OCTOBER 2008 - TOPICS

Short News Job Openings Fulbright Scholarships to the US PhD Positions at IMPRS in Garching/Munich PhD Positions at IMPRS in Heidelberg Multiwavelength Astronomy and the Virtual Observatory Upcoming Astronomy Meetings in Greece About this Newsletter

1. SHORT NEWS

We would like to congratulate Dr. Despina Hatzidimitriou (Univ. of Crete) who was recently elected as an Associate Professor at the Dept. of Physics of the Univ. of Athens. Dr. Polychronis Papaderos recently moved from the Univ. of Göttingen, to a research associate position at the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía in Granada (Spain). Dr. S. Kitsionas recently moved from AIP (Germany) to a teaching position at the American College of Psychiko in Athens.

2. JOB OPENINGS

A promotion related position at the level of "Associate Professor" in the field of Observational Astrophysics has opened at the Department of Physics of the University of Crete (F.E.K. 797/29-8-2008). For more information contact the secretariat of the Department Ms. A. Armenaki-Koutentaki, at: +30 2310 394304. The Astrophysics Group at FORTH and the Department of Physics at the University of Crete (Greece) advertise an opening for one postdoctoral position on “Infrared studies of AGN”. The successful candidate is expected to be self-motivated and have experience in mid-infrared data analysis. Experience with the data acquisition and analysis from optical telescopes is a plus. For further details you may contact Prof. Vassilis Charmandaris (vassilis@physics.uoc.gr)). The duration of the position is for a period of 2 years with a net monthly salary of ~2,000 Euros. The starting date is negotiable but should be before the beginning of March 2009. Interested applicants are requested to send a cover letter with a CV, publication record, and description of research interests along with the names of three individuals who could write letters of recommendation, to Prof. Nick Kylafis, Dept. of Physics, Univ. of Crete, P.O. Box 2208, GR-71003 Heraklion, Greece. Applications by e-mail to “kylafis@physics.uoc.gr” are strongly encouraged. Applications received before December 1st 2008 will be given full consideration. Information on the activities of the Crete Astrophysics Group and Skinakas Observatory can be obtained from: http://www.physics.uoc.gr/en/menu/astro.php

3. FULBRIGHT SCHOLARSHIPS TO THE US

The Fulbright Foundation in Greece will award 15 to 20 partial grants to graduate students for a Master's or Ph.D. degree, beginning September 2009, at universities in the United States. Award is open to graduate students in all fields of study except medicine, dentistry and veterinary science or those who wish to enter residency training programs. Candidates should have already applied to U.S. universities when they submit their Fulbright application. Admission to a U.S. University is not required at the time of a < pplication but is mandatory for the award of the grant. Grantees are selected on the basis of academic excellence, professional experience (if applicable), career potential and personal character. The application deadline is 15 November 2008. Additional Fellowships for 2-3 visits to the US from University faculty and researchers who have more than 5 years of research experience past their PhD are also available. For additional information contact Sophie Cousoula (scousoula@fulbright.gr) the fellowship advisor in Athens at +30-210-7241811 (extension 103), or in Thessaloniki at +30-2310-242904. The application deadline is 13 November 2008 For more details visit the "Scholarship" section of the Foundation web site at: http://www.fulbright.gr/

4. PHD POSITIONS AT IMPRS IN GARCHING/MUNICH

The International Max-Planck Research School on Astrophysics (IMPRS) is soliciting applications for its PhD program. Located in the beautiful Munich-Garching area in southern Bavaria (Germany), the school offers a unique environment for graduate students due to the presence of four internationally renowned institutes which form the school: * The Max-Planck Institute for extraterrestrial Physics (MPE) * The Observatory of the University of Munich (LMU/USM) * The Max-Planck Institute for Astrophysics (MPA) * The European Southern Observatory (ESO) In addition, Astro-particle physics groups at the Technical University of Munich are participating as associated partners. Applications for the program are open to students from all countries. More details on the IMPRS program and the admission requirements can be found at the IMPRS website: http://www.imprs-astro.mpg.de/ The closing date for applications for the program starting in September 2009 is December 1, 2008. Applications forms are available online at: http://www.imprs-astro.mpg.de/admission.html

5. PHD POSITIONS AT IMPRS IN HEIDELBERG

Applications are invited for the doctoral program of the International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) for Astronomy & Cosmic Physics at the University of Heidelberg. The scientific environment in Heidelberg provides outstanding research facilities and training programs covering a wide range of research topics with access to ground-based and space telescopes as well as high- performance computers. The following institutions of the Max Planck Society and Heidelberg University take part in IMPRS Heidelberg: * The Max-Planck Institute for Astronomy * Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics * Astronomisches Rechen-Institut * Institute of Theoretical Astrophysics * Landessternwarte Koenigstuh Applications for the program are open to students from all countries. More details on the IMPRS program and the admission requirements can be found at the IMPRS website http://www.imprs-astro.mpg.de/ The closing date for applications for the program starting in September 2009 is December 13, 2008. Applications forms are available online at: http://www.mpia.de/imprs-hd/

6. MULTIWAVELENTGH ASTRONOMY AND THE VIRTUAL OBSERVATORY

The EURO-VO project, in the framework of the EURO-VO Astronomical Infrastructure for Data Access (AIDA), is organising an international workshop at ESAC, Villafranca del Castillo, Spain. As new and older ground-based and space facilities will continue providing multi-wavelength data in a variety of formats and multi-chip instruments and large Surveys are expected to increase the data inflow by orders of magnitude, the VO is becoming indispensable for accessing and handling the exponentially increasing data volume. The goals of the workshop are to pinpoint the challenges multi-wavelength astronomy will be facing in the coming years and to identify how the unique capabilities intrinsic to the VO concept, such as simultaneous access to different archives, metadata describing the content and quality of the data packages or tools to e.g. cross-correlate the various datasets, can meet them. To achieve these goals, the workshop will bring together experts in multi-wavelength galactic and extragalactic astronomy and scientists and engineers actively involved in the international VO initiative. The deadline for registration is October 24 2008. For more details, visit the workshop’s web page: http://esavo.esa.int/MultiwavelengthVOWorkshopDec2008

7. 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.

Modern Challenges in Nonlinear Plasma Physics - A conference honoring the career of K. Papadopoulos. Sani Resort, Halkidiki, 15-19 June 2009 9th Conference of the Hellenic Astronomical Society Athens, 21-24 September 2009 6th Conference of Greek Amateur Astronomers Alexandroupoli, 25-27 September 2009

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 November 1st 2008. Please send your announcements (e.g. appointments/departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before October 25, 2008. 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.