Bucharest Polytechnic gets EUR 25 mln financing to expand educational infrastructure

The Polytechnic University of Bucharest (UPB) will receive a EUR 25 million financing from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to expand its educational and research infrastructure, UPB announced.

The university plans to develop a new building in its Noul Local campus for the three schools that currently undertake their activity in the Polizu campus, namely the Applied Chemistry Faculty, the Aerospace Engineering Faculty, and the Medical Engineering Faculty. These will join the other 12 faculties currently located in Noul Local.

The financing contract, to be signed on July 9, is guaranteed by the European Fund for Strategic Investments.

“The project will contribute to increasing the quality level of the services offered by the university, faced with under-financing in Romania. It will increase the quality of education for over 5,000 students and will improve the research activities with the purpose of increasing the competitiveness level of the Romanian educational system and that of the national economy,” Andrew McDowell, BEI VP, said.

“After two years of negotiating, we are happy to be the first institution in Romania to receive this type of financing. The project will support both the university and the national research and economy. We think it is a worthy contribution for the largest technical university in the country,” Mihnea Costoiu, the rector of UPB, said.

The European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI) is one of the three pillars of the Investment Plan for Europe, also known as the “Juncker Plan.” It helps to finance strategic investments in key areas such as infrastructure, research and innovation, education, renewable energy and energy efficiency as well as risk finance for small and medium-sized enterprises. EFSI is managed by the EIB.

(Photo: Cristian Chirita /Wikipedia)