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HELLENIC ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
NUMBER 100 June 2006
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E-mail: elaset@astro.auth.gr WWW: http://www.astro.auth.gr/elaset
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TOPICS:
0. Electronic Newsletter #100
1. Short News
2. Members in New Positions
3. Announcement of HelAS invited talk
4. Agenda of 22nd General Assembly of Hel.A.S.
5. ESA Cosmic Vision Program
6. EARA-EST fellowships
7. Upcoming Astronomy meetings in Greece
8. About this Newsletter
0. ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER #100
-----------------------------
After 7 years of uninterrupted monthly e-mails and half a dozen
extra issues, the Electronic Newsletter of Hel.A.S. reached today
the three digit mark. The editors would like to thank all members
of the Society for their continuous support. We look forward to
receiving your feedback for news and improvements.
1. SHORT NEWS
-------------
We would like to congratulate Prof. P. Niarchos (Univ. of Athens)
for being elected as a member of the Organizing Committee of IAU
Commission 42 (Close Binaries) for the next 3 years.
2. MEMBERS IN NEW POSITIONS
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Dr. Vassilis Arhontis was recently appointed a research associate
at the School of Mathematics and Statistics, the Mathematical
Institute, North Haugh, St.Andrews, Fife KY16 9SS, Scotland, continuing
his work on magnetic flux emergence, 3D magnetic reconnection, jets and
plasmoids.
3. ANNOUNCEMENT OF HelAS INVITED TALK
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On Tuesday June 20th, 2006 at 12 o'clock, prior to the General
Assembly of Hel.A.S., Prof. Giannis Papamastorakis (Univ. of Crete)
will present the Hel.A.S. invited talk at the conference Hall of the
Section of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Mechanics of the University
of Athens, located in Panepistimiopolis (Zografos) on
"Skinakas Observatory : opening a new window in the heavens"
You are invited to attend.
4. AGENDA OF THE 22nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF HEL.A.S.
--------------------------------------------------
As most of us are already aware, the next General Assembly of the
Hellenic Astronomical Society will take place on Tuesday, June 20th
2006 at 9:30 am at the University of Athens. If the majority of the
members does not show up, the General Assembly will convene at 13.30
pm regardless of the number of the members who will show up.
The main topic of the agenda is the election of the Governing
Council of Hel.A.S. for 2006-2008. The details of the agenda items
are available at:
http://www.astro.auth.gr/elaset/events/elections_2006a.pdf
By now all members must have received the ballots of the upcoming
election along with instructions. If you have not yet received the
ballots please check the online directory of Hel.A.S. to confirm
that the address listed there is your correct address. Note that
according to articles 33 and 34 of the Constitution of the Society
in order for a member to be able to vote he/she should not have any
outstanding membership fees.
5. ESA COSMIC VISION PROGRAM
----------------------------
During the 121st Solar System Working Group meeting, the ESA
Executive presented their plans for the implementation of the Cosmic
Vision program. The call for mission proposals is imminent and for
those who are interested in pursuing active participation, it is
high time to contact collaborators and join consortia that will
probably submit mission proposals.
The important steps / dates are as follows:
- Call for mission proposals will be issued in 6 June 06
- Letters of intent due 21 June 06.
- Briefing to proposers will take place in ESTEC 3 July 06.
- Mission proposals due 13 October 06 (ESA expects 50-100 proposals)
The Working Groups will through evaluations select 3-4
Small-to-Medium and 2-3 Large missions for phase-A study by Jan
2007. This corresponds to approx. 2 missions per Working Group
(Solar System, Astrophysics, Fundamental Physics).
At the end of phase-A studies, presentations to the Working
Groups for prioritization will take place. 1 Fast Track and 3
Nominal Track missions will be selected for industrial assessment
in October 2007.
Based on the Working Groups' recommendations, the SPC will
approve 1 Fast Track mission for the definition phase in November
2007.
Mission Definition Phase will take place Jan 2008 - Dec. 2008
Working group /SSAC evaluation and selection in Dec 2008 - Jan 2009
Confirmation of one mission by SPC for ITT release Feb 2009 Mission
will enter Implementation Phase in Jan 2010 Mission launch in Mid
2015
6. EARA-EST FELLOWSHIPS
-----------------------
The European Association for Research in Astronomy (EARA) has been
designated by the EU as a joint Marie Curie Training Site, offering
fellowships for doctoral students working in theoretical or
observational astronomy. About 10-15 fellowships are offered for
2006-2007 and will be shared between the five EARA institutes:
- Institute of Astronomy in Cambridge,
- Leiden Observatory of Leiden University,
- Institut d'Astrophysique de Paris,
- Max Planck Institut fuer Astrophysik in Garching,
- Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias.
Selected candidates will spend 3 to 12 months at one of the EARA
institutes where they will continue their Ph.D research work under
the supervision of local staff members.
Applications for EARA-EST fellowships should be sent before July, 7
2006 to Dr. Robert Mochkovitch (mochko@iap.fr), co-ordinator of the
Training Site. For more information see the program webpage at:
http://www2.iap.fr/eara/mcurie.html
7. UPCOMING ASTRONOMY MEETINGS IN GREECE
----------------------------------------
The following meetings will take place in Greece. Please check the
corresponding web page or contact the organizers by e-mail for more
information.
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"Galaxy Evolution with Spitzer and Herschel"
Agios Nikolaos, Crete, 28 May-2 June 2006
More information can be found at:
http://galev06.physics.uoc.gr
*************************
"Solar Orbiter Workshop II"
Acropolis Divani Hotel, Athens, 16 - 20 October 2006
More information can be found at:
http://conferences.phys.uoa.gr/solo2006/
*************************
8. ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER
------------------------
This Newsletter was edited by Vassilis Charmandaris and Kanaris
Tsinganos. It was forwarded to the 250, out of the 268, members of
Hel.A.S. who have e-mail access.
The next edition of the Newsletter will be mailed around July 1st
2006. Please send your announcements (e.g. appointments/departures,
job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in
Greece) or comments before June 25, 2006. All correspondence
concerning the Newsletter should be addressed to:
tsingan@phys.uoa.gr
If you do not wish to receive future issues of this Newsletter or
the e-mail address to which it was sent is not your preferred one,
please let us know.
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HELLENIC ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY
ELECTRONIC NEWSLETTER
June 14, 2006 (Extra issue)
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E-mail: elaset@astro.auth.gr WWW: http://www.astro.auth.gr/elaset
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Due to the prolonged "sit-in" (katalhpsh) by the University students
demonstrating against the pending new law of the Ministry of
Education, the Council of HelAS decided to postpone the General
Assembly and elections of our Society which were scheduled for next
Tuesday, June 20 2006, at the Section of Astrophysics, Astronomy and
Mechanics of the University of Athens.
The ballots already sent by several members by post have not reached
the Secretary of HelAS, since the post-office cannot deliver the mail
due to the student sit-in for several weeks by now. Also, the
building where the G.A. was planned to take place is not known if it
will be accessible next week.
The new date of the General Assembly and elections will be announced
in time via a newsletter issue as soon as the situation is getting
better. We regret for any inconvenience caused to our members by this
decision, but this has been beyond our control and willingness.
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