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.

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.

The first lecture wil take place on Monday, February 10, 2025 at 19.30 pm by Nikos Potamianos, a researcher at the IMS-ITE, who will present how women participated in the Athenian carnival from the final years of Ottoman rule until the Second World War.

Researchers at ΙΜΒΒ-FORTH have developed a new type of artificial neural network (ANN) that incorporates features of biological dendrites. This innovative design allows for accurate and robust image recognition while using significantly fewer parameters, paving the way for more compact and energy-efficient AI systems.

As the demand for digital security grows, researchers have developed a new optical system that uses holograms to encode information, creating a level of encryption that traditional methods cannot penetrate. This advance could pave the way for more secure communication channels, helping to protect sensitive data.

The Laboratory of Geophysical Satellite Remote Sensing and Archaeoenvironment (GeoSat ReSeArch Lab) of Institute for Mediterranean Studies (IMS) of FORTH, in collaboration with the PROSPECT International Thematic Network and COASTLINE Project (Coastal Zone Environment and Geo-Sciences - https://www.coastline-msca.eu) will organize the workshop: "Imaging the cultural dynamics in the transition zones with geoinformatics."

The Seminar will take place at the Auditorium of the Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences (FORTH/ICE-HT) Conference Centre (Stadiou str.-Platani Patras), on Wednesday, January 29, 2025 (12.00).

Speaker: Costas Galiotis, Foundation of Research and Technology – Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences, Patras, Greece, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, Patras, Greece

For those who wish to attend the seminar remotely, please check the monitoring link: https://iceht-forth.webex.com/meet/Seminar

The Seminar will be in English.

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.

The Science and Technology Park of Crete (STEP-C) of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), as a Hub of the European EURAXESS Network, in collaboration with COASTLINE Consortium, Aegean Solutions Α.Ε., is organizing an online training seminar on Wednesday, January 22, 2025, from 13:00 to 16:00 (EET).

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.