NOVEMBER 2008 - TOPICS

Short News Meeting of the Governing Council of Hel.A.S. The 9th Conference of Hel.A.S. Job Openings at the Academy of Athens Upcoming Astronomy Meetings in Greece About this Newsletter

1. SHORT NEWS

We would like to congratulate Dr. Alexandros Alexakis, who recently moved as a Visiting Researcher at the Département de Physique of Ecole Normale Supérieure, in Paris (France). We would like to congratulate Dr. Yiannis Tsamis, for being awarded a 3-year fellowship at the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia, in Granada (Spain). Dr. Tsamis will work on the first science and instrumentation for the GranTeCan 10m telescope, focused on integral field spectroscopy. We would like to congratulate Yervant Terzian, the David C. Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences and former chair of the Astronomy Department of Cornell University, who received recently a Gold Medal from the Armenian government's Ministry of Science and Education in Yerevan, Armenia. We would like to congratulate Kleomenis Tsiganis, Lecturer at the Univ. of Thessaloniki, who was recently honored by the IAU Committee for Small-Body Nomenclature by having a minor planet, asteroid 21775, named after him.

2. MEETING OF THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF HEL.A.S.

On September 5th 2008 the Governing Council (GC) of HelAS held via teleconference a meeting to discuss various issues related to organizational matters as well as upcoming activities of the Society. All members are strongly encouraged to read the minutes of this GC meeting which are available online at: http://www.helas.gr/events/GC_05Sep08.pdf

3. THE 9th CONFERENCE OF HEL.A.S.

As mentioned in a previous newsletter the forthcoming 9th Astronomical Conference of Hel.A.S. will take place in Athens from 21-24 of September 2009. On September 5th 2008, the Governing Council of Hel.A.S. decided that Science Sessions and the Scientific Organizing Committee (SOC) of the Conference will be the following: SOC Chair: K. Tsinganos Session 1: "Sun, Planets, and Interplanetary Medium" I. Daglis, H. Dara, L. Vlahos Session 2: "Our Galaxy: Stars, Exoplanets and Interstellar Medium" D. Hatzidimitriou, A. Mastichiadis Session 3: "Extragalactic Astrophysics and Cosmology" I. Georgantopoulos, M. Plionis Session 4: "Dynamical Astronomy and Relativistic Astrophysics" P. Patsis, N. Stergioulas Session 5: "Astronomical Infrastructures" V. Charmandaris, E. Xilouris Session 6: "History and Education in Astronomy" M. Metaxa, J. Seiradakis It was also decided that the Local Organizing Committee (LOC) will consist of H. Dara, D. Hatzidimitriou, P. Niarchos, and M. Zoulias.

4. JOB OPENINGS AT THE ACADEMY OF ATHENS

The Academy of Athens has recently created a Center for Theoretical and Applied Mathematics. As a consequence two new positions at the level of "Researcher C", as well as a position for the Director of the new Center have opened. For more information contact Mrs. E. Mpita at +30-210-3664718, or visit the web page: http://www.academyofathens.gr/ecportal.asp?id=1380&nt=105&lang=1

5. 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.

Modern Challenges in Nonlinear Plasma Physics - A conference honoring the career of K. Papadopoulos. Sani Resort, Halkidiki, 15-19 June 2009 9th Conference of the Hellenic Astronomical Society Athens, 21-24 September 2009 6th Conference of Greek Amateur Astronomers Alexandroupoli, 25-27 September 2009

6. 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 December 1st 2008. Please send your announcements (e.g. appointments/departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before November 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.