The French Ambassador to Greece, Ms. Laurence Auer, paid an official visit to FORTH on Monday, December 1, 2025. She was accompanied by the Scientific and University Cooperation Attaché & Deputy Director of the French Institute of Greece, Mr. Matthieu Abgrall, the Honorary Consul of France in Heraklion, Ms. Sofia Tsantiraki, and the Director of the Hellenic-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ms. Aikaterini Manali.

The Municipality of Rethymnon and the Institute for Mediterranean Studies (IMS) of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH) are organizing for the year 2025 a series of lectures addressed to the general public of Rethymnon. In these talks, open to everyone, the Institute's researchers will present elements of their research work in an accessible way, followed by a discussion. The events will take place at the Institute for Mediterranean Studies in the old town, 130 Nikiforou Fokas and Melissinou.

The fifth lecture titled “Two Painters from Crete”, will take place on Monday, December 1st, at 20:30, by Panagiotis Ioannou, Professor at the University of Crete & collaborating faculty member of IMS–FORTH and Popi Sfakianaki, Lecturer at the University of Crete & Postdoctoral Researcher at IMS–FORTH.

The Foundation for Research and Technology- Hellas will have a dynamic presence, with keynote speeches, participation in panel discussions, and numerous innovative, cutting edge exhibits, in the Innovation Exhibition InnoDays 2025. The exhibition is organized by the Region of Crete, implemented by the Innovation Business Observatory (IBO) of Crete Region, and will take place on 28–30 November at the International Exhibition Center of Crete. The event is held under the auspices of the Ministry of Development and the General Secretariat for Research and Innovation.

The Natural History Museum in Heraklion came alive on Saturday, November 22, 2025, as 40 secondary education teachers from 18 different schools and the Heraklion Science Labs Centers (EKFE) gathered for the inaugural education event “Youth for Diagnostics”.. This first-of-its-kind initiative invites students to step into the role of scientists, promoting their active involvement in real research efforts through the growing field of Citizen Science.

The event will take place on Monday, 24 November 2025, at 19:00, at the Heraklion Chamber of Commerce & Industry and will include, among other things, two interesting lectures as well as the presentation of the “Miltiadis Karatzis” Award to a PhD candidate–researcher of FORTH, which comes with a prize of 5,000 euros.

Prof. Alexandros Stamatakis, head of the Biodiversity Computing Group (BCG) at the Institute of Computer Science (ICS) of FORTH, and Prof. Athanasios Nenes, Affiliated Scientist at the Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences (ICE-HT) of FORTH are included in the internationally recognized list of “Highly Cited Researchers” for 2025, compiled by Clarivate Analytics based on the “Web of Science” database.This list is published annually and highlights scientists whose publications consistently rank among the most frequently cited worldwide (top 1%), and represents an important honorary distinction. Of the world’s population of scientists, Highly Cited Researchers who have demonstrated significant and broad influence in their fields of research are 1 in 1,000.

For the ninth consecutive year, the Public Cord Blood Bank of Crete (PCBBC), part of the Hematology Clinic of PAGNI, organized Stem Cell Awareness Week, held from 10–14 November 2025, in alignment with World Cord Blood Day on November 15.

The presentation of Christina Agriantoni’s book “Hermoupolis of Syros, 1823–1940. An Early Industrial City in the Aegean Sea” will take place on Wednesday, November 12, 2025, at 19:30, at the Institute for Mediterranean Studies in Rethymno.

Τhe Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH) launches a new initiative entitled “IDEON: FORTH’s Creativity Club for Educators”, implemented within the framework of the action “epikoinonITE” (a Greek acronym for: Science-Society-FORTH) and held under the auspices of the Region of Crete. The IDEON Creativity Club for Educators is addressed to educators of all educational levels who wish to integrate creativity into their teaching practice, either with or without the use of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence. At the same time, it aims to foster a dynamic learning community that learns, experiments, and evolves collectively.

The Hellenic Digital Health Cluster–HDHC is organizing an event titled “Building Synergies in Digital Health – Powered by HDHC", dedicated to showcasing ongoing EU-funded initiatives and collaborations in digital health led by innovative organisations based in Crete. The event will take place on Thursday, 06 November 2025, 12:00 – 15:15 EET, at the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), 100 N. Plastira St., 70013, Vassilika Vouton, Heraklion – Building D (KEEK), "Vasileios Dougalis” Meeting Room.