MARCH 2012 - TOPICS

Elections of Hel.A.S. ESA call for proposals for "Fast" Missions Job opening The EAS job page The 2012 IAU General Assembly Upcoming Astronomy Meetings in Greece About this Newsletter

1. ELECTIONS OF HEL.A.S.

The deadline for nominations of candidates for the new Governing Council of Hel.A.S. was February 29th. The following members of Hel.A.S. were nominated and have accepted to be candidates for the corresponding positions in the upcoming elections: Candidate for President: Kylafis Nikos, Professor, Dept. of Physics, University of Crete   Candidates for the Governing Council (6 elected): Anastasiadis Anastasios, Research Director, Institute of Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens Bonanos Alceste, Assistant Researcher, Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics, National Observatory of Athens Efthymiopoulos Christos, Research Director, Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics, Academy of Athens Papadakis Iosif, Associate Professor, Dept. of Physics, University of Crete Tsiganis Kleomenis, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Physics, University of Thessaloniki Tsiropoula Georgia, Senior Researcher, Institute of Space Applications and Remote Sensing, National Observatory of Athens Vlahakis Nektarios, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Athens   Candidates for Auditors (3 elected): Christopoulou Eleftheria-Panagiota, Lecturer, Dept. of Physics, University of Patras Patsourakos Spiros, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Physics, University of Ioannina Zezas Andreas, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Physics, University of Crete   Ballots and instructions on how to vote will be sent to all members within a month. Please check your postal address listed in the online directory of Hel.A.S. to ensure that it is correct. If you spot a mistake please contact the Secretary of the Society immediately. Note that you must have paid your past membership fees, including the year 2011, in order to be eligible to vote.

2. ESA CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR "FAST" SPACE MISSIONS

Dr. Georgoulis, who is a member of the Greek ESA/SPC Delegation, informed us that ESA plans to imminently issue a Call for Proposals for small, "fast" space missions (FMs). The Call is scheduled to appear within March 2012. ESA envisions to implement FMs into the Science Programme, along with the medium (M-class) and large (L-class) missions, in rough analogy to NASA's Small Explorer (SMEX) Program. The only two boundary conditions imposed by ESA are (a) the total completion time of the mission, from Phase A to launch, should not exceed four (4) years, and (b) the total cost at completion (CaC), should not exceed 150 MEuros. Of them, the maximum ESA contribution is not to exceed 50 MEuros, with the remaining funds originating from national contributions. ESA's intention is to impose a proposal submission deadline at the end of June 2012. All our members are strongly encouraged to let the SPC Delegation know of ideas, needs, potential resources, and contacts that proposers may require. For more information, please read the relevant announcement on our website: www.helas.gr/esa/ESA_FM_anno.pdf

3. JOB OPENING

Applications are invited for a 2-year post-doctoral research assistantship to work at the National Observatory of Athens, on the automated spectral analysis of sources from the 2XMM catalogue. The successful candidate will collaborate with X-ray astronomers at the National Observatory of Athens as well as the X-ray and Observational Astronomy group at the University of Leicester. This is a project funded within ESA’s PRODEX program. A background in X-ray Astronomy, as well as appropriate data analysis and programming skills are highly desirable. The expected starting date is Spring - early Summer 2012. Applications must include a CV and a list of publications. These should be sent to Dr. I. Georgantopoulos: ig@noa.gr. Each applicant should also arrange for two letters of reference to be sent to the above e-mail address by the 12th of March 2012. Deadline for applications is the 2nd of March 2012.

4. THE EAS JOB PAGE

We would like to draw the attention of all our members to the EAS Job page. You can find it by going to: http://eas.unige.ch/jobs.jsp?tab=job. To upload job-related information simply click on "Post a new Job Offer". Then you can select in "Offer Type:" both "Job Offer" or "PhD position". This service is free. EAS Members can login using their membership details. If you are not a member of EAS, you can request a guest account to login.

5. THE 2012 IAU GENERAL ASSEMBLY

The deadline for abstract submission to the upcoming IAU General Assembly, which will take place in Beijing, China during 20-31 August 2012, has been extended to March 17, 2012. For more information visit: http://www.astronomy2012.org/dct/page/65615

6. UPCOMING ASTRONOMY MEETINGS IN GREECE

From Antikythera to the Square Kilometre Array: Lessons from the Ancients Kerastari, Tripolis, 12 – 15 June 2012 The Labyrinth of Star Formation Crete, 18 – 22 June 2012 NEB 15: Recent Developments in Gravity Crete, 20 – 23 June 2012 BUKS2012: MHD Waves and Seismology of the Solar Atmosphere Crete, 4 – 7 July 2012 Half a Century of X-ray Astronomy Mykonos, 17 – 21 September 2012

7. 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 April 1st, 2012. Please send your announcements (e.g. appointments/departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before March 25, 2012. 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.