Academic substance and location: The national technical university of Athens' five-year program

The National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) established a small Department of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering in 1969, within the School of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering. Today, it is organized in four divisions, ship design and maritime transport, ship and marine hydrodynamics, marine structures, and marine engineering. To be awarded an engineering diploma in Greece, one has to spend a minimum of five years. The program at NTUA has also 10 semesters, out of which nine are dedicated to course study while the tenth is spend on the writing of a thesis. There is no tuition charge for European Union students, while a small fee is charged for students from other countries. In the first two years, the students are taught the fundamentals of engineering science. The core courses are taught in the third year. The wide spectrum of expertise that exists in school means that most research topics related to floating structures can receive supervision.