In General

The Programme of Studies of the Physics Department has a four-year duration (8 semesters) and leads to a Bachelor degree in Physics. The Undergraduate Programme of Studies of the Department comprises 26 core courses, which cover the fundamental knowledge in the field, as well as 48 elective courses which cover a wide spectrum of specialised topics. In order to obtain a Bachelor degree, a student should successfully attend 26 of the structure courses and a number of elective courses (approximately 13) so that the necessary number of 240 ECTS credits is completed[1]. The Diploma Thesis as well as the Work Placement is included in the elective courses. All courses run for a semester except for the Diploma Thesis (2 semesters) and the Work Placement (3-6 months).

Studies

The academic year begins at 1^st of September and ends at 31^st of August of the following year. The educational activities of every academic year are chronologically divided into two semesters (winter, spring). Every semester comprises at least 13 full weeks for teaching and 2-3 weeks for examinations. Every student is obliged to participate in the educational process during his/her studies, as the latter is determined by law and the decisions of the administrative bodies of the University and the Department.

       Students, who may prove that they work at least 20 hours per week, can enrol as “part-time” students after an application submitted by them is approved by the Dean’s Office.

Enrolment – Registration to Courses

The status of a student is acquired when the enrolment to the Department takes place and, except for circumstances of provisional/final suspension of studying or disciplinary action against the student, it is removed after the degree is awarded. The first enrolment takes place within a specific period (usually of duration of 15 days) after the announcement of the results of the General Exams. The enrolment is renewed every year via registration to the courses. Registration is obligatory and takes place electronically within a specific time period at the beginning of winter and spring semester. The maximum number of courses a student may register for and be examined at every semester is eight (8). These courses include necessarily the core courses from previous years that the student has failed to pass. If a student fails in an elective course, then, in a following semester when this course is offered again, he/she may either repeat the course or replace it by another elective course from the available courses. Students who have properly submitted their registration forms, are entitled to receive the relevant books for each course. For this purpose, the student must submit a form on the website of “Eudoxus”, http://eudoxus.gr

      Students, who have not submitted their registration forms, are not entitled to receiving books, are not to be accepted at the examinations and if, despite this, they take part in them, their performance is not assessed - even if it is assessed, their grade is not taken into account and is not registered in any of the exam periods.

Suspension of Studying

The students have the right to suspend their studies, via a written application submitted to the Department’s Secretariat, for any number of semesters they desire, consecutive or not, but not more than eight. These semesters are not admeasured to the aforementioned maximum duration of studies. The students, who suspend their studies as above, lose their student status for the whole duration of suspension. After the end of the suspension period, the students return to the Department. 

Examinations

At the end of every semester examinations take place in which the students, who had registered for and attended the corresponding taught courses, may participate. In September, before the beginning of lectures of the winter semester, repeat examinations take place for the courses of both semesters (winter and spring). For the current 2016-2017, in each semester optional mid-term exams have been introduced. While the mid-term examinations take place, there are no classes. The mid-term periods for this academic year are: 14-20 November and 3-9 of April. The grade awarded in each course is determined by the lecturer, who, according to his/her judgement, may organise written or/and oral examinations, or/and to base his/her assessment on the performance of the student at theoretical or practical exercises during the semester

       The examination timetable of each semester has been determined by the Department and the starting date is announced at least a month before the beginning of the examination period. In some courses, due to large number of participants, students maybe divided into two groups (according to their enrolment number, even or odd). At the end of the semester it is possible that the two groups will be examined separately, in which case each student will be examined with his allocated group. In these courses lectures are required to teach a different group in the subsequent year to the group originally taught.

        If the student fails more than three (3) times in the same course, he may, at his request to the Head of the Department, be assessed by a three -member committee, which consists of teaching staff of the same or other department of the University with a subject identical or related to that of the course to be examined, in which the course teacher cannot participate.

       Students who complete their first year of studies having succeeding in less than 3 courses are required to contact their Studies Counsellor.

        During the examinations, the duplication of exam papers, conversation or, in any other way, the cooperation between the students is prohibited as well as the possession of any un-authorised material (e.g. notes, books, solutions of exercises). The use of mobile phones or portable electronic devices (ipad, tablet, lap-tops) is also prohibited for any reason (including their use as a calculator or a clock). Apart from given immediately a zero grade to their exam paper, the students who do not respect the regulations of the examinations may face additional disciplinary measures which include the suspension of their student status for one or more semesters.

Maximum Number of Courses - Grade of Degree

In order to obtain a Bachelor degree, a student must attend at least eight (8) semesters during which he/she should successfully attend a series of courses from which he/she should accumulate at least 240 ECTS credits. For students who were successfully examined in more than the necessary number of courses, the elective courses with the highest contribution (grade to ECTS credits ratio) are taken into account in the calculation of the general grade. From the remaining elective courses that have not been taken into account in the general grade, two at maximum may be included in the transcript of his/her record, after an application from the student.

The general grade of the B.Sc. Degree in Physics is calculated as a fraction having as numerator the sum of the products of the grades the student received in each course multiplied by the corresponding ECTS credits, and as denominator the sum of the required ECTS credits. For students who have successfully attended courses corresponding to more than 240 ECTS credits, the elective courses with the higher contribution (grade to ECTS ratio) are taken into account in the calculation of the general grade and up to 240 or the closest next integer which then replaces the denominator of the aforementioned fraction. In case the student has taken part in Work Placement, the ECTS credits are subtracted from the denominator of the fraction since there is no corresponding grade.

Foreign Language

The student chooses one of the foreign languages (English/French/German) offered by the Department. The course runs for a semester since its main objective is for the student to learn the terminology of Physics in a foreign language. Students having a C2 level of knowledge of ASEP (e.g. Proficiency certificate in English) may be exempted, if they wish, from the examination of the course and given a grade of seven (7). These students should include this course in their course registration form and then submit an application to the Secretariat attaching a certified copy of the corresponding certificate. Students who wish to improve the aforementioned grade may participate in the examination of the course during the exam periods of the academic year for which the course has been included in the registration form.

Diploma Thesis

Students who are at least in the 7^th semester of their studies and have been successfully examined, until the last examination period before the registration for the course, in courses that correspond to at least 120 ECTS credits may choose the course “Diploma Thesis” which has duration of two semesters and corresponds to 10 ECTS credits. Students may choose the course “Diploma Thesis” under the supervion of a faculty member of another Department of the University after the approval by the General Assembly of teh Department.

Work Placement

From the 6^th semester onwards, a student may be engaged, for a specific period of time, in Greek or international organisations and companies of the public and private sector (e.g. DEH, OTE, enterprises) having as an objective his/her Work Placement and specialisation in subjects related to the area of Physics. For this reason, the student selects a member of the Research and Teaching Staff as supervisor and submits, to the Department’s Secretariat, together with the supervisor a detailed description of the training programme and occupation which states the engaging institution and the time period. After the end of the work placement, the student submits in cooperation with the supervisor an inventory report accompanied by a corresponding certification from the institution. The report is assessed by the Committee of the Programme of Studies of the Department. In case of a positive assessment, 3 ECTS credits are ascribed to the student’s Work Placement. These credits are admeasured to the total of 240 that are necessary for a degree to be awarded but no grade is registered.

Transitional regulations

• The maximum number of courses (eight) in the registration forms holds for all students independently of the academic year they entered the University.

• The calculation of the general grade via the system of the ECTS credits holds for all students who were enrolled the academic year 2010-11 and henceforth. For students who enrolled in previous academic years, the method for calculating the general grade that is stated in the corresponding Guide of Studies is applied.

• The current allocation of the ECTS credits per course as well as the rule that at least 20 ECTS credits must come from the elective courses of the General Directions (Category B) holds for students who were enrolled the academic year 2010-11 and henceforth.