The competition was held this year on 6 and 7 May in Georgioupolis, Chania, coordinated by the Science and Technology Park of Crete (STEP-C) of the Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH), in collaboration with the Innovative Business Observatory (IBO) of the Region of Crete. STEP-C has been a long-standing participant in the EUSAIR POPRI Youth initiative, in the framework of its cooperation with Primorski Tehnološki Park in Slovenia, while this year it also took on the coordination of the Greek participation.

Recent publication in Astrophysical Journal Letters: New findings by an international team of astrophysicists, based on data collected by IXPE, have revealed the mechanism that creates the bright X-ray radiation, which is associated with the extremely powerful plasma jets that erupt from supermassive black holes.

FORTH announces the 34rt call for the Award for Excellence in Academic Teaching in memory of Basilis Xanthopoulos and Stephanos Pnevmatikos. For 2025, proposals that fall under the thematic cycle of Social Sciences and Humanities are accepted.

The closing date is Friday 18 July 2025.

Dr. Michail Kotsyfakis has been awarded a prestigious Research Grant from the 2025 Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) to investigate the eco-epidemiological dynamics of tick-borne pathogens, particularly the Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever Virus (CCHFV). The awarded project will receive $1.5 million in funding over three years.

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.

Professor Dimitris Fotiadis, affiliated Researcher at Biomedical Research Institute (BRI) of the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, has been appointed as an EMBS Distinguished Lecturer for 2025.

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.