The Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH) and the Institute of Computer Science (ICS) announce the establishment of YPSILON Care Tech, a new spin-off company that marks a strategic expansion of the activities of the Center for eHealth Applications and Services.

The new Science and Cultural Center of the Foundation for Research and Technology- Hellas (FORTH), housed in the historic neoclassical building of FORTH, on the corner of Averof & Zografou Street, in the city of Heraklion, Crete, will be inaugurated on Monday February 17^th, 2025 at 18:30. The consecration ceremony will be performed by his Eminence Archbishop of Crete, Eugenios.

Nektarios Tavernarakis, Prof. of the Medical School of the University of Crete and Chair of FORTH, was unanimously elected President of the European Molecular Biology Conference (EMBC), for a four-year term starting in January 2025. He is the first Greek to hold this position.

Prof. Vassilis Charmandaris, Director of the Institute of Astrophysics at the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas and at the Skinakas Observatory, and Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Crete, was unanimously elected on Sunday, 26-1-2025, Director of the Central Administration and President of FORTH, by a 7-member Evaluation Committee consisted of highly recognized Greek and foreign scientists, headed by Prof. Elisa Konofagou (Columbia University).
His official appointment is expected in the next few weeks.

Mr. Vassilis Charmandaris, Professor of Astrophysics at the Dep. of Physics of the University of Crete and Director of the Institute of Astrophysics-FORTH and the Skinakas Observatory has been selected as a member of the Space Science Advisory Committee of the European Space Agency (ESA) for a period of three years starting on January 2025.

Prof. Charmandaris is the first Greek scientist to have ever been appointed to this advisory body.

The new research project ResTick, aiming to study and address ticks as vectors of pathogens that pose a threat to public health and livestock, will be implemented by the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), with a budget of 6 million euros, funded by the European Commission.

The 34th award ceremony for the Award for Excellence in Academic Teaching in memory of Vassilis Xanthopoulos and Stefanos Pnevmatikos took place on Wednesday, 18 December 2024, in the Old Parliament in Athens. The prize was awarded by Η.Ε. the President of the Hellenic Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, to Andreas G. Boudouvis, Professor of the School of the Chemical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens.

The Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas in Greece (IMBB-FORTH) announced the initiation of a three-year research project to be carried out at IMBB-FORTH, funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The project aims to develop innovative insecticides for the control of malaria mosquitoes and will be carried out by John Vontas, Director of IMBB-FORTH and Professor at the Agricultural University of Athens, and his team.

Prof. Athanasios Nenes, Affiliated Researcher at ICEHT/FORTH and Professor of Atmospheric Processes at the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, has been invited as an expert for the Scoping meeting of the 7th Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that will define the chapters and the content of this critical assessment. Nenes is one of the 230 experts to participate in this event (that takes place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 9-13 December) whο altogether cover all activities of the report that will be put together over the next 5 years. Nenes will be acting as an expert in Working Group I: The Physical Science Basis, which examines the physical science underpinning past, present, and future climate change.

The Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), a pioneer in Greece in the provision of Administrative and Financial Services, received an ISO certification on December 6, 2024, from TÜV HELLAS, a member of the TÜV NORD Group. This certification was issued for implementing a management system regarding the design, development, and provision of Administrative and Financial Services by its Central Administration, in compliance with the requirements of the ELOT EN ISO 9001:2015 standard.