The ATHENS network was created in 1986 and is now composed of fourteen technological universities or institutions: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, BME Budapest, CTU Prague, KU Leuven, IST Lisbon, Politecnico di Milano, NTNU Trondheim, TU Delft, TU Istambul, TU Munich, TU Vienna, TU Warsaw, UCL Louvain-la-Neuve, UP Madrid, and the “Grandes Écoles d’Ingénieurs” the ParisTech Group, which includes eleven Grandes Écoles (ENGREF, ENPC, ENSAE, ENSAM, ENSCP, ENSMP, ENST, ENSTA, ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE, ESPCI, INAPG and IOGS).
The main goal of the Network is to facilitate the exchange of students, professors and researchers among the major European technological universities.
The ATHENS network organizes an intensive course programme during two defined periods of the academic year, in March and November, respectively. The courses include both 30 hours of scientific courses work, as well as 10-15 hours of a cultural programme named “European Dimension”.
At the end of an ATHENS Session, the Home Institution officially recognises the work carried out, according to the results obtained on an examination organised by the Host Institution and evaluated according to its grading system.