History

The idea of establishing a Research Center that would provide the members of the University of Crete in Rethymno research opportunities similar to those of the University’s Research Institute of Technology in Heraklion had been the intention of the related three faculties for many years. This opportunity appeared under the rectorship of Christos Nikolaou, Aggelos Kranidis and Michalis Damanakis and the subsequent deliberations that took place in the University's Departments, Schools and the Senate during the academic year 2000/01.

The discussions which focused on the institutional dimension and on the construction of the facilities continued also under the next two Rectorships, under Ioannis Pallikaris and Euripides Stefanou. During the Rectorship of Nikolaou, the institutional framework was formed and voted by the Senate Session (265/19-03-2009). It was edited and finalized in 2015, and published in the Government Gazette (OFF. GAZETTE No 240/18 September 2015) under the Rectorship of Euripidis Stefanou.

The first phase of the construction of the related facilities (buildings A, B, C) was integrated in the Regional Operational Programme of Crete under the Rectorship of Nikolaou and was completed under the Rectorship of Pallikaris. The second construction phase of the new buildings D, E, was also carried out as a Development Project of the Region of Crete. The buildings were completed under the Rectorship of Stefanou.

The first Administrative Board, was comprised by the Director, Professor Michael Damanakis (former vice-rector of academic affairs), the Associate Director, Professor Skevos Papaioannou (head of the Department of Sociology), and the deans of the 3 Faculties in the Rethymno Campus, Professors Alexis Kalokerinos, Panayiotis Michailidis and Athanasios Papadopoulos.

The main purpose of the first Administrative Board was to incorporate research units of the three faculties in CRS, following a set of scientific criteria, as well as to allocate space to those units, in the completed buildings A, B and C.

The administrative schemes of Skevos Papaioannou (Director) and Panayiotis Michailidis (Associate Director) as well as Maria Kousis (Director) and Pantelis Kalaitzidakis (Associate Director) followed.

Finally, the objective and ambition of CRS is to house physically and academically active researchers of the three faculties as well as to attract new ones, and above all, to constitute the vehicle of the further development of research in Humanities, Social Sciences and Pedagogics.