The Department of Digital Innovation and the Institute for the Future (IFF) of the University of Nicosia announce a new initiative for the development of the open metaverse (UNIC Open Metaverse Initiative), which focuses on academic and research issues, as well as policy-making issues related to open and decentralized systems and standards for the metaverse.
This initiative builds on the experience of the last eight years, a period during which the University of Nicosia established itself as the world’s leading university in the field of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. The University of Nicosia offered the world’s first cryptocurrency curriculum in 2014
To date, it has already trained more than 100,000 students through academic or other programs, has the largest team of specialized teaching and research staff in the world, which focuses on crypto-assets and blockchain, and is the academic head of the European Blockchain Observatory and Forum of the European Commission.
The UNIC Open Metaverse Initiative focuses on four axes:
Academic and Professional Programs
The new six-week online lecture series Introduction to NFTs and the Metaverse will be offered in February 2022. The courses will include lectures by leading creators and collectors of NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens), as well as web 3.0 entrepreneurs and investors.
Design and offer of a new MSc in Metaverse Systems, an interdisciplinary program that will focus on preparing creators, developers, architects, social scientists, financial professionals, policy makers and others for careers in the design and management of metaverse systems.
Research and Policy Making
The Center for an Open Metaverse (COM) – Creation of a new interdisciplinary research center within the Institute for the Future (IFF), focusing on research around open metaverse systems.
The Open Metaverse Alliance (OAM) – Creation of a consortium of universities, companies, non-profit organizations and government bodies, with the common goal of developing an open metaverse
Entrepreneurship
Public presentation of the first generation of NFT/metaverse startups developed at the University of Nicosia (December 2021).
Annual NFT/metaverse startup support programs.
Support of creators of NFTs and metaverse
NFTs on Campus
Opening of the first permanent university gallery for NFT (The Block Gallery, November 2021).
Development and use of an NFT-based system for various activities on the campus of the University of Nicosia.
Acceptance of NFTs by the University of Nicosia Foundation as donations for student scholarships, but also for research support.
An inclusion of a thematic section based on the metaverse will be presented at the world’s leading conference on cryptocurrencies, Decentralized, which will be held in Athens on March 3-4, 2022.
If you require any further information, please contact the university at: metaverse@unic.ac.cy