Construction has begun on the TEPAK School of Marine Sciences, Technology, and Sustainable Development in the Mackenzie area.
Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides and a number of high-ranking officials attended the groundbreaking ceremony for the school.
As a reminder, the construction contract was signed in September with Cyfield Construction Ltd. The contract is valued at 10.93 million euros, excluding VAT.
Under the terms of the contract, construction is scheduled to take 22 months. The project is expected to be completed by the end of August 2028.
The new building will have a floor area of approximately 4,960 m². It will house classrooms, an amphitheater, specialized laboratories, offices, and meeting rooms.
The faculty will combine two fields of study: marine sciences and technologies, and sustainable development. Once it reaches full capacity, it will be able to accommodate approximately 500 undergraduate and graduate students.
The first students will begin their studies in September 2027
There will be no long wait for the new building to open: classes are scheduled to begin as early as September 2027. The sustainable development program will launch first. Students will study in temporary facilities provided by the Larnaca municipality.
The program in marine sciences and technologies is scheduled to begin in 2028—already in the faculty’s new building.
The programs must be accredited before classes begin. Incidentally, an international commission from the Agency for Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Higher Education will visit TEPAK’s Larnaca branch. The curricula were developed with the participation of an international academic council, which includes representatives from the universities of Cambridge and Oxford.
International Partners and Plans for Student Housing
TEPAC is already developing partnerships with foreign and Cypriot academic institutions. Together with Ocean College at Zhejiang University in China, the university held a summer school in marine sciences in Limassol for 30 students. A larger-scale program is planned for Larnaca in the summer of 2027.
An agreement has also been reached with Hainan University to establish a joint laboratory for the study of coastal wetlands. In Cyprus, TEPAK signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Marine Aquaculture Research Center of the Department of Fisheries in Meneou. In addition, the signing of the first eight memorandums with companies and business organizations is planned.
The Larnaca Municipality is considering the possibility of building student dormitories near the new faculty. According to Mayor Andreas Viras, the city is also exploring other options for housing future students. President Nikos Christodoulides confirmed that there is vacant land near the university available for housing construction.
Authorities expect that the new faculty, together with the Cyprus Maritime and Maritime Institute (CMMI), will help establish a scientific and educational center in Larnaca specializing in maritime research, technology, and sustainable development.
During the ceremony, the president stated that the government intends to promote projects to develop the port and marina of Larnaca. He noted that the implementation of these projects must be legally and institutionally prepared to avoid work stoppages due to bureaucratic and legal obstacles.