The University of Patras was founded in the city of Patras in 1964 and it began functioning in the Academic year of 1966-67, this contributed vastly to the decentralization of Academic Education in Greece. In June 2013 the University of West Greece was incorporated in the University of Patras. The University is a two-city campus, situated both in Patras and Agrinion. The campus in Patras is located 12 km East of the city of Patras, in the suburb Rion, covering a vast area of 2.656 acres. The campus is a self-contained campus located at the foot of Mount Panachaico with a view over the Gulf of Corinth and the mountains of Central Greece across the water. The University of Patras is the third largest University in Greece regarding the size of student potential, the Faculty Members, Administrative Personnel, number of departments, and accredited student titles. The University of Patras includes 24 Departments, with a large number of sectors and consequently a great range of disciplines, which operate 112 laboratories and 14 fully equipped clinics. The University of Patras has 28,727 Undergraduate and 3,959 Postgraduate students, a total of 727 faculty members, 146 Teaching and Technical staff and 457 Administrative Personnel. (data of September 2013) Besides its distinguished path in education, the University of Patras has excelled in the fields of Basic and Applied Research. The University of Patras has acquired international prominence for pioneering wide ranging Research in areas such as Environment, Health, Biotechnology, Mechanics, Electronics, Informatics and Basic Science. A number of the Departments, Laboratories and Clinics have been designated as Centres of Excellence, on the basis of International Assessment. The University of Patras has a reputation for quality and innovative research and presents an effective participation in a plethora of Research Projects, Scientific Organizations, and Research Groups. Together with its educational and research work, the rich campus life of the University of Patras, attracts many candidate students every year as their first and foremost choice for their Higher Degree studies.