haris Liampas, Tijana Maljevic and Marko Drca entered this year’s IBM Universities Business Challenge (UCB) representing the University of Sheffield International Faculty, CITY College. Our team is competing against students from other universities worldwide and is currently on Trading Period 4 of this international student competition with one more to go till the Semi-finals. Each week teams have to make financial decisions on all aspects of the company they are running (Solar Power Systems Inc), in order to maintain a sustainable, profitable and socially responsible business.Only the top teams will continue to Round two. The Round 3 Grand Final is run live over one day. This is scheduled for late March 2014 and will be hosted by the lead employer partner IBM at a London venue. The top ten teams from the Round 2 Semi‐Finals compete to be Winners of UBC United Kingdom and put their university’s name on the trophy. Meet the International Faculty’s participating team! Name Academic department Year Maria Gaci Computer Science 3 Alexandra Patrascu Computer Science 3 Haris Liampas Psychology 3 Tijana Maljevic Business 3 Marko Drca Business 3 What is the Universities Business Challenge (UCB)? This international student competition is the world's longest established and most recognised simulation-based competitive challenge for undergraduates designed to develop employability and enterprise skills. Supported by the UK's leading universities and graduate employers, more than 20,000 students have benefitted from participating in the UBC Worldwide over the past 15 years. The Challenge gives undergraduate students the opportunity to work as a board of directors of realistic, simulated companies, making all the critical business decisions that affect the company's performance. The UBC simulations are varied and challenging - and range from manufacturing to service businesses to ensure a rounded learning experience. The Challenge is not just for Business Studies students. The UBC increasingly attracts participants across faculties and disciplines from leading universities as its value in employability and enterprise skills development is recognised. Besides the invaluable experience and prestige of progressing through the competition, there are also cash prizes for the first three teams: 1st £1000, 2nd £500 and 3rd £250. Plus certificates of participation and achievement as students progress through each stage of the Challenge.
13/11/2013
Introducing the New CSU Board 2013-14
Like every year, the 2013 electoral period at the International Faculty of the University of Sheffield, CITY College, concluded with the election of 43 class representatives and 4 Student Union Officers, elected by the entire student body at the Faculty’s main campus in Thessaloniki. Dimitrios Zografos, 3rd level student of the BA (Hons) in Business Studies at Business Administration & Economics Department is the new CSU President. Dimitrios together with the three other members of the board, namely, Evi Atzamidaki, PR Officer, Vachos Xantinidis, Welfare & Educational Officer and Nasia Moldovanidou, Sports & Events Officer, represent the student body voice for this year and are very enthusiastic about their new role. The new CSU has already started planning activities and setting new goals for this academic year. All students are encouraged to become active and join or even suggest new initiatives for this year. After their election CSU Officers made the following preliminary statements: Dimitris Zografos "This year as the CSU President and alongside with the rest of CSU board I am ready to achieve fresh set goals and ideas through innovation and collaboration. We will all give 100% of our energy in order to meet the expectations that have been raised and prove that SKY IS NOT THE LIMIT. " Vachos Xantinidis "As a Welfare & Educational Officer, my role is to be the “connection” between students and the Faculty's academic> and administration staff and to try solve any problems they may encounter during the academic year. Please don’t hesitate contact me if there is a problem." Evi Atzamidaki "This year i am responsible for the PR office of the CSU. I reassure you that innovative events and a diversity of activities will be organised for an unforgettable year! All these require effective communication and this is the goal that I intend to achieve. Everyone is welcome to present their own ideas and we will put them into practice! " Nasia Moldovanidou "I'm glad for my election as Sports and Events Officer. My goal for this year is to make all students get involved in sports. My priority is to strengthen the bonds between students by orginising sports events, games and of course training courses which will improve students' performance in sports. " Student elections at the University of Sheffield International Faculty, CITY College,are held on a yearly basis according to the rules and regulations framed by the constitution of the Faculty. CITY College warmly congratulates all members of the new CSU board and wishes them success in their activities and endeavours for the benefit of the International Faculty’s student community!
10/11/2013
Congratulations to The Sheffield Graduate Award Winners!
Warm congratulations are in order for our graduates namely, Gofa Christina Chrysoula (BA in Business Studies), Sakkiadis Georgios (BA in Business Studies), Gotzev Stefan (BA in Business Studies), Ristov Todor (BA in Business Studies) and Dyla Vullnet (BSc in Computer Science) who are this year’s Sheffield Graduate Award winners. The five students worked in parallel to their studies and expanded their skills and knowledge by getting involved in a variety of valuable activities. Indicatively, some of the activities they participated in involved: charity initiatives and community volunteering, the Annual Students’ Spring Symposium, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and other initiatives and events of the International Faculty. They also presented substantial work experience and worked on various international projects while some of the winners acted during their studies as class representatives. Upon the completion of their studies they managed to accumulate the number of hours necessary for the Sheffield Graduate Award. The University of Sheffield introduced this award wishing to produce graduates with distinctive qualities that every typical Sheffield graduate should have, such as drive for personal growth and self - improvement, enterprise and life skills development. This prestigious award brings an extra dimension to their qualifications, enriching their personal development and substantially boosting their career prospects. Once again, congratulations to our students on their achievement! www.sheffield.ac.uk/thesheffieldgraduateaward
10/10/2013
Students from the International Faculty participate in the Panhellenic and Balkan Informatics Conferences in Thessaloniki
The contribution of our students to the 17th Panhellenic Conference in Informatics (17th PCI) and the 6th Balkan Conference of Informatics (6th BCI) was indisputable. PCI and BCI were held in Thessaloniki on 19-21 September with 120 participants. Distinguished keynote speakers were invited, namely, Prof. Sifakis, Prof. Kasabov and Prof. Loukopoulos. The International Faculty and SEERC were co-organisers in collaboration with the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the University of Macedonia, the Technological Educational Institute of Thessaloniki and the Greek Computer Society. Professor Ketikidis was one of the Conference Chairs while Professor Kefalas and Dr George Eleftherakis were among the chairs of the Programme Committee. The events hosted three paper presentations from the Computer Science Department and another three members of staff chaired few sessions. Most important of all was the contribution of our students from all Departments who volunteered to help the conference participants in many different ways. It was a great experience for all of them and an opportunity to acquire invaluable experience of the fine grain details of the organisation of such events. Related links: http://bci2013.bci-conferences.org/ http://pci2013.epy-mathra.gr/
08/10/2013
8th Annual South East European Doctoral Student Conference by SEERC
8th Annual South East European Doctoral Student Conference by SEERC On 16-17 September 2013 our research centre, SEERC organized the 8th South East European Doctoral Student Conference (DSC 2013) with great success. The event took place at the main campus of the University of Sheffield International Faculty in Thessaloniki and this year was organized in collaboration with the University of Belgrade. With its programme divided in three thematic areas (Research tracks), the aim of the conference was to further facilitate the exchange of knowledge between young researchers and to consolidate the established network of scholars currently undertaking research in South East Europe. Prof. Panayiotis Ketikidis, Chairman of the conference and Mr Nikos Zaharis, SEERC Director welcomed all the participants and opened the conference with the key note speech by Assist. Prof. Panagiotis D. Bamidis, School of Health Services, Department of Medicine, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki on "Silvergaming for body and mind health: neuroscientific principles, software design, pilot deployment and commercialisation." During the two-day conference more than 40 papers were presented while two workshops took place, one on "Successful Intergenerational Learning in Enterprizes: Demonstration of the DIGL tool" presented by Dr. Ana Vivas, Head of the Psychology Department of the International Faculty and Dr Antonia Ypsilanti, Lecturer at the Psychology Department, and one on "Public Engagement and Impact of PhD Researchers" presented by Dr. Tim Vorley, Dr. Robert Wapshott from the Management School of The University of Sheffield. The event concluded with the best paper awards. Esida Gila Gourgoura received the best paper award of Research Track 1: 'Enterprise, Innovation & Development' for her paper on "Investigating the causality between Financial Development and Economic Growth in the developing countries of Europe: Evidence from Albania and Turkey", Magdalena Kostoska received the best paper award of Research Track 2 "Information and Communication Technologies" for her paper entitled paper "Cloud Service Portability Opportunities" while the best paper award of Research Track 3 : "Society and Human Development : Psychology, Politics, Sociology and Education" went to Dimitra Athanasiadou for her paper "The relationship between dysfunctional patterns of families' response to the illness and symptom severity in adolescent patients with anorexia nervosa at illness onset: A gender specific approach" The Doctoral Conference brought together researchers and succeeded in establishing collaborative links between disciplines, for testing the ground with innovative ideas and for engaging the wider academic community. All papers presented during the event will be included in the conference's proceedings that will be published in due course. For more information visit the conference’s official website.
23/09/2013
Student from the International Faculty undertakes internship opportunity at the University of Sheffield USE, UK
Mr George Sakkiadis What better place for a university student to gain work experience that his University? George Sakkiadis, third level student at the BA (Hons) in Business Studies (Accounting and Finance) programme recently returned from Sheffield, UK where he completed a three-month internship at the University of Sheffield Enterprise Unit (USE) . Aiming at gaining work experience in the field of enterprise, George applied for the internship posted by the University and was selected among other applicants. Over the summer he worked at the University of Sheffield Enterprise Unit were he had the opportunity to assist and contribute in projects undertaken by the USE team. USE is an organisation of the University of Sheffield that helps students and graduates to ‘make their ideas happen.’ It runs events and competitions to improve their skills and help students and graduates to start their own businesses/social enterprises. The USE team works closely with academics to develop enterprise in the curriculum so that all students have access to enterprise education. The Student Affairs Department ensures that students from the International Faculty have access to all these useful resources provided by the University. At Sheffield George enjoyed this skills development opportunity presented by USE. increased his skills outside of his degree course by gaining hands-on real-life experience through the responsibilities he assumed and his involvement in project work. While at Sheffield George enjoyed meeting people and fellow-students from different places and working with them. George said: "It’s been great pleasure for me to be a part of the USE Team this summer. Working at USE as an intern has given me the chance to meet really nice people and to do a lot of interesting and exciting stuff. In my first few months working here I learnt how to deal with new things such as the Open Days at University of Sheffield, the social enterprise events and the start-up Weekend.I learnt so many new things and I have become more confident about my skills and abilities. Perhaps the most important thing I gained while working at USE is to not be afraid to think big, and to be courageous enough to dream that I can achieve whatever I set my mind to. In other words the often used phrase, 'To make my ideas happen'. With this mindset, I am more ready than ever to embark on new challenges and try new things! I look forward to meeting and working with the USE team again." The University aims at providing its students with opportunities to develop their employability skills even before completing their studies and become competitive by demonstrating work experience in the challenging employment market. Read George’s posts on USE website.
12/09/2013
SEERC PhD Candidate participates in Global Workshop in New Delhi, India
Our alumnus and currently PhD student and research associate at our research centre, SEERC, Mr Adrian Solomon travelled to New Delhi, India on 8-9th August 2013 together with another colleague from the university, Dr Andrea Genovese, in order to attend a workshop on Next Generation Sustainable Freight Transportation in the framework of the NEX-GIFT project, in which the University of Sheffield is the lead partner. The NEX-GIFT project is closely related with the aims of Mr Solomon’s PhD thesis. For this reason, Dr Alok Choudhary and Prof. Panayiotis Ketikidis, the main PhD supervisor of Mr Solomon from SEERC, suggested that he took part in this global project where he would have the opportunity to become exposed to international, high quality best practices from the freight transportation field and he would get the opportunity to visit other academic institutions and network with experts and peers from this sector. The team prepared and delivered a presentation about the status of green freight transportation in the UK as compared to USA and India. Additionally, the team had to engage the workshop participants in interactive discussions and collect the emerged best practices. Furthermore, during the networking sessions, Mr Adrian Solomon discussed the topic of his PhD “Knowledge Based Simulation Framework for Resilient Green Supply Chain - Freight Transportation in South Eastern Europe” and highly stressed the importance of his research for the progress of the South East European region as well as the importance of the efforts of TUOS International Faculty and SEERC for the same purpose. The participants were highly impressed by the collaboration between the University of Sheffield and its International Faculty, CITY College and SEERC and admired the internationalisation efforts, as well as the remarkable opportunities provided to early stage PhD students. Mr. Solomon’s participation in this workshop was fully supported by the University of Sheffield through the NEX-GIFT project and so will be his participation in two forthcoming workshops in Sheffield-UK and Philadelphia-USA. Adrian commented on his experience in New Delhi: “Being offered the opportunity to participate to such an international event, even from the first year of my PhD, was more than just an exceptional educational opportunity which SEERC and the University of Sheffield offered me. It was a ground-breaking experience which significantly helped my PhD research by providing me further knowledge in my field and by exposing me to global practitioners from the logistics field, as well as from academia and policy making. I am highly thankful to my PhD supervisors for offering me this opportunity and for enabling all the mechanisms for me to take the best out of it, since acting local by thinking global may be one of the key success factors of nowadays research, industry and government issues. To this end, SEERC, the International Faculty, CITY College, and the University of Sheffield have always excelled in offering me a great deal of support even during my undergraduate studies (through early engagement in funded research opportunities, funded conferences, etc) and this is why my belief that pursuing a PhD at SEERC would help me take the best out of this excellent environment has already been confirmed through this project. I am really looking forward to participating on the next two workshops where I will be able to present the progress of my PhD”.
27/08/2013
Congratulations to Ms. Dialechti Fotopoulou
Congratulations to Ms Dialechti Fotopoulou, PhD student at our research centre, SEERC, for successfully defending her PhD entitled ‘The Impact of Foreign Higher Education on Management Practices: The Case of MBAs in Greece’. Ms. Fotopoulou’s supervisors are Dr Alexandros Psychogios, Senior Lecturer at the International Faculty’s Business Department and Prof. Geoffrey Wood, Professor in Human Resource Management at the Management School of the University of Sheffield.
11/07/2013
Graduation party 2013
Graduation is a time to celebrate! On 21 June graduates of year 2013 celebrated the conclusion of their studies and said ‘goodbye’ with a party organised by our Students’ Union (CSU). The graduation party was held at ‘Les Zazous’ Bar restaurant in Thessaloniki.
02/07/2013
'Life is fun' VIDEO by our Students' Union (CSU)
Watch the video produced by our Students' Union (CSU) and see how fun it is to study with us! Congratulations to CSU for organising and producing this video and to all students who participated in it! You may view the video on vimeo or right-click here to download it.
28/06/2013
12th Students’ Spring Symposium
The 12th Students’ Spring Symposium took place successfully at the University of Sheffield International Faculty main campus in Thessaloniki, 24 May 2013. The event took place for the twelfth consecutive and was organised by students of all departments of the Faculty. In the frame of the symposium students presented very interesting papers on different scientific subjects and exchanged ideas. The event also included a workshop entitled ‘Teaching a robotic partner to dance’ propelling knowledge and innovation and attracting everyone’s attention. An interesting closing discussion themed ‘I have an idea’ gave the opportunity to both presenters and the audience to engage in a fruitful dialogue and draw interesting conclusions. The 12th Student Spring Symposium was sponsored by our research centre, the South East European Research Centre (SEERC), and the Greek ACM Student Chapter.
07/06/2013
Our student volunteers collect medicines for the Doctors of the World
For the third consecutive year student volunteers of CITY College’s ‘Sunrise Club’ run successfully a public collection of medicines in support of the Doctors of the World (DoW). The collection took place at the centre of Thessaloniki on Friday and Saturday, 24 and 25 of May 2013. The project was supervised by Ms. Panagiota Skoulariki , Lecturer at our Business Department . The public responded to our students’ call and supported the collection of medicines. Non-expired medicines, including sealed syrups and ointments, sealed and opened boxes of tablets and capsules, that were surplus to households in Thessaloniki, were collected. Instead of throwing them away causing pollution, people chose to donate these medicines to the Doctors of the World. Congratulations to Ms. Skoulariki and to our students on this initiative, showing that CITY College not only joins but also initiates and carries out charities. Story in the press: 23.05.2013 Makedonia Student Volunteers collect medicines for the Doctors of the world
29/05/2013
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