ANNUAL POLICY REPORT 2012 side criteria to be determined by Joint Ministerial Decision such as high educational performance, special abilities and skills of persons concerned, combined with the fact that they are citizens of third countries who command the Greek language andin case they are researchers, are already accustomed to working in a research environment of our country,. 1.3.5 Students and researchers. Please describe any (planned) measures to facilitate greater mobility of students and researchers, also as a pathway towards meeting labour market needs. Describe any incentive mechanisms in place for students and researchers on top of the transposition and implementation of EU legislation. Consider also how such measures will contribute to economic growth. (Information relating to the mitigation of ‘brain drain’ should be provided in Section 4.4). The rate of students from third countries who are living and studying in higher education institutions in Greece remains small compared to this rate in other m-s. The last years, however, there are efforts to attract students and researchers from third countries, and Greek authorities have implemented a number of good practices in this direction: a) A good practice followed for attracting foreign students, is the establishment of the International University of Greece in 2005 that includes Schools of Humanities, Economics, Management Sciences and Technology. With its establishment and operation it seeks, on the one hand, to increase the participation of Greece in the international higher education market and on the other, to attract students from neighboring countries (Balkan, Arab, South East Mediterranean and Black Sea countries), as well as from the greek diaspora. As teaching language, English has been chosen, in order to encourage and facilitate access. b) Another good practice is the grant of scholarships to students from third countries for all fields of higher education either from government agencies (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs, Culture and Sports, State Scholarships Foundation), or directly from Universities, NGOs (such as the Alexander Onassis Foundation) and other non-state actors. It should be emphasized that a significant number of government scholarships is awarded to implement cultural agreements (ratified by law) and Executive Educational Programs that have been agreed upon and signed by the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Education with third countries. The selection of students for the proposed studies in Greece is made by the countries of origin while taking into account the needs of countries of origin. c) The International Bilateral Agreements mentioned above, as well as memoranda of cooperation between educational institutions, are also a good practice. In particular, these international bilateral agreements and memoranda of understanding, are signed between the Greek Universities and Technological 8