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.
In 2019 the Technological Educational Institute of Western Greece was incorporated in the University of Patras.
The University is in Patras, Messolonghi, Agrinio, Aigio, Pyrgos, Amaliada. The campus in Patras (Rion) 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 one of the largest Universities 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 35 Departments, with a large number of sectors and consequently a great range of disciplines, which operate 161 laboratories and 17 fully equipped clinics.
The University of Patras has 29,901 Undergraduate and 3,931 Postgraduate students, a total of 715 faculty members, 226 Teaching and Technical staff and 454 Administrative Personnel (data of July 2019).
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.