| JANUARY 2009 - TOPICS |
- Short News
- The International Year of Astronomy 2009
- Public Astronomy Lectures at the Academy of Athens
- Retirement of Dr. E. Dara
- Virtual Observatory School
- Netherlands School of Astronomy (NOVA)
- Upcoming Astronomy Meetings in Greece
- About this Newsletter
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| 1. SHORT NEWS |
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The Council of the Hel.A.S. would like to wish to all its members and their families a Happy, Healthy and Productive NEW YEAR 2009.
We would like to congratulate George Magdis who obtained his PhD from Oxford University (UK) under the supervision of Dr. Dimitra Rigopoulou. The title of his dissertation was "Mid-IR studies of Lyman Break Galaxies with the Spitzer Space Telescope". Dr. Magdis recently moved as a postdoctoral researcher at CEA/Saclay (France).
We would like to congratulate Dr. Iosif Papadakis who was recently promoted to an Associate Professor of Observational Astrophysics at the Department of Physics, University of Crete.
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| 2. THE INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF ASTRONOMY 2009 |
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As we all know the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) is a global effort initiated by the International Astronomical Union and Unesco to help the citizens of the world rediscover their place in the Universe through the day- and night-time sky, and thereby engage a personal sense of wonder and discovery. IYA2009 activities will take place locally, nationally, regionally and internationally.
The Hellenic Astronomical Society created a dedicated page in its web server where it will provide information about astronomy activities and events for the general public, which are being organized all over Greece under the auspices of the Society. For more information visit:
http://www.helas.gr/gr/iya2009.php
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| 3. PUBLIC ASTRONOMY LECTURES AT THE ACADEMY OF ATHENS |
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In the light of 2009 being the International Year of Astronomy, The Academy of Athens is organizing a series of astronomy lectures by its members for the general public of Athens. For more information visit:
http://www.academyofathens.gr/astronomy2009/
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| 4. RETIREMENT OF DR. E. DARA |
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Dr. Eleni Dara, the director of the Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics, recently retired after 35 years of service. On this occasion she would like to send the following message to the Greek Astronomical Community:
Dear colleagues,
On the occasion of my departure, or rather obligatory retirement, from the Academy of Athens, I would like to thank all of you, especially those of you who collaborated with me at any occasion. I keep the best memories from my scientific collaborations, as well as from the personal communication and relationship with you; even the rare cases of disagreement were valuable to me, since I believe that handling the difficult situations makes us more mature and better persons. I will remain a Hel.A.S. member and I will always support the progress of the science of Astronomy, which I loved since my youth. I wish to all of you health, creative work and personal happiness.
My best greetings and many thanks,
Eleni Dara
The Governing Council of Hel.A.S. would like to thank Eleni for the continuing support towards the goals of the Society over the years, and wishes her all the best for her future plans. Dr. Dara will remain an active member of the SOC and LOC for the upcoming 9th Hellenic Astronomical Conference, which will take place in Athens in September 2009.
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| 5. VIRTUAL OBSERVATORY SCHOOL |
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The Virtual Observatory (VO) is opening up new ways of exploiting the huge amount of data provided by the ever-growing number of ground-based and space facilities, as well as by computer simulations. The EURO-VO project, in the framework of the Astronomical Infrastructure for Data Access (AIDA), is organizing an international School at ESO, Garching bei München, Germany, on 30 March - 2 April 2009. The goals of the School are to expose European astronomers to the variety of VO tools and services available today so that they can use them efficiently for their own research. For more information on the wokshop format and topics covered visit:
http://www.euro-vo.org/aidahandson2009/
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| 6. NETHERLANDS SCHOOL OF ASTRONOMY (NOVA) |
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More than 30 PhD positions will be available in astronomy in the coming year in the context of the Netherlands Research School for Astronomy (NOVA). NOVA is a federation of the astronomical institutes of the universities of Amsterdam, Groningen, Leiden, Nijmegen and Utrecht. Topics include the formation and evolution of galaxies, the formation of stars and planetary systems, exo-planets, the astrophysics of compact objects, astroparticle physics and laboratory astrophysics. Astronomers in the Netherlands have access to state-of-the-art telescopes and space observatories around the world. For more information on the wokshop format and topics covered visit:
The Netherlands has an internationally acknowledged reputation for research and education in astronomy. The PhD program is 4 yr, during which the PhD students are appointed as civil servants and earn a competitive salary. Deadlines vary per project and institute but can be as early as January 5 2009. A Masters degree (or equivalent) in astronomy or a related field is required. For more information visit:
http://www.nova-astronomy.nl/application
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| 7. UPCOMING ASTRONOMY MEETINGS IN GREECE |
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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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| 8. ABOUT THIS NEWSLETTER |
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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 February 1st 2009. Please send your announcements (e.g. appointments/departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before January 25, 2009. 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.
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