The 12th Student Excellence Conference (SEC) of Mediterranean College was successfully completed on Friday, May 30, 2025, at the College campuses in Athens and Thessaloniki. Once again, the conference highlighted the academic excellence, creative thinking, and social awareness of the College’s students.
The Conference
This year’s event, themed “Thinking Research Outside the Box,” served as a platform for innovation and interdisciplinary expression. The student presentations stood out for their boldness, scientific validity, and social applicability, redefining research as a tool for social transformation and professional innovation.
The presentations covered a wide range of topics, focusing on applied solutions that link theory to practice and respond to real-world needs in society, education, and the labour market.
Highlights
A key moment of the conference was the participation of top companies and their executives, who attended the student presentations in search of new talent for future collaboration:
- Doctoranytime: Christos Dimitropoulos, Business Development Manager
- Sarakakis Group of Companies: Virginia Rizojianni, HR Business Partner
- EMPIST: Konstantinos Papacharalambous, Country Manager
- European Standard – E.P.S.: Giorgos Kargiotakis, CEO
- Aktios – Elderly Care Units: Stathis Tryfonopoulos, Deputy Director, MSc
- Alterlife Fitness Excellence: Panagiotis Spyropoulos, HR Business Partner
Their presence confirmed the strong connection between academic excellence and the labour market.
The Student Excellence Conference 2025 clearly highlighted the importance of bridging education, society, and professional life, and continues to serve as a key institution for strengthening student voices and promoting research as a driving force for a better future.
The Winners
Aikaterini Ntalamagka, a final-year undergraduate student of the BSc (Hons) Applied Psychology programme at the School of Psychology of Mediterranean College, was the SEC 2025 award winner for Athens. Her project, titled:
“Problematic social media use in working adults: examining the influence of online and offline need satisfaction and fear of missing out,”
stood out for its originality, methodological rigour, and strong social relevance. Ms Ntalamagka impressed the audience with her presentation, scientific competence, and ability to tailor her research specifically for the conference. Her overall academic performance is marked by outstanding achievements and consistency.
In Thessaloniki, the SEC 2025 award was given to Evangelia Vogiantzi for her project titled:
“Power Dynamics and Gender Roles in Intimate Relationships in the Discourse of Heterosexual Young People in Greece: A Foucauldian Discourse Analysis.”
Her research explores how young Greek individuals perceive power and gender roles in their romantic relationships, highlighting themes such as power distribution, sexuality, and aggression against women.
The awards include a scholarship for a postgraduate programme of the winners’ choice at Mediterranean College.
We warmly congratulate the winners and wish them every success in completing and continuing their studies at the postgraduate level! We also extend our thanks to all participants and attendees of the conference.
Read the Abstracts
The Institution
The Academic Directorate of Mediterranean College, relying on the exceptional quality of its programmes and academic staff, actively promotes research with the primary goal of engaging students in research activities. This enhances the teaching process and improves the student experience, ultimately contributing to the broader community.
The organisation of conferences—such as the interdisciplinary Student Excellence Conference—and other scientific events of the College and its partner universities offers many students the opportunity to present their research to an academic audience, network, and contribute to the dissemination of new knowledge produced within the College.
The SEC is not just a conference – it is a tool for promoting and cultivating research at the College. It offers:
- Hands-on experience with research methodology
- Recognition and reward of academic work
- Networking and academic mentoring opportunities
- Continuation of educational and professional development through scholarships
The conference takes place annually and is open to students of Mediterranean College and other private or public educational institutions. It includes presentations and discussions on current topics from all academic fields represented at the College.
