OCTOBER 2007 - TOPICS

Short News The 8th Hellenic Astronomical Conference in Thassos The 25th General Assembly of Hel.A.S. Job Opening PhD Positions at IMPRS in Garching/Munich PhD Positions at IMPRS in Heidelberg Fulbright Fellowships in the USA One Day Event on ESA Educational Activities Upcoming Astronomy meetings in Greece About this Newsletter

1. SHORT NEWS

We would like to congratulate Dr. Anastasios Anastasiadis who was recently promoted to the position of Researcher A' (Research Director) in the Institute for Space Applications and Remote Sensing of the National Observatory of Athens. We would like to congratulate Prof. Kostas Kokkotas, the Vice President of Hel.A.S., for being elected as member of the Committee of the International Society on General Relativity and Gravitation (ISGRG), for the period 2007-2016 representing the "Mediterranean" region. The election took place in July during the General Assembly of ISGRG, in Sydney (Australia). It is worth mentioning that this is the first time of a greek representation in the board of ISGRG. Dr. Aris Karastergiou recently moved to the University of Oxford on an Otto-Hahn fellowship funded by the Max-Planck Gesellschaft. His main topic of research is pulsars and he will be working in the group of Prof S. Rawlings on design studies for the SKA.

2. THE 8th HELLENIC ASTRONOMICAL CONFERENCE IN THASSOS

The 8th Hellenic Astronomical Conference which took place in the beautiful island of Thassos ended with great success. More than 100 participants from Greece, several countries of Europe and the US, attended the 6 Science Sessions of the Conference. The high quality of the presentations rewarded the audience for some inconveniences in the transportation to the conference halls. On behalf of all the members of Hel.A.S. the Governing Council would like to extend our deepest appreciation to the LOC and all members from the Democritus University of Thrace who carried the load and made this Conference a reality. Note: A number of students who attended the conference have been notified that they are going to receive financial support from the Society to cover part of their expenses. Those of them who have not already contacted the Treasurer Prof. Mastichiadis (treasurer@helas.gr) regarding the paperwork they need to provide, they should do so as soon as possible.

3. THE 25th GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF HEL.A.S.

The 25th General Assembly (GA) of Hel.A.S. took place on Friday September 14 2007, during the 8th Conference of Hel.A.S. A summary with minutes of the various topics discussed is available online at: http://www.helas.gr/events/GA_14Sep07.pdf During the GA the following 30 individuals were elected as members of the Society: New Junior Members (18): Akras Stavros, graduate student, National Observatory of Athens Alikakos Ioannis, graduate student, National Observatory of Athens Antoniou Vallia, graduate student, University of Crete Arka Ioanna, graduate student, University of Athens Bisbas Thomas, graduate student, Cardiff University, UK Bitsakis Theodoros, graduate student, University. of Crete Chatzopoulos Manolis, graduate student, Univ. of Crete Fanidakis Nikolaos, graduate student, University of Utrecht, The Netherlands Kiakotou Angeliki, graduate student, University College London, UK Kontogiannis Ioannis, graduate student, University of Athens Koulouridis Elias, graduate student, National Observatory of Athens Leonidaki Ioanna, graduate student, National Observatory of Athens Lianou Sophia, graduate student, University of Athens Manousakis Antonis, graduate student, University of Geneva, Swictzerland Nanouris Nikolaos, graduate student, University of Athens Petropoulou Vassiliki, graduate student, University of Athens Tzeferakos Petros, University of Torino, Italy Vavoulidis Miltiadis, graduate student, University of Thessaloniki New Ordinary Members (10): Christopoulou Eleftheria-Panagiota, Lecturer, Univ. of Patras Dasyra Kalliopi, Research Associate, Caltech, USA Kazantzidis Stelios, Research Associate, Stanford University, USA Kolokoutsas Konstantinos, Athens Kontogeorgos Athanasios, Associate Professor, TEI of Lamia Nerantzi Polyxeni, Instructor, TEI of Serres Pavlidou Vasiliki, Research Associate, University of Chicago, USA Tassis Konstantinos, Research Associate, University of Chicago, USA Vagenas Elias, Researcher C, Academy of Athens Zezas Andreas, Research Associate, Harvard University, USA New Associate Members (2): Laios Konstantinos, Athens Prasopoulos Dimitrios, Alexandroupoli In addition 15 members changed membership status. These were: From Associate to Junior Members (3): Gini Magda, graduate student, University of Athens Liakos Alexios, graduate student, University of Athens Vamvatira-Nakou Chloe, graduate student, University of Athens From Associate to Ordinary Member (1): Antoniou Antonios, Athens From Junior to Ordinary Members (9): Angelakis Emmanuel, University of Bonn, Germany Akylas Athanasios, National Observatory of Athens Gazeas Kosmas, Harvard University, USA Gerontidou Maria, Instituto Astrofysica de Andalucia, Spain Emmanoulopoulos Dimitrios, University of Heidelberg, Germany Marhavilias Panagiotis, University of Thrace Niarchou Anastasia, Imperial College, UK Plainaki Christina, University of Athens Stavridis Adamantios, University of Thessaloniki From Junior to Associate Members (2): Barziv Orly, Thessaloniki Manolakou Konstantina, Tuebingen, Germany Finally, during the past couple of months four members requested to terminate their affiliation with the Society. These were: E. Kolokotronis, T. Koupelis, I. Liritzis, and C. Poulakos. As a result the Society now has 272 members. Some details on membership statistics are available at: http://www.helas.gr/stats.php and http://www.helas.gr/astrosite-gr.php

4. JOB OPENING

A new tenure-track position at the level of "Assistant Professor" or "Lecturer" in the field of "Observational Astrophysics" has been opened at the Department of Physics of the University of Athens (FEK 619, 17-8-2007). The deadline for submission of applications is November 13, 2007. Interested applicants may contact for more information the secretary of the Physics Department at Tel. 210-727 6807 (Mrs Eleni Tsalka).

5. PHD POSITIONS AT IMPRS IN GARCHING/MUNICH

The International Max-Planck Research School on Astrophysics (IMPRS) is soliciting applications for its PhD program. Located in the beautiful Munich-Garching area in southern Bavaria (Germany), the school offers a unique environment for graduate students due to the presence of four internationally renowned institutes which form the school: * The Max-Planck Institute for extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) * The Observatory of the University of Munich (LMU/USM) * The Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) * The European Southern Observatory (ESO) In addition, Astro-particle physics groups at the Technical University of Munich are participating as associated partners. Applications for the program are open to students from all countries. More details on the IMPRS program and the admission requirements can be found at the IMPRS website http://www.imprs-astro.mpg.de/ The closing date for applications for the program starting in September 2008 is December 1, 2007. Applications forms are available online at http://www.imprs-astro.mpg.de/admission.html

6. PHD POSITIONS AT IMPRS IN HEIDELBERG

Applications are invited for the doctoral program of the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Astronomy & Cosmic Physics at the University of Heidelberg. The scientific environment in Heidelberg provides outstanding research facilities and training programs covering a wide range of research topics with access to ground-based and space telescopes as well as high- performance computers. The following institutions of the Max Planck Society and Heidelberg University take part in IMPRS Heidelberg: * The Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy * Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics * Astronomisches Rechen-Institut * Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics * Landessternwarte Koenigstuh Applications for the program are open to students from all countries. More details on the IMPRS program and the admission requirements can be found at the IMPRS website http://www.imprs-astro.mpg.de/ The closing date for applications for the program starting in September 2008 is December 13, 2007. Applications forms are available online at http://www.mpia.de/imprs-hd/

7. FULBRIGHT FELLOWSHIPS IN THE USA

The Fulbright Foundation has recently announced its fellowship program for research in the United States for the academic year 2008-2009. The application deadline is November 15, 2007. For more information visit the web page of the Foundation as well as check the information in the following PDF file: http://www.helas.gr/events/fulbright2008.pdf

8. ONE DAY EVENT ON ESA EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES

A one day event on the possibilities of collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA) in activities related to primary and secondary education will take place in Athens on October 5th 2007. For more information please consult the PDF file: http://www.helas.gr/esa/esa_5Oct07.pdf

9. 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.

Workshop on "Latest Progress in Astrophysics" Athens, 5-6 October 2007 5th Conference of Greek Amateur Astronomers Patras, 5-7 October 2007 Communicating Astronomy with the Public 2007 (CAP 2007) Athens, 8-11 October 2007 The Cosmic Odyssey of the Elements Aegina island, 23-27 June 2008

10. ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER

This Newsletter was sent to all members of Hel.A.S. who have e-mail access. The next edition of the Newsletter will be mailed around November 1st 2007. Please send your announcements (e.g. appointments/departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before October 25, 2007. 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 inform the Secretary of Hel.A.S.