May 2026 - TOPICS
Short News Elections of Hel.A.S. The 45th General Assembly of Hel.A.S. Hel.A.S. Travel Grants EAS Early Career Researchers Advisory Committee Update Member Information Upcoming Astronomy Meetings and Schools in Greece About this Newsletter
1. Short News
The Society would like to congratulate Prof. Vassilis Charmandaris, former President of Hel.A.S., on being awarded the EAS Prize "2026 Lodewijk Woltjer Lecture". This prestigious distinction recognizes his significant contributions to observational extragalactic astrophysics and his leadership in space infrared astronomy. The Society extends its best wishes for further success in his professional pursuits. The Society would like to congratulate Prof. Maria Petropoulou on being one of the recipients of the "Excellence in Research"  Prize for the Academic Year 2024 - 2025 awarded by the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. The Society extends its best wishes for further success in her professional pursuits.
2. Elections of Hel.A.S.
The Governing Council of the Hel.A.S. informs all members that the next elections for the Council of the Society for 2026-2028 term will take place on Friday 26 June 2026, along with the 45th General Assembly (GA). More information on the forthcoming GA and the elections will become available in the following Newsletters. The deadline for nominations ended on April 30, 2026 and on May 4, 2026 the Governing Council (GC) approved all nominations received. These were (in alphabetical order): Candidate for President of the GC: Prof. Despina Hatzidimitriou (Univ. of Athens) Candidates for Members of the GC: Prof. Vassilis Archontis (Univ. of Ioannina), Dr. Alceste Bonanos (IAASARS/NOA), Prof. Ioannis Gkolias (Univ. of Thessaloniki), Dr. Ioannis Liodakis (IA/FORTH), Dr. Athanasios Tzemos (Academy of Athens), Prof. Nektarios Vlahakis (Univ. of Athens) Candidates for Auditors: Dr. Antonis Georgakakis (IAASARS/NOA), Prof. Konstantinos N. Gourgouliatos (Univ. of Patras), Prof. Iossif Papadakis (Univ. of Crete) Brief CVs of all candidates are available here. We would like to remind all members that in order to participate in the upcoming elections all Ordinary and Junior members must have paid their 2025 annual membership fee by June 12, 2026. After this date, the e-mails of the eligible voters will be submitted to the electronic voting system for processing. The electronic voting will be performed through the ZEUS platform and will be coordinated by the three member committee: Dr. A. Anastasiadis (Chair), Dr. S. Boula and Dr. E. Zapartas.
3. The 45th General Assembly of Hel.A.S.
The agenda of the 45th General Assembly of the Society, which will take place on Friday June 26 2026, is available here. At noon, Prof. Ioannis Daglis,  will deliver an invited lecture to all participants.
4. Hel.A.S. Travel Grants
We would like to inform the Junior members of our Society that we are now accepting applications for financial support for meetings occurring during the calendar year's second half (July - December 2026).  Priority will be given to Junior members who have no access to other sources of funding for their participation in conferences or workshops. The deadline for submitting the application is June 15, 2026. More information can be found here.
5. EAS Early Career Researchers Advisory Committee
We would like to invite our members to express their interest in joining the EAS Early Career Researchers Advisory Committee (ECR AC). The main goal of the AC is to advise the EAS Council on ECR needs, challenges, and future topics of relevance to ECRs working in astronomy and astrophysics.  Interested parties should fill in the following form . Please note that candidate members must be PhDs or ECRs (i.e., within 10 years of PhD graduation).
6. Update Member Information
All members are strongly encouraged to check their information on the Society's webpage and contact the Secretary if any updates are needed. Your prompt feedback for any address/institution changes is essential in order to keep this directory up to date!
7. Upcoming Astronomy Meetings and Schools in Greece
5th Olympian Symposium: The Evolution of Interstellar Medium Across Cosmic Times 18-22 May 2026, Paralia Katerini 16th Quadrennial Solar-Terrestrial Physics Symposium 1-5 June 2026, Thessaloniki Note: The weekend before the conference a school for young scientists will be held. Complexity in Heliophysics: Celebrating the Career and Works of Loukas Vlahos 8-10 June 2026, Thessaloniki Summer School in Observational Astrophysics 7-11 July 2026, Kryoneri Observatory, Corinth 6th Hel.A.S. Astrophysics Summer School on "Multi-messenger Astronomy" 24 - 28 August 2026, Athens, Physics Department Tidal Disruption Events and Nuclear Transients in Crete vol. 2 24-28 August 2026, Heraklion, Crete Star Formation Fields (Crete IV) 21-25 September 2026, Rethymno, Crete
8. 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 June 1, 2026. Please send your announcements (e.g., appointments / departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before May 25, 2026. 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.