The University of Patras, founded in 1964, is the third largest university in the world, occupying an area of 2.4 square kilometers, and was established with the intention of focusing on science, technology, economics, business administration and social sciences, and has now expanded to other academic areas such as health sciences and humanities. In addition to education, the school has achieved outstanding results in the areas of basic and applied research. It has also gained an international reputation for its leadership and breadth of research in areas such as the environment, health, biotechnology, mechanics, electronics, information, and basic sciences.