The University of Cyprus was established in 1989 and accepted its first students in 1992. It was the first higher education institution established in the Cyprus Republic. Currently, it has around 7200 students and it aims to increase the number by 2000 students by 2015 with the final aim to count 10 000 students by 2020. It is comprised by 6 Faculties/Schools (Humanities, Pure and Applied Sciences, Social Sciences and Education, Economics and Management, Engineering, Letters) and 23 Departments. The School for Graduate Studies was established in January 2012. The Medical School was established in 2009 and the first students are expected to be admitted in 2013. Currently it offers 41 programmes of studies at the undergraduate level and 78 programmes at the postgraduate level. It has 7 Research Units (Banking and Finance, Archaeological, Economics, Nanotechnology, KIOS Center for Intelligent Systems and Networks, Gender Studies, Oceanographic Centre) and in 2008 UCY received the EFQM “Committed to Excellence” Award. UCY uses ECTS and awards the Diploma Supplement (DS). UCY is one of the 52 European universities to which the European Commission awarded the DS Label in May of 2009.UCY is currently implementing 98 programmes funded by European and international funding, including four frontier research grants of ERC and another 231 programmes funded by the National Research Promotion Foundation. UCY runs a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, as a proof of its dedication in European integration teaching and it has an UNESCO Chair for Equality and Gender Empowerment. UCY is also member to many European and International Networks and Associations, namely: EUA, IAU, UNICA, ACU, Santander Group, AEUA, UNIMED, EAEC etc. Since September of 2010 the Nobel Prize holder Prof. Christoforos Pissarides, teaches as a full-time professor to the department of Economics at UCY. The University of Cyprus is currently setting up its Medical School, expected to accept first students in September of 2013.