FEBRUARY 2015 - TOPICS

Short News NOA's Contribution resolves problem with A&A Fees NOA's Sponsorship for the upcoming Hel.A.S meeting Membership Fees -- 2nd Reminder The Leiden/ESA Astrophysics Program for Summer students (LEAPS) Upcoming Astronomy Meetings in Greece About this Newsletter

1. Short News

The Council of the Hel.A.S. would like to congratulate the distinguished member of our society, Academician Prof. Stamatis Krimizis for all his recent achievements. During 2014, Prof. Krimizis received the "NASA Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal", the "Jean Dominique Cassini Medal" of the European Geophysical Union (2014), of which he became Honorary Member, the "James Van Allen Space Environments Award" of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and the NASA "Voyager Silver Achievement Award".

2. NOA's Contribution resolves problem with A&A Fees

We wish to inform our community of the recent decision of the National Observatory of Athens, which decisively resolved the problem of outstanding national fees to the journal "Astronomy and Astrophysics". In particular, NOA decided to pay from its own budget the amount of 14.810 Euros, to cover for the overdue annual fees of 2011, 2012 and 2013. The GC of Hel.A.S. wishes to express its warmest appreciation to NOA and in particular to its president, Prof. Kanaris Tsinganos, for this very generous offer to the astronomical community of Greece. We remind our members that this decision comes after a previous decision of IASAARS/NOA to donate 1.500 Euros to the Hel.A.S. (see Newsletter #197), which enabled us to cover for the 2014 fees.

3. NOA's Sponsorship for the upcoming Hel.A.S meeting

In addition to the above, the National Observatory of Athens announced to the GC of Hel.A.S. its decision to offer a sponsorship of 2.000 Euros, for the organization of the upcoming 12th Hellenic Astronomical Conference in Thessaloniki. The GC wishes to thank NOA and in particular its president, Prof. Kanaris Tsinganos, for yet another generous contribution to our Society, which greatly facilitates the organization of a successfull meeting.

4. Membership Fees -- 2nd Reminder

We remind our members to take care of any outstanding membership fees (up to and including the year 2014). The payments can be made also through the Piraeus Bank e-banking system. Should you need additional information (e.g. your financial status, methods of payment, etc.) please contact either the Secretary (K. Tsiganis) or the Treasurer of our Society (M. Xilouris).

5. The Leiden/ESA Astrophysics Program for Summer students (LEAPS)

Leiden Observatory and the European Space Agency invite applications for the Leiden/ESA Astrophysics Program for Summer Students (LEAPS). LEAPS is a highly competitive program for students with a keen interest in astronomy, astrophysics, solar physics, and planetary sciences to perform a 10-12 week summer research project in collaboration with a research scientist from Leiden Observatory or ESA. The program is open to all students not currently studying for a Ph.D., but who are enthusiastic about pursuing research in the space sciences. Students at the senior-undergraduate or masters level, in particular, are encouraged to apply. Projects will begin approximately 1st June 2015 and end by mid to late August 2015. In 2014 the program had 22 successful candidates. We expect to make a similar number of appointments this year, depending on interest and the number of available projects which are suited to the applicants' research interest and skills. More information can be found at: http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/summerstudents/ The deadline for applications is 6th February 2015. A link to the LEAPS 2015 poster can be found here: http://www.strw.leidenuniv.nl/summerstudents/LEAPS2015-poster.pdf

6. Upcoming Astronomy Meetings in Greece

The following meetings are scheduled to take place in Greece during 2015-2016: The 12th Hellenic Astronomical Conference Thessaloniki, 28 June - 2 July, 2015 The Olympian Symposium 2015: Cosmology and the Epoch of Reionization 18-22 May, 2015 Gas, Dust, and Star-Formation in Galaxies from the Local to Far Universe Chania, Greece, 25-29 May, 2015 Thessaloniki Workshop on Binary Neutron Star Mergers Thessaloniki, 27-29 May, 2015 Supernova Remnants: An Odyssey in Space after Stellar Death Chania, Crete, Greece, 6-11 June, 2016

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 March 1st, 2015. Please send your announcements (e.g. appointments/departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before February 26, 2015. 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.