Doctors and scientists need to work closer together, according to a new international group working at the forefront of the use of light in medicine.

Prof. Nikos Pelekanos, Collaborating Faculty Member in IESL-FORTH, is one of the recipients of "Solar-Innovation 2010" for his proposal "III-V nanowires for next generation photovoltaics". The prize is awarded by the French Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique), after an Open Call and selection among dozens of proposals, and includes funding and technical support to carry out the proposed research for three years.

The Transparent Conductive Materials and Devices Group (TCM&D) of IESL-FORTH has been selected as one of the top 10 finalists in the competition of Applied Research & Innovation organized by the Hellenic Federation of Enterprises (SEV) and Eurobank EFG with the project "Degradation of pollutants for Indoor Air Quality".

The architect Manolis Korres, Professor at the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) and restoration coordinator of the Parthenon at the Acropolis will give the 3rd Lecture in the context of "Stelios Orphanoudakis" Distinguished Lecture Series at the Institute for Mediterranean Studies of FORTH in Rethymnon on Friday, 18 March 2011, at 19:30 p.m.

The Caryatids are being treated with a novel laser cleaning methodology that has already been successfully applied on many of the Athens Acropolis Sculptures (including the Parthenon West Frieze, the Frieze of Athena Nike's Temple, the Metopes and sculptural compositions from the pediments of the Parthenon).

The call has now opened for the 21st Award for Excellence in Academic Teaching in memory of Vassilis Xanthopoulos and Stephanos Pnevmatikos, both professors at the University of Crete and members of the Foundation for Research & Technology (FORTH).

It was with shock and great pain that the Scientific Council of IMBB learned of the sudden demise on January 20, 2011 of the former Director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology and Vice-President of the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas, Dr. George Thireos.

Dr. Spyros Pandis, Professor of the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, and collaborating faculty member and Deputy Director of the Institute of Chemical Engineering and High Temperature Chemical Processes of the Foundation of Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH/ICE-HT) has recently been awarded the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Investigator Grant for his research proposal entitled "Atmospheric Organic Particulate Matter, Air Quality and Climate Change Studies (ATMOPACS)".

Work in the Computational Biology Laboratory of IMBB-FORTH, which is headed by Dr. Panayiota Poirazi, has used computational models to show that a single neuronal cell in the brain is capable of detecting spatiotemporal differences of incoming signals and encoding them into its response pattern.

The ceremony of the Award for Excellence in Academic Teaching "Vassilis XANTHOPOULOS - Stephanos PNEVMATIKOS" will be held at the main Hall of the Old Parliament in Athens on December 14 2010, at 19.00 p.m.