NOVEMBER 2009 - TOPICS

Short News The 9th Hellenic Astronomical Conference The 27th General Assembly of Hel.A.S. Symposium Honoring Prof. Y. Terzian Job Opening IKY Fellowships November Activities for the IYA2009 The AstroMundus Masters programme The 3rd International Astronomy Olympiad About this Newsletter

1. SHORT NEWS

A book entitled "SPACE Base Europe" of G. Reibaldi & G. Caprara published by ESA (BR-270), has been recently translated in Greek, by Prof. N.K. Spyrou and Dr. K.N. Spyrou. The book, available by University Studio, elaborates on how the International Space Station is used to improve life on Earth and continue our exploration of the Solar System. Selected pages of the book are available here. The Section of Astrophysics, Astronomy and Mechanics at the Department of Physics, of the University of Thessaloniki, maintains a regular seminar program, with two invited or contributed seminars per month. In the winter semester, the seminars take place on Fridays at noon. In order to plan ahead for the seminar schedule of the 2009-2010 academic year, members of Hel.A.S. who expect to be in Thessaloniki sometime during the year and are interested in presenting an overview of their latest research are encouraged to contact Prof N. Stergioulas, in order to discuss the possibility of giving a seminar. A list of past seminars can be found here. We would like to congratulate Dr. P. Boumis, Dr. P. Hantzios, and Dr. I. Bellas-Vellidis, who were recently promoted to Senior Researchers at the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the National Observatory of Athens. We would like to congratulate Dr. A. Dapergolas who was recently promoted to Research Director at the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the National Observatory of Athens.

2. THE 9th HELLENIC ASTRONOMICAL CONFERENCE

All participants of the 9th Conference of Hel.A.S. received a printed copy of the 2009 version of the Greek Astronomers Yearbook, compiled by Prof. Laskarides. A PDF file (80 MBytes) of the Yearbook is available online as usual in the Members section of the web page of the Society. We would like to remind all participants that the deadline for contributions to the Conference Proceedings is November 15, 2009. The proceedings will be published by the Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacifc (PASP). More information can be found at the dedicated web page: http://www.helas.gr/conf/2009/proceedings.php

3. THE 27th GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF HEL.A.S.

The minutes of the 27th General Assembly of Hel.A.S. which took place on September 22th 2009 are now available. All members are strongly encouraged to read those available online as a PDF file at the end of the web page: http://www.helas.gr/council.php

4. SYMPOSIUM HONORING PROF. Y. TERZIAN

A Symposium to celebrate the 70th birthday of Yervant Terzian, the David C. Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences, at the Astronomy Department of Cornell University, was held in Ithaca, NY on October 9-11, 2009. Professor Terzian, a founding member of Hel.A.S. and Chair of the Cornell Astronomy Department for 20 years, was the recipient of emotional tributes, reminiscences and, of course, gifts. One surprise gift was the announcement of a $100,000 endowment for a lectureship series named in Terzian's honor. More information about the event can be found in the dedicated article of Cornell Chronicle. On behalf of all members of Hel.A.S., the Governing Council of the Society would like to wish him the best for many years to come, and thank him for his encouragement, support, and expert advice for all astronomy related aspects in Greece over so many decades.

5. JOB OPENING

A promotion-opened tenured position at the level of "Associate Professor" in the field of "Dynamical Astronomy" has been opened at the Department of Physics of the University of Athens. The deadline for submission of applications is November 7, 2009. Interested applicants may contact for more information the secretary of the Physics Department at Tel. +30 210-727-6807 (Ms Eleni Tsalka).

6. IKY SCHOLARSHIPS

The Greek National Institute of Fellowships (IKY) has announced its graduate and post graduate fellowship program for 2010-2011. The application deadline is December 15, 2009. This year there is one (1) position for graduate studies in Greece in the area of Astronomy. There is also funding for graduate studies abroad, with one (1) position in Astrophysics, one (1) in Space Physics and one (1) in Physics. For more information on the requirements and application forms visit: http://www.iky.gr/

7. NOVEMBER ACTIVITIES FOR THE IYA2009

In this news-item we present all activities related to the International Year of Astronomy which, to our knowledge, are scheduled in Greece this coming month. If you wish to have your IYA2009 planned activities included in this mailing please inform the Editor of the e-newsletter. For November 2009 the following events are planned: 1st of November - Event at the city of Volos with lectures and music 17th of November - Open night at the Observatory of the Univ. of Thessaloniki More details about the events mentioned above, as well as all upcoming activities for the IYA 2009 which will take place in Greece under the auspices of Hel.A.S., are available at: http://www.helas.gr/gr/iya2009.php

8. THE ASTROMUNDUS MASTERS PROGRAMME

AstroMundus is a 2-years Erasmus Mundus Masters Course (120 ECTS) in Astronomy and Astrophysics offered by a consortium of 5 partner universities in 4 different countries: Austria, Italy, Germany, and Serbia. Its main objective is to provide top-ranked students with an excellent background in Astrophysics, to introduce them to the world of modern astrophysical research, and foster their future career in this field. At the same time, in the spirit of the Erasmus Mundus programmes, we promote cultural exchanges between Third Country and European students and academics. AstroMundus students carry out their master studies in at least 2 and up to four of these countries, in a stimulating and scientifically excellent international environment. The official language of the course is English, but students are given the possibility to learn the languages of the host countries by attending language courses at the partner universities. Applications are now solicited for the Masters course starting in September 2010. More information on the program and how to apply can be found on the web-site: http://www.astromundus.eu/

9. THE THIRD INTERNATIONAL ASTRONOMY OLYMPIAD

The 3rd International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics for high school students took place in Tehran, Iran on 17 – 26 Oct. 2009. Greece along with twenty other countries participated with five students. The greek team consisted of G. Lioutas, O. Voutiras, T. Mitrakis, G. Valogiannis, and A. Tsiaras, and was led by Prof. J. Seiradakis and Prof. L. Zachilas. The greek team was awarded the first prize in a group project as well as two honorable mentions. More information (in greek) can be found here.

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 December 1st 2009. Please send your announcements (e.g. appointments/departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before November 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.