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.
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]
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]
^ ab"Democritus University of Thrace – External Evaluation Report"(PDF). 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."
