July 2026

TOPICS

• Short News
• The 45th General Assembly of Hel.A.S.
• Elections of Hel.A.S.
• Launching of new Hel.A.S. website
• Summer School of Hel.A.S.
• Upcoming Astronomy Meetings and Schools in Greece
• About this Newsletter

 1. Short News

The Society would like to congratulate Dr. Manolis Xilouris who recently assumed duties as Director of the Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing of the National Observatory of Athens. The Society extends its best wishes for further success in his professional pursuits.

The Society would like to congratulate Dr. Ioannis Kontogiannis on his appointment as Associate Researcher at the Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing of the National Observatory of Athens in June 2026. The Society extends its best wishes for further success in his professional pursuits.

The Society would like to congratulate Dr. Nikolaos Karnesis on his appointment as Associate Researcher at the Research Center for Astronomy and Applied Mathematics of the Academy of Athens in June 2026. The Society extends its best wishes for further success in his professional pursuits.

The Society would like to congratulate Dr. Manos Zapartas for being awarded a 3-year Postdoctoral Junior Leader fellowship from La Caixa Foundation, based on ICE-CSIC in Barcelona, Spain, starting in September 2026. The Society extends its best wishes for further success in his professional pursuits.

The Society would like to congratulate Dr. Gonzalo Munoz-Sanchez, former PhD student at the University of Athens and the Institute for Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications, and Remote Sensing (IAASARS/NOA), on being awarded a postdoctoral position on protoplanetary disks at Observatorio Astronomico Nacional (OAN-IGN) in Spain, beginning in July 2026. The Society extends its best wishes for further success in his professional pursuits.

2. The 45th General Assembly of Hel.A.S.

The 45th General Assembly (GA) took place in hybrid mode on June 26, 2026 at the Department of Physics of the University of Athens. The GA was preceded by a colloquium of Prof. Ioannis Daglis titled “Cross-Scale Processes in Radiation Belt Dynamics and Coupling with the Ring Current“. During the GA, 6 new junior members and 3 new ordinary members of the Society were elected. The minutes of the 45th General Assembly are available here.

3. Elections of Hel.A.S.

During the elections that took place electronically via the platform “Zeus” on June 26, 2026, the President of the Society, as well as a new Council and Auditors for the 2026-2028 term were elected. Of the 189 ordinary and junior members of the Society eligible to vote a total of 72 ballots were cast. The results of the elections were:

Elected President of Hel.A.S.:

• Hatzidimitriou Despina

Elected Members of the Governing Council:

• Archontis Vassilios
• Bonanos Alceste
• Gkolias Ioannis
• Liodakis Ioannis
• Tzemos Athanasios
• Vlahakis Nektarios

Elected Auditors:

• Georgakakis Antonis
• Gourgouliatos Konstantinos
• Papadakis Iossif

The minutes prepared by the Elections Committee, which include the votes each person received are available here.

4. Launching of new Hel.A.S. website

The Society is happy to announce the launch of the new Hel.A.S. website and warmly thanks I. Kapetanakis (IA-FORTH, Crete), who voluntarily undertook the majority of the technical implementation of the website, as well as V. Laios for his technical support. Members of the outgoing Council all contributed to the development and updating of the content, with Dr. I. Antoniadis leading the effort, as well as Dr. A. Papaioannou developing special functions of the website. Members are encouraged to review and send corrections and updates on their personal information to the Secretary.

5. Summer School of Hel.A.S.

The 6th Astrophysics Summer School of the Society, titled “Multi-messenger Astronomy“, will take place in Athens between 24-28 August 2026. More information about the summer school, which is also sponsored by the Univ. of Athens, the Academy of Athens and the National Observatory of Athens, is available here.

6. Upcoming Astronomy Meetings and Schools in Greece

• 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
• From Gaia to GaiaNIR – Science from Precision Astrometry Across the Universe and Beyond the Extinction Barrier
  11-15 January 2027, Athens (Eugenides Foundation)

7. About this Newsletter

This Newsletter was sent to all members of Hel.A.S. The next edition of the Newsletter will be mailed around August 1, 2026. Please send your announcements (e.g., appointments / departures, job openings, research opportunities, awards, conferences in Greece) or comments before July 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.