MARCH 2017 - TOPICS

Short News 13th Hel.A.S. Conference IAU Junior Membership Current National Research Opportunities Student and Postdoctoral Research Opportunities Abroad Upcoming Astronomy Meetings in Greece About this Newsletter

1. Short News

The Society would like to congratulate Ordinary Member Dr. Christina Plainaki, until recently a PostDoctoral researcher at IAPS-INAF, Rome, for accepting a Researcher position at the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Dr. Plainaki can be reached at her new e-mail address, christina.plainaki[at]asi.it . The Society extends its best wishes to Dr. Plainaki for every success in her future endeavors. The Society would like to congratulate Junior Member Mr. Ioannis Liodakis, currently a PhD student at the University of Crete, for being awarded an Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology (KIPAC) at Stanford. Mr. Liodakis will be moving to KIPAC in September this year, upon completion of his Thesis. The Society would like to congratulate Ordinary Member Dr. Maria Petropoulou, currently a PostDoctoral researcher at Purdue University, for being awarded a prestigious Lyman Spitzer PostDoctoral Fellowship at Princeton University. Dr. Petropoulou was the recipient of the Hel.A.S. Best PhD prize in the Society's 12th Conference (Thessaloniki, 2015).  Dr. Petropoulou will be moving to Princeton later this Year.  The Society would like to congratulate Ordinary Member Dr. Christos Efthymiopoulos for a honorary distinction presented to him by the IAU Minor Planet Center. In its January 12, 2017 meeting, the Center named the minor planet "2002 PV34" "Efthymiopoulos", in recognition of Dr. Eftymiopoulos' contributions to the field of Celestial Mechanics. "Efthymiopoulos" (2002 PV34), has been  discovered on August 5, 2002 by CINEOS at Campo Imperatore.

2. Hel.A.S. 13th Conference

Registration is now open for the 13th Conference of the Hellenic Astronomical Society (website: http://www.helas.gr/conf/2017/), to take place in Heraklion on July 2 - 6, 2017. We encourage Society members planning to attend the conference to register as soon as possible. Please keep in mind that hotel availability may be very limited in Heraklion in early July, so it is important for participants to make accommodation arrangements well in advance. The conference venue will be the Cultural and Conference Center of the Municipality of Heraklion, conveniently located near the downtown area, next to the Kommeno Benteni gate of the Venetians Walls. The venue is at walking distance from Heraklion city center and, as long as accommodation is booked early, participants have a wide variety of conveniently located hotels to choose from (an indicative list would include hotels Kastro, Atrion, Lato, Iraklion, Capsis Astoria, El Greco, Megaron, Olympic). Early booking using online booking tools allows for a variety of hotel options, good deals on hotel prices, and the possibility of free-of-charge cancellation.

3. IAU Junior Membership

The Executive Committee of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) proposes to create a new category of membership, the "IAU Junior Member". This new category is expected to be open to PhD Students and/or early-career PostDoctoral researchers in the area of Astronomy and Astrophysics. This proposal, with details still to be shaped, was based on the results of a relevant questionnaire, publicized in February 2017, in which 89% of respondents voted favorably to the IAU instituting this new membership category. The establishment of IAU Junior Members will require an amendment in the Union's Statutes that must be approved by the IAU General Assembly. The next, XXX General Assembly, will take place in Vienna, Austria, in August 2018. Months ahead, the IAU Executive Committee will gauge the opinion of National Members with respect to the content of the proposal, that will outline the specifics of the new IAU membership category. The Society will follow the developments and keep its Members informed, as there may well be opportunities for Society Members to become IAU Junior Members.

4. Current National Research Opportunities

The following openings have come to our attention for this month: European Social Fund. The Society notifies its Members that the proposal submission deadline in the framework of the European Social Fund (ΕΣΠΑ), organized by the General Secretariat of Research and Technology (GSRT), has been shifted to March 15, 2017. Interested proposers are advised to consult their institutional research organization structures (ΕΛΚΕ). More information on this Call is available here. Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation. The Call for basic research at postdoctoral level, organized by the newly established Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (HFRI - Ελ.Ιδ.Ε.Κ.), is still open. Proposals must be submitted electronically by 17:00 on March 31, 2017. More information about this call and proposal preparation can be found here. PASIPHAE Collaboration. The PASIPHAE Collaboration (http://pasiphae.science) is looking to fill a fully funded, 3-year PhD position on experimental polarimetry for astronomical applications. The selected candidate will be enrolled at the PhD program of the Physics Department of the University of Crete and will also spend considerable time at the Inter-University Center for Astronomy and Astrophysics in Pune, India. More information about this opportunity can be found here.

5. Student and Postdoctoral Research Opportunities Abroad

The following openings have come to our attention for this month:    Postdoctoral position on Structural and Thermal Models of Rocky Planets and Solid Exoplanets, Berlin, Germany, National Aeronautics and Space Research Centre (DLR). This vacancy is part of a new DFG Research Unit focusing on the development on realistic rocky planet and exoplanet models in collaboration with experimental and theoretical research groups studying matter under extreme conditions. More information can be found here.

6. Upcoming Astronomy Meetings in Greece

3rd OBSPM / LAM Summer School, Galaxy Formation and Evolution in a Cosmological Context, Island of Spetses, 15-19 May, 2017 The Labyrinth of the Unexpected: Unforeseen Treasures in Impossible Regions of Phase Space, Kerastari, Arcadia, Peloponnese, May 29 - June 3, 2017 Polarised Emission from Astrophysical Jets Ierapetra, Crete, June 12-16, 2017 13th Hellenic Astronomical Conference Heraklion, Crete, July 2-6, 2017

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, 2017. Please send your announcements (e.g., appointments/departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before March 25, 2017. 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. at secretary@helas.gr.