ATHENS Programme

The ATHENS Programme (for Advanced Technology Higher Education Network/Socrates^[1]) is a 1-week exchange session, held twice a year (in March and in November), by a network of European higher education institutions (universities, universities of technology, Grandes Ecoles...).

The programme is coordinated by ParisTech.

Created in 1996, it was initially supported by the European Union through the Socrates programme (from 1997 to 2001). It is now self-funded by the member institutions.

It is a merger of the 'Semaine Européenne' ('European Week') held by ParisTech from 1992 to 1999, and the Leuven Network ERASMUS Programme held by European institutions from 1990 to 1997.

The courses proposed during sessions cover not only the spectrum of the members' fields, but also an opening on arts and humanities.^[2]

During the week, the host university is supposed to organize activities for the foreign students in the city, to help them discover another culture. Most often, it will consist in a tour of the city a 5-day course on a specific subject and some nights with the local students.

• AUTh Thessaloniki
• BME Budapest
• TU Delft
• KU Leuven
• UCLouvain
• IST Lisbon
• UP Madrid
• Politecnico di Milano
• TU Munich
• CTU Prague
• KTH Stockholm
• NTNU Trondheim
• TU Wien
• Warsaw University of Technology
• ITU Istanbul
• ParisTech:
  • Chimie ParisTech (ENSCP)
  • Institut d'Optique Graduate School (IOGS)
  • AgroParisTech
  • Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées (ENPC)
  • Ecole des ingenieurs de la Ville de Paris (EIVP)
  • Ecole Nationale de la Statistique et de l'Administration Economique (ENSAE)
  • Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts et Métiers (ENSAM)
  • Ecole Nationale Superieure des Mines de Paris (ENSMP)
  • Télécom ParisTech
  • Ecole Nationale Superieure de Techniques Avancées (ENSTA)
  • École supérieure de physique et de chimie industrielles de la ville de Paris (ESPCI)

Note: Not all members participate in both sessions.

• The ATHENS Programme website: link ATHENS Programme