The group of Prof. John Vontas at IMBB-FORTH, in collaboration with the Agricultural University of Athens, several major European Research Institutes and Industrial partners and the University of Kentucky (USA), won an important grant, within the framework of the EU Horizon 2020 Programme.

Research by the teams of Prof. Athanasios Nenes and Spyros Pandis of the Center for Studies on Air Quality and Climate Change (C-STACC; http://cstacc.iceht.forth.gr) of the Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences at the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (ICE-HT/FORTH; http://www.iceht.forth.gr) led to the discovery of a chemical mechanism that rapidly produces air pollution from biomass burning, during the night.

Nektarios Tavernarakis, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH) and Professor at the Medical School of the University of Crete, was unanimously re-elected Chairman of the Board and Director of the Central Administration of FORTH, by a 7-member Evaluation Committee of distinguished scientists, headed by Dr. George Pavlakis (Head of Human Retrovirus Section, National Cancer Institute – NCI).

The Coastal and Marine Research Laboratory of FORTH, carried out field surveys at the coastal zone of the Municipality of Chersonissos on Friday 11 December 2020, to have an overview of the situation of the areas that were affected by the recent storm, in the framework of its collaboration with the Directorate for Environment and Hydro-economy of the Region of Crete.

Prof. Athanasios Nenes, Affiliated Scientist of FORTH/ICE-HT,Coordinating Member of the Center for the Study of Air Quality and Climate Change (C-STACC) [1] and Professor at the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland has been selected as a Highly Cited Researcher in the field of Geosciences (https://publons.com/researcher/4043389/athanasios-nenes/[2]) by Web of Science (WoS). The methodology of this selection is based on the number of his publications and citations, those published and cited during 2009-2019, regarding the population of Researchers in the same field. It is also based on the number of highly cited papers that he has published (Source: Highly Cited Researchers Powered by Web of Science [3]). It is a great honor for Prof. Nenes, as WoS as a widely recognized and reliable platform for the evaluation of scientific work for every Researcher worldwide.

Nektarios Tavernarakis, Chairman of the Board of Directors at the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH) and Professor at the Medical School of the University of Crete, was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). This significant distinction comes as recognition of the scientific quality and the highly competitive research conducted at FORTH and the University of Crete. According to the Constitution of the prestigious AAAS, Fellowship is bestowed to scientists who have scientifically or socially distinguished themselves by efforts on behalf of the advancement of science, or its applications. Nominations for AAAS Fellows are evaluated for election by the Council of the Association. Nektarios Tavernarakis was honored for his distinguished contributions to the fields of ageing, neuroscience, mitochondrial biology, cell death and neurodegeneration.

The unprecedented rainfall of high amount and intensity that hit the island of Crete during the 9-10th of November, 2020 had as a result the occurrence of extensive floods and landslides in residential and rural areas of the island. Among the severely affected areas was the Regional Unit of Rethymno, with the effects of severe weather on both infrastructures (damages to constructions and road network) and in its primary sector (destruction of crops) being characterized as incalculable.

Prof. Athanasios Nenes, Affiliated Scientist of FORTH/ICE-HT, Coordinating Member of the Center for the Study of Air Quality and Climate Change (C-STACC) and Professor at the School of Architecture, Civil and Environmental Engineering, EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland was elected by the American Geophysical Union (AGU) Fellows Committee as a member of the 2020 class of AGU Fellows.

This year, the FORTH Award for Excellence in Academic Teaching "Vassilis XANTHOPOULOS - Stephanos PNEVMATIKOS" will be presented by H.E. the President of the Hellenic Republic, Ms. Katerina Sakellaropoulou to Mr. Eleftherios Zouros, Emeritus Professor, Dept. of Biology, University of Crete.

Α big European research project on developing new software tools for the accurate prognosis and precise treatment of prostate cancer, will be coordinated by Prof. Manolis Tsiknakis, Affiliated Professor at the Institute of Computer Science (ICS) of FORTH.