The European Astronomical Society has announced the award of the 2020 MERAC Prize for Best PhD Thesis in Theoretical Astrophysics to Dr. Aris Tritsis (https://eas.unige.ch/merac_prizes.jsp). The award represents the highest distinction of the European Astronomical Community for doctoral studies.

The laboratories of Drs. Peyman Golshani (golshanilab.neurology.ucla.edu/) at the University of California in Los Angeles, Tristan Shuman (http://labs.neuroscience.mssm.edu/project/shuman-lab/ ) at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, and Panayiota Poirazi (dendrites.gr) at the Institute of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology (IMBB) at the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH), joined forces in order to uncover how epilepsy affects spatial navigation in epileptic mice

A major frontier in strong field laser physics and nonlinear optics is the interaction of powerful terahertz (THz) pulses with matter. A plethora of scientific challenges and applications are presently under study, like table-top electron acceleration, THz-enhanced attosecond pulse generation and strong electric and magnetic THz field interactions with matter.

A new research study at the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL) of FORTH finds that minute crystals, many thousand times smaller than a particle of dust, when they are dressed by the right kind of imperfections, adjust their electronic properties to favorably convert energy into heat, an important attribute for potential use in smart materials for energy, health, sensors etc.

Inborn defects in DNA repair mechanisms are associated with cancer, aging but also complex metabolic and endocrine disorders. Integrity of the genome is critical for normal cellular function but the DNA is continually challenged by intrinsic and extrinsic genotoxic factors. To counteract DNA damage, cells have evolved DNA repair mechanisms ensuring that the genome remains functionally intact and is faithfully transmitted to progeny. Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is a major DNA repair mechanism that cells employ to remove a wide class of bulky, DNA-distorting lesions from the genome. The importance of NER defects in man is illustrated by rare syndromes that either show increased cancer predisposition or dramatic features of accelerated aging, including depletion of fat depots. However, with the exception of cancer and aging, the links between defects in NER and the rapid onset of developmental defects in humans are not well understood.

Malaria has halved since 2000 (approximately 500,000 lives saved every year), with 80% of the reduction attributable to the use of insecticides. However, insecticide resistance is at a critical tipping point in public health, with some mosquito populations showing resistance to all insecticides and the strength and impact of this resistance is escalating every year. As a result, for the first time after many years, malaria cases were increased in several places after 2015, despite the far more intense use of insecticides.

Giorgos Chamilos, Researcher at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH) and Associate Professor at School of Medicine, University of Crete, is awarded a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC).

George A, Garinis, Professor of Genetics at the department of Biology at the University of Crete and affiliated group leader at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology (IMBB) of the Foundation of Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH), is the recipient of the prestigious Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel International Research Award of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The official award ceremony will take place in Bamberg, Germany in March 2020.

Research conducted by an international team of astronomers, published in the international scientific journal Nature, revealed an enormous nebula around an extreme form of a merging galaxy.

Dr. Nektarios Chrysoulakis, Director of Research at the Institute of Applied and Computational Mathematics of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) earned a highly competitive ERC Synergy Grant 2019.