Hel.A.S. Newsletter 320 - October 2024

September 2024 - TOPICS
 
  1. Short News
  2. Obituary Sotirios Persides (1940 - 2024)
  3. 17th Hellenic Astronomical Society Conference
  4. ESA Archival Research Visitor Programme
  5. Krimigis Postdoctoral Scholars Program
  6. Remarks from the 5th Summer School of Hel.A.S.
  7. Solar Eclipses from Past to Today and the Contribution of Serge Koutchmy
  8. Upcoming Astronomy Meetings and Schools in Greece
  9. About this Newsletter
1. Short News

The Society would like to congratulate Dr. Chouliaras Georgios who has recently defended successfully his PhD at the University of St. Andrews, UK. Dr. Chouliaras will continue his academic journey as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Department of Mathematical Sciences of Durham University, UK. The Society extends its best wishes for further success in his professional pursuits.

The Society would like to congratulate Dr. Chryssa Kouveliotou, Astrophysics Professor in the Physics Department of the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences at The George Washington University, USA, for receiving the Bodossaki Excellence Award 2024 in Physical Sciences and Mathematics. The Society extends its best wishes for further success in her professional pursuits.

The Society would like to congratulate Dr. Vicky Kalogera, Daniel I. Linzer Distinguished University Professor of Astrophysics at Northwestern University, USA, for leading a multi-institutional collaboration as Principal Investigator (PI). The highly competitive $20 million grant, which is jointly funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Simons Foundation, will establish SkAI, one of the two National AI Research Institutes in Astronomy. Prof. Kalogera will serve as the director of SkAI. The Society extends its best wishes for further success in her professional pursuits.

 
2. Obituary Sotirios Persides (1940 - 2024)

The GC of Hel.A.S. would like to inform all members that Sotirios Persides, Emeritus Professor of Physics at the Aristotle University of Athens, Greece, and Founding Member of our Society passed away on September 2, 2024. We would like to share the eulogy that was written and delivered by Emeritus Professor of Astrophysics Kanaris Tsinganos. The obituary is available as a PDF in greek here and and in english here.


3. 17th Hellenic Astronomical Society Conference
We would like to inform our members that the 17th Hel.A.S. Conference will take place at the Conference and Cultural Center of the University of Patras (30 June - 2 July, 2025). More information about the conference and logistics will be announced on the Society's webpage and the in the upcoming newsletters. Stay tuned!
 
4. ESA Archival Research Visitor Programme

To increase the scientific return from its space science missions, the European Space Agency (ESA) welcomes applications from scientists interested in pursuing research projects based on data publicly available in the ESA Space Science Archives (https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/esdc). The ESA Archival Research Visitor Programme is open to scientists, at all career levels, affiliated with institutes in ESA Member States and Collaborating States, although we will also consider strong applications from outside those states. Early-career scientists (within 10 years of the PhD) and PhD students are particularly encouraged to apply. We encourage applications from women and minorities. The peer-review evaluation process is anonymised to ensure equal opportunities for all applicants. 

During their stay, visiting scientists will have access to archives and mission specialists for help with the retrieval, calibration, and analysis of archival data. In principle, all areas of space research covered by ESA science missions can be supported. Residence lasts typically between one and three months, also distributed over multiple visits. Research projects can be carried out at ESAC (Madrid, Spain) and at ESTEC (Noordwijk, Netherlands). To offset the expenses incurred by visitors, ESA covers travel costs from and to the home institution and provides support for lodging expenses and meals. 

Applications received before 1 November 2024 will be considered for visits in spring and summer 2025. For further details, including areas of research and contact information, please refer to: https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/esdc/visitor-programme or write to the programme coordinators at arvp@cosmos.esa.int


 
5. Krimigis Postdoctoral Scholars Program

We would like to inform our Members about the "Krimigis Postdoctoral Scholars Program'' at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL). The program provides extraordinary scientists with the opportunity to engage in cutting-edge projects designed to advance the future of space science. For more details about the program and how to apply, visit https://www.jhuapl.edu/work/impact/space-science-and-engineering/krimigis-postdoctoral-scholars

Applications for the current cycle are due October 15, 2024.

 
6. Remarks from the 5th Summer School of Hel.A.S.

The 5th Summer School of Hel.A.S., "Magnetohydrodynamics in Astrophysics” (https://helas.gr/school/2024/), was held at the University of Ioannina from September 16 to 20, 2024. Its program featured morning lectures by thirteen leading experts from various Greek universities and research institutes who provided a solid foundation of MHD and demonstrated its wide-ranging applications in astrophysics. Topics covered included solar, stellar, and space physics, space weather, the interstellar medium, MHD stability, magnetic helicity, turbulence and particle acceleration, neutron stars, astrophysical jets, and black holes. Connections to the MHD of laboratory plasmas were also explored. Afternoon sessions were dedicated to hands-on practical work, encompassing analytical approaches and numerical methods to solve MHD problems, including machine learning methods and the visualization of MHD simulations output. More than thirty students (undergraduate, MSc, and PhD) and early-career scientists from various universities and research institutes in Greece and abroad participated in the School. The School concluded with presentations by PhD students and early-career scientists on their research, alongside undergraduate and MSc students, showcasing their work on the School's practical work projects. In addition to support from Hel.A.S., the School received support from the University of Ioannina and the WholeSun project.

 
7. Solar Eclipses from Past to Today and the Contribution of Serge Koutchmy

The event is organised in honour of Serge Koutchmy and his scientific achievements, marking one year since his passing. Serge Koutchmy was a renowned French solar astrophysicist who made significant contributions to the understanding of the Sun’s physics and maintained close collaborations with many Greek astrophysicists for more than 30 years. Serge Koutchmy was one of the most experienced eclipse observers, collected a wealth of new data, and made significant discoveries related to solar physics. Helen Dara and Despina Hatzidimitriou will address the event and talks will be given by Costas Alissandrakis (The Sun and Its Eclipses), Jean-Claude Vial (A Tribute to Serge Koutchmy and the Unique Eclipse Observation on-board a Concorde Flight),  and Kostas Tziotziou (Observations of the Total Solar Eclipse of 2024 from Texas). The event is co-organized by Hel.A.S., the Department of Physics of NKUA, and the Department of Physics of the University of Ioannina.

 
8. Upcoming Astronomy Meetings and Schools in Greece

9. 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 1, 2024. Please send your announcements (e.g., appointments / departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before October 25, 2024. 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.

 


 
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