Department's Mission
The mission of the program is to train students who will have a critical understanding and ability to take part in the initiatives to improve community's socio-political conditions. The program also aims to train future experts who can do high quality research and can contribute to problem-resolving capability of political institutions.
Departmental Facilities
The Department of Political Science and International Relations has full time staff roster consisting of 1 professors, 4 associate professors, 4 assistant professors, 5 research assistants and 2 student assistants.
The Department has an International Relations Club for undergraduate students which organize debates on current and controversial topics around the world.
The Department also cooperates with the Cyprus Policy Center (CPC). The CPC is a civil society organization which aims to contribute to the solution of domestic and international problems, to promote regional and global peace through encouraging participatory democracy, and advancing the think tank concept.
Distinguishing Attributes
Political Science and International Relations undergraduate programs have been awarded Germany based FIBAA's (The Foundation for International Business Administration Accreditation) accreditation in 2014 for a period of 5 years. Our students get the chance of improving their written and oral communication and individual research skills through well designed curriculums. In addition to this, in many courses, much of the weight is given to term projects, assignments and practical application of knowledge and skills. The department also organizes seminars, conferences and round table discussions in order to familiarize students with current political issues.
Our Achivements
Political Science and International Relations Department, along with its educational responsibilities, is contributing to the Cyprus dispute and socio-political development of the TRNC with different research projects. The Department has signed cooperate with European Consortium for Political Research (ECPR) as a full member.
The Department has graduated more than 1650 students. These graduates are working in international companies and government agencies in various countries.
Quality of Graduates
The students enrolled in the Department are from almost all parts of the world including a number of countries from Eastern and Central Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Russia and Central Asia. The department has a few local/Turkish speaking students. The diverse backgrounds of our students contribute to the program through intercultural exchange. The graduate students in particular reflect this increasing diversity in the foreign and local student population.
Career Opportunities
Graduates of the Department of Political Science and International Relations find career opportunities in both the public and private sectors. Several of our graduates have found employment in the diplomatic services of their home countries. Many have entered other areas of the public services. Indeed, among our master program graduates are notables including both state ministries and the judiciary system. Some of our graduates now work as diplomats and others for international organizations and the NGO sector. There is no shortage of job opportunities in the private sector, either. Our graduates have found employment in media, communications and banking. Some of our graduates, in pursuit of academic careers, have enrolled in and graduated from Ph.D. programs in prestigious universities including Cambridge and Cornell. Through January 2004, the Department graduated 1656 students, including 1522 under-graduates and 134 graduates. Currently there are 400 undergraduates and over 90 graduates enrolled.
