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.

Researchers from the Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, participate in PlanetData together with teams from another 6 European countries.

Professor Costas Fotakis, Director of IESL/FORTH, has been awarded the title of "Docteur Honoris Causa de l' Universite de la Mediterranee", Marseille, France.

The Alexander S. Onassis Public Benefit Foundation in collaboration with the Institut de France, Harvard University’s Center for Hellenic Studies, Oxford University, Stanford University, the Academia dei Lincei, the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the German Archaeological Institute and the Academy of Athens, is organizing from 24 - 27 November 2010 the innovative international, interdisciplinary conference on the role of Greek culture in modern society entitled:

"T H E A T H E N S D I A L O G U E S"

The first worldwide exhibition of interactive systems dedicated to ancient Macedonia, developed in cooperation by the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki (AMTH) and the Institute of Computer Science, Foundation for Research & Technology-Hellas (ICS-FORTH), opens the doors on Monday, 1st November 2010 at AMTH.

The close collaboration of FORTH/ICE-HT with the 2010 Nobel Prize Laureates in Physics is another example of the forefront scientific research conducted at the Institute in the field of nanomaterials and their applications.

On Sunday, September 19th 2010, at 17.45 p.m., the inauguration of the new building of the Institute for Mediterranean Studies will take place. It will be named after the deceased President of the Foundation for Research and Technology, native from Rethymno, the late Stelios Orphanoudakis.