JULY 2008 - TOPICS

Short News The 26th General Assembly of Hel.A.S. The Elections of Hel.A.S. Job Opening Graduate Studies in Astrophysics in Crete ASTRONET: Infrastructure Roadmap Symposium A Searchable Mathematical Handbook XX Canary Islands Winter School Of Astrophysics "Local Group Cosmology" Sixth IRAM millimeter interferometry school ESA Call of Proposals Upcoming Astronomy meetings in Greece About this Newsletter

1. SHORT NEWS

A dedicated web page providing all details on the ESA event regarding the possibilities of Human Space flight for greeks which was organized at the University of Thessaloniki on May 16, 2008, is available at: http://www.astro.auth.gr/esa-astronauts08.html The president of Hel.A.S., Prof. K. Tsinganos, has recently resigned from the Greece-ESA Task Force which was set by the General Secretariat of Science and Technology. His resignation letter is available in English and in Greek. We would like to congratulate John Hadjidemetriou, Professor Emeritus at the Univ. of Thessaloniki and past Vice-President of Hel.A.S., who was recently elected as a corresponding member of the Academy of Athens. We would like to congratulate Nikos Kylafis, who was recently elected as Dean of the School of Sciences of the University of Crete. We would like to congratulate Panagiotis Niarchos, who was recently promoted to Professor at the Dept. of Physics of the Univ. of Athens.

2. THE 26th GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF HEL.A.S.

During the 26th General Assembly (GA) of Hel.A.S. which took place on June 20, 2008 the President of the Society K. Tsinganos summarized the activities of HelAS during the last two years while the Treasurer, A. Mastichiadis, presented a detailed account of the finances. The Secretary, V. Charmandaris, introduced to the GA the applications of the individuals who had requested to become members of the Society, as well as the changes in membership status of some members. These were: Applicants for Ordinary Members (3): Alexakis Alexios, (PhD Univ. of Chicago), currently serving the greek army Nakos Theodoros, (PhD, Obs. of Belgium), Research Associate, Univ. of Ghent, Belgium Zouganelis Yiannis, (PhD Univ. of Paris, France), Maitre de Conferences, Univ. of Paris 6, France Applications for Junior Members (2): Magdis George, Graduate Student at Oxford Univ. (UK) Papastergis Manolis, Graduate Student at Cornell Univ. (USA) In addition 5 members requested to change membership status. These were: From Junior to Ordinary Members (4): Antoniou Vallia, (PhD 2008), Univ. of Crete Papadimitriou Christos, (PhD 2008), Univ. of Athens Trichas Markos, (PhD 2008), Imperial College London (UK) Vavoulidis Miltiadis, (PhD 2008), Univ. of Thessaloniki From Junior to Associate Members (1): Metallinou Anastasia, National Observatory of Athes The GA unanimously approved all applications and changes of membership status. As a result Hel.A.S. now numbers 236 members. Detailed membership statistics are available as usual at: http://www.helas.gr/stats.php

3. THE ELECTIONS OF HEL.A.S.

In the elections that followed the 26th General Assembly, the members of Hel.A.S. voted for the President of the Society, as well as a new Council and Auditors for the 2008-2010 term. Of the 221 ordinary and junior members, 182 members were eligible to vote and a total of 85 ballots were collected. The results of the elections were: Candidate for President of HelAS: Tsinganos Kanaris [71 votes] Candidates for the Governing Council (6 elected): Charmandaris Vassilis [52 votes] Daglis Ioannis [24 votes] Mastichiadis Apostolos [46 votes] Plionis Manolis [38 votes] Stergioulas Nikos [23 votes] Vlahos Loukas [21 votes] Candidates for Auditors (3 elected): Katsiyannis Athanasios [26 votes] Nindos Alexandros [13 votes] Tsiganis Kleomenis [28 votes] Vlahakis Nektarios [50 votes] There were 8 blank votes while 6 votes were not counted since they were found irregular. Based on these results and according to the Constitution of Hel.A.S. Prof. K. Tsinganos will be the President of the Society for the 2008-2010 term. Prof. Charmandaris, Dr. Daglis, Prof. Mastichiadis, Dr. Plionis, Prof. Stergioulas, and Prof. Vlahos, will be the members of the Council for the same period, while Prof. N. Vlahakis, Prof. K. Tsiganis and Dr. T. Katsiyannis will act as Auditors. The Council of the Society met after the elections and it decided that M. Plionis becomes the Vice-president of the Society, while V. Charmandaris and A. Mastichiadis continue their terms as Secretary and Treasurer respectively. M. Plionis will also be the Editor of Hipparchos and V. Charmandaris will continue as the Editor of the Hel.A.S. e-newsletter. The minutes of the 26th GA as well as of the first GC meeting of the new Council will be available online soon at: http://www.helas.gr/council.php

4. JOB OPENING

A promotion related position at the level of "Professor" in the field of "Dynamics" has opened at the Department of Physics of the University of Thessaloniki (F.E.K. 462/19-05-2008). The deadline for the applications is 23 July 2008. For more information contact the Secretary, Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Thessaloniki, tel: +30 2310 998120

5. GRADUATE STUDIES IN ASTROPHYSICS IN CRETE

The Department of Physics of the Univ. of Crete, in collaboration with the Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas(FORTH), has recently restructured its graduate studies program. Under the new Graduate Program, which will commence in the 2008-2009 academic year, there is a possibility of a number of graduate fellowships towards a 1-year Master's Program in "Astrophysics & Space Physics", as well as towards a 3-year PhD program in Theoretical or Observational Astrophysics. The Astrophysics Group in Crete would like to encourage all interested undergraduate and Masters' student to consider the possibilities the Department of Physics and FORTH have to offer. For more information on the Astrophysics Graduate Program in Crete please check the following [PDF file]. For details about the overall program as well as application material you may visit the Crete Physics Graduate Program web page at: http://gradstudy.physics.uoc.gr/

6. ASTRONET: INFRASTRUCTURE ROADMAP SYMPOSIUM 2008

On June 16-19 2008, ASTRONET organized a workshop in Liverpool (UK) to discuss the plans for the infrastructure roadmap for European Astronomy. ASTRONET is soliciting feedback from the community regarding the roadmap until July 4, 2008. All members of Hel.A.S. are requested to review the report describing the event (available as a PDF file), which has been prepared by Prof. Ch. Goudis, the president of the Greek National Committee for Astronomy (GNCA) and Dr. M. Plionis who attended the workshop.

7. A SEARCHABLE MATHEMATICAL HANDBOOK

Prof. S. Persidis, a member of Hel.A.S. with many years of experience in publications of scientific books, has recently produced a Mathematical Handbook. The Handbook contains two printed parts (A and B) and two electronic parts (C and D), with more than 1100 of pages in total. The printed parts contain thousands of formulas, figures, and mathematical expressions and statements of every kind, all highly organized and easily accessible to offer precise and reliable information. The electronic parts contain extensions of many kinds, such as proofs, examples, and applications, from easy to very hard to find elsewhere. In its 23 chapters it covers most areas of mathematics, from elementary to advanced. It is designed to be a valuable lifetime companion for students and professionals in mathematics, physics, engineering and many other branches of science. In addition, the Mathematical Handbook is fully searchable. This means that one can search for words, phrases and mathematical expressions even inside mathematical formulas, making this the first searchable Mathematical Handbook. The Mathematical Handbook is the first Alive Book®, a new concept of a book for the 21st century, that continues to expand after its publication. For more information visit: http://www.ifoes.org/EnMathHandbookDescription.html

8. XX CANARY WINTER SCHOOL OF ASTROPHYSICS.

The XX Canary Islands Winter School of Astrophysics (WS), organized by the Instituto de Astrofisica de Canarias (IAC), is dedicated to the study of Local Group Cosmology. It will be held on Tenerife, Spain, November 17th-28th, 2008 IThe primary aim of the XX Winter School is to provide a wide-ranging and up-to-date overview of the theoretical, experimental and analytical tools necessary for carrying out front-line research in the study of the structure, formation and evolution of Local Group galaxies, based on the results of the latest cosmological simulations. The School is particularly designed to offer young researchers tips and guidelines to help them direct their future research towards these themes, which are among the most important in modern astrophysics. Full details can be found at: http://www.iac.es/winschool2008/

9. SIXTH IRAM MILLIMETER INTERFEROMETRY SCHOOL

IRAM organizes this year its sixth millimeter interferometry school. It will be held on October 6-10th, 2008 at IRAM Grenoble, France. It is intended for PhD students, post-docs and scientists who want to acquire a good knowledge of interferometry and data reduction techniques at millimeter wavelengths. Information on how to inscribe and further details can be found here: http://www.iram.fr/IRAMFR/IS/school.htm

10. ESA CALL OF PROPOSALS

On June 30th 2008, the European Space Agency (ESA) has issued an invitation to submit outline proposals in the frame of the ESA-Greece Task Force Announcement of Opportunity for Greek companies, universities & research centres (AO-1-5819). Bidders may submit one or several outline proposals in all technology subjects pertinent to the European Space Agency. Single outline proposals should not exceed EURO 2,000,000 for flight hardware or 250,000 for research and development (including feasibility studies) leading to products or preparatory activities supporting Greek competitiveness in ESA programs. A briefing on the call for outline proposals will take place on the 8th July (Athens) and on the 9th July (Thessaloniki). Information on these events including registration can be found via the following link: http://emits.esa.int/emits-doc/ESTEC/AO5819_Briefing_2ndCall_GTF2008.pdf

11. 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.

Protostellar Jets in Context Island of Rhodes, 7-11 July 2008 IAU Symposium 257: 'Universal Heliophysical Processes' Ioannina, 15-19 September 2008 Star Forming Dwarf Galaxies: Following Ariadnes thread in the cosmic labyrinth Crete, 29 September - 3 October 2008

12. 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 August 1st 2008. Please send your announcements (e.g. appointments/departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before July 25, 2008. 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.