JANUARY 2011 - TOPICS

Short News The 10th Conference of Hel.A.S. Winter School of Astrophysics in Kastoria Space Astronomy Summer Program at STScI ESA Fellowships Gaia Research for European Astronomy Training ESA's "Drop your thesis!" programme Upcoming Astronomy Meetings in Greece About this Newsletter

The Council of the Hel.A.S. would like to wish to all members of the Society and their families a Happy, Healthy, and Productive NEW YEAR 2011.

1. SHORT NEWS

We would like to congratulate Academician Professor George Contopoulos, the first President and Honorary President of our Society, who was recently elected as Vice-President of the Academy of Athens for the year 2011. We wish him success in his new duties. Prof. Kanaris Tsinganos, the previous President of our Society, was recently appointed as the President of the National Observatory of Athens. We would like to congratulate him on this, and wish him a productive and successful service. We would like to congratulate Dr. M. Karouzos, who has recently received his PhD from the University of Cologne, Germany. His thesis was entitled "A multi-wavelength study of the evolution and pc-scale jet kinematics of active galaxies" and it was performed under the supervision of Dr. S. Britzen, Prof. A. Zensus, and Prof. A. Eckart. Dr. Karouzos has moved to a postdoctoral research position at MPfR in Bonn (Germany). We would like to congratulate Prof. Y. Terzian, the David Duncan Professor in the Physical Sciences at the Astronomy Department of Cornell University, who has recently received the Summum Bonum award of Crestron Electronics Inc. for teaching excellence. We would like to congratulate Dr. E. Xilouris who was recently promoted to Senior Researcher at the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics of the National Observatory of Athens. Skinakas Observatory and Crete University Press recently published a book entitled "ΑΣΤΕΡΟΣΚΟΠΕΙΟ ΣΚΙΝΑΚΑ: ΜΕ ΘΕΑ ΤΟ ΣΥΜΠΑΝ" (Skinakas Observatory: a view to the Universe). The book, edited by Dr. E. Palaiologou and Prof. Y. Papamastorakis, presents a selection of breathtaking near-by and distant astronomical objects, imaged by the digital cameras of the telescopes at Skinakas Observatory, along with a brief description of their properties.

2. THE TENTH CONFERENCE OF HEL.A.S.

The web page of the 10th Hellenic Astronomical Conference has been updated with details on the organizing committees, the venue, and upcoming deadlines. For more information visit: http://www.helas.gr/conf/2011

3. WINTER SCHOOL OF ASTROPHYSICS IN KASTORIA

A Winter School of Astrophysics took place on 6-10 December 2010 in the city of Kastoria. The school was an initiative of Prof. Loukas Vlahos and was supported by the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and the Municipality of Kastoria. For a week, 16 undegraduate students from the Universities of Thessaloniki, Ioannina and Athens, attended morning lectures by four speakers (Dr. S. Basilakos, Prof. V. Charmandaris, Dr. M. Plionis and Prof. L. Vlahos) while every afternoon they worked as groups on research projects suggested by the lecturers. The students presented their results during the final day of the school. A public outreach talk for the City of Kastoria was also given by Prof. Charmandaris. Based on the feedback received so far by all parties involved, the school was a great success and every effort will be made to become a permanent annual December event at the same location. For more information visit: http://www.astrowinterschool.gr

4. SPACE ASTRONOMY SUMMER PROGRAM AT STScI

An opportunity to engage in astronomical research, public outreach and education, or mission support and software development at the Space Telescope Science Institute is available. STScI operates the Hubble Space Telescope for NASA, and will operate the James Webb Space Telescope when it is launched in 2015. STScI seeks dynamic undergraduates with a love for science. The program is open to students from the US and other countries, at all levels of undergraduate and graduate study, but with preference to the above categories. The application deadline is February 1, 2011. For more information visit: http://www.stsci.edu/institute/sd/students/applications.html

5. ESA FELLOWSHIPS

The National Fellowship Foundation (IKY) in collaboration with the General Secretariat of Research and Technology announce the opening of ten (10) fellowships for greek nationals who wish to spend time at research centers of the European Space Agency. The program entitled "Training Opportunity for Greek Trainees" has as its goal the training of Greeks in various areas of space applications, technology, and research. Each fellowship provides funding at the level of 2000 Euros per month and its duration is 18 months. The application deadline is February 28, 2011. For more information visit: http://www.iky.gr/IKY/content/gr/greek-scholarships/loipes/esa.html

6. GAIA RESEARCH FOR EUROPEAN ASTRONOMY TRAINING

The Institute of Astronomy, University of Cambridge, UK is leading a new EC FP7 Marie-Curie Initial Training Network - GREAT-ITN - with a research theme of 'Unravelling the Milky Way' including studies of its constituent components from planets, stars, dust and gas. The network brings together partners from across Europe - with the aim of exploiting the upcoming data from ESA's Gaia mission as applied to the study of the Milky Way. Across the network, seventeen Marie Curie Early Stage Research (ESR) Fellows will embark on PhD study programmes addressing a range of specific topics. Further information concerning GREAT-ITN and these positions can be found at: http://www.great-itn.eu/great-itn/great-itn-recruit/

7. ESA's "DROP YOUR THESIS!" PROGRAMME

ESA's ‘Drop Your Thesis!’ programme gives university students the opportunity to perform their own scientific experiment in microgravity conditions, as part of their Masters thesis, PhD thesis or research programme, by participating in an ESA-sponsored campaign at the drop tower facility operated by the ZARM Centre of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity in Bremen, Germany. The 2011 call for proposals is now open, and the deadline for proposal submission is on February the 21st, 2011. For more information, visit: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Education/SEM67TLX82G_0.html

8. 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.

10th Conference of Hel.A.S. Ioannina, 5-8 September 2011 13th European Solar Physics Meeting (ESPM-13) Rhodes, 12-16 September 2011

9. 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 February 1, 2011. Please send your announcements (e.g. appointments/departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before January 25, 2011. 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.