The University of Cyprus was established in 1989 and admitted its first students in 1992. It is a vigorous community of scholars engaged in the generation and diffusion of knowledge. Despite its brief history, the UCY has earned the respect of the international academic community and the appreciation of Cypriot society. There are 8 faculties, 23 departments and 11 research units at UCY. High-calibre scholarly research is one of the main pillars of development at UCY and has been a central tenant in its mission statement since the University's establishment. In recent years, the University has become internationally recognized as a leading research institution for its contribution to the advancement of science and culture. This recognition has brought the University substantial external research funding as well as a number of highly prestigious chairs of excellence. UCY was ranked first among the top 10 national beneficiaries of the EC financial contribution granted in H2020, according to the e-CORDA data update of September 2016, with total financial EC contribution reaching €34,96 million. It is currently participating in 91 EU funded projects out of a total of 118 research projects currently implemented at UCY. Among others, UCY is participating in projects funded under Horizon 2020, FP7, Erasmus Plus, EU Life Long Learning Programme, the European Research Council, EUROCORES, JPI, Teaming & EU Structural grants. Since the beginning of ERC grants in 2007, UCY managed to compete and succeeded in winning 10 ERC projects. Following the establishment of its Medical School in 2013 UCY has expanded its scientific horizons to include health related fields. One of the key areas of medical research is that of cancer both at basic science level and at translational/ clinical level through its collaboration with the Bank of Cyprus Oncology Centre (BOCOC).

 Key Personnel

 Dr Anastasia Constantinidou is a Lecturer in Oncology/Haematology at the Medical     School of the University of Cyprus. Dr Constantinidou gained Membership of the Royal   College of Physicians (MRCP) in the UK in 2005, specialist accreditation in Internal       Medicine in 2006 and an MSc in Oncology (Merit) from the University of London in 2010.     She completed her specialist clinical training in Medical Oncology at the Royal Marsden   Hospital in London in 2011. Subsequently Dr Constantinidou was awarded a Wellcome   Trust Clinical Research Fellowship for laboratory research in molecular pathology and gained her PhD from the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London, in 2015. Her basic science research has focused on the identification of genes involved in the process of cell differentiation as novel targets in cancer therapeutics with emphasis on epigenetics and she has experience in translational research running early phase clinical trials. She has been awarded a number of fellowships throughout her career including the Hellenic Society of Medical Oncology Clinical Training Fellowship and the ECCO-AACR-EORTC-ESMO Fellowship in Methods in Clinical Cancer Research Workshop as well as grants from the Wellcome Trust and the Sarcoma UK. She has been a co-investigator in over 80 UK, European and International Phase I/II/III clinical trials in oncology and through competitive selection she has presented her work in many international meetings. Dr Constantinidou is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO).