RoboPol monitors blazars from the

top of Mt Psiloritis in Crete

Greek researchers reveal how DNA

damage can lead to fat depletion

A “Discover the COSMOS” breath-

taking Science Café in Pelion

Neuroscience through the eyes of Art

European Data Forum 2014 in Ath-

ens

International Open Access Confer-

ence @ EKT, Athens

7th Hi-Tech ΕΚΟ Mobility Rally 2013

CretaMASSS 2013 and HAISS'13-

Agents

CIVITAS Iniative: Cleaner and better

transport in cities

SafeCity project makes cities safer

Kick off meeting of OPTIMIZEMED

project

Commission announces €13.7 mil-

lion boost to cross-border digital

public services

774% difference in phone call prices

across the EU

NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER

CONTENTS

1

# 9_2013

September_2013

COVER STORY

Strengthening Science

Journalism in Greece

3rd Summer School in Environmental

Journalism in Chania, Crete

W hat a great surprise,

to be invited ot the

end of August to

speak during a summer school

for journalists in the beautiful

Island of Crete

and more spe-

cifically nearby

the city of Cha-

nia! Of course I

accepted the

invitation at

once. Not only

for the two

days that I

would spent in

Chania but

mainly be-

cause there

was the oppor-

tunity to pre-

sent to science

journalists,

activities that good strengthen

their work (hopefully). The sur-

prises kept coming. The Re-

gional Press Institute (RPI -

http://www.rpi.gr) has estab-

lished a full-equipped training

center. Almost 30 participants

coming from several areas of

Greece, of which around 20

were just starting their work in

science journalism (that was

one more surprise for me), had

the opportunity to experience a

7 day summer school concern-

ing environmental journalism

from experts of both scientific

and journalistic backgrounds.

My presentation had to do with

the role that science journalists

should have within research

activities and projects. It was

based on a latest discussion

within the European Union of

Science Journalists' Associa-

tions (EUSJA – www.eusja.org)

that presented also in the Word

Conference of Science Journal-

ists last June in Helsinki. The

aim of the presentation was to

show and propose activities

that science journalists could

realize during the life time of a

research project and come

closer to the research commu-

nity, understand better the

research conducted by the

researchers from the very be-

ginning. This new, much more

"involved", but totally independ-

ent journalism will provide

many opportunities for all

stakeholders, e.g., researchers,

journalists, and citizen/tax-

payers. Journalists will have

close contact with researchers

in order to be able to exercise a

critical view of their on-going

work.

Continued in page 2

Science View is a science journalists’ asso-

ciation based in Athens. Science View tries

to strengthen Science Journalism in

Greece. SV also promotes science commu-

nication activities between the scientific

community and the wider public by imple-

menting events, video productions and

scientific documentaries, science commu-

nication trainings and e-learning courses,

online seminars via our training web plat-

form, printed and electronic publications,

newsletters, online magazines, websites,

information portals and brochures.

Meet the SV team and check out our pro-

jects and our services

Science View is a member of EUSJA (European

Union of Science Journalists’ Associations)

Article by Menelaos Sotiriou, Secretary General , Science View

RoboPol monitors blazars from the top of Mt Psiloritis

A n innovative global scientific instrument operates

in Skinakas Observatory on Psiloritis Mountain,

Crete, Greece. RoboPol monitors and records the

famous black holes of space and combines unmatched

precision measurements with advanced robotic opera-

tion. RoboPol is a specialized photopolarimeter de-

signed specifically for the 1.3m telescope at Skinakas.

The primary science goal of the RoboPol project is the

monitoring of the optical linear polarization of >100

gamma-ray bright blazars, which will allow to test mod-

els of the jet structure, composition, magnetic fields,

and emission mechanism. RoboPol is additionally used

to map the magnetic field in interstellar clouds. Ro-

boPol was conceived, designed, and developed by the

RoboPol Collaboration, which is comprised of the Uni-

versity of Crete and the Foundation for Research and

Technology – Hellas in Greece, the California Institute

of Technology in the United States, the Max-Planck

Institute for Radioastronomy in Bonn, Germany, the

Nicolaus Copernicus University in Poland, and the Inter-

University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics, in

Pune, India.

RoboPol was designed with high observing efficiency

and automated operation as prime goals. It uses no

moving parts other than the filter wheel. Instead, a

combination of halfwave plates and Wollaston prisms

are used to separate photons with orthogonal linear

polarizations retard them, and simultaneously produce

four images on the CCD detector for each source in the

focal plane. The photon counts in each “spot” are used

to calculate the Stokes parameters of linear polariza-

tion. This novel, 4-channel design eliminates the need

for multiple exposures with different halfwave plate

positions, thus avoiding unmeasurable, dominant sys-

tematic er-

rors due to

sky changes

b e t w e e n

m e a s u r e -

ments. A

mask in the

t e l e s c o p e

f o c a l

plane pre-

vents un-

wanted pho-

tons from the

nearby sky

and sources

from overlap-

ping with the

central target

on the CCD,

further in-

creasing the

sensitivity of

the instru-

ment. Its large, 13’x13’ field of view allows relative

photometry using standard catalogs and the polarimet-

ric mapping of large regions in the sky.

More info: http://robopol.physics.uoc.gr/

Monitoring of the optical linear

polarization of >100 gamma-ray

bright blazars

NEWS

Strengthening Science Journalism in Greece

Continued from page 1

Researchers will get more publicity for the importance

of their work, and many more aspects of it. Citizens will

be informed earlier about the latest developments in

order to better understand European research. This will

provide the basis for critical and best-informed ac-

ceptance or to ask for modifications to obtain the best

results for citizens. Thus, journalists will be able to

broaden their influence on ongoing research, acting as

independent and critical moderators between research-

ers and the EU-community.

The participants gave valuable feedback and a live

discussion took place showing their interest in the spe-

cific issue.

It is important to support these trainings and give op-

portunities especially to young people that would like to

be professional science journalists especially in Greece

that lacks.

This was the 3rd year of the summer school and the

organizers would like next year to include also journal-

ists from European countries. Photos by: Dimitris Maridakis, Menelaos Sotiriou

2

NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER # 9_2013

COVER STORY

Greek researchers reveal how DNA damage

can lead to fat depletion

NEWS

R esearch carried out at the Institute of Molecu-

lar Biology and Biotechnology-FORTH

(Foundation of Research and Technology- Hel-

las) and published a few days ago in Cell Metabolism

(http://www.cell.com/cell-metabolism/) reveals that

intrinsic DNA damage triggers a chronic auto-

inflammatory response leading to fat depletion. Lipo-

dystrophy syndromes represent a large group of heter-

ogeneous disorders characterized by the selective

loss of fat tissue. Lipodystrophy has attracted keen

scientific interest for two major reasons:

i) the metabolic consequences of fat depletion bear

remarkable similarities to those of obesity and

ii) recent progress in understanding the genetic basis

for several inherited forms of lipodystrophy has provid-

ed novel insights into adipocyte biology.

Despite much research in the field, their etiology re-

mains currently unknown. Using animals carrying a

DNA repair defect systemically or in adipose tissue,

the IMBB researchers Ismene Karakasilioti, working

together with the head of the research team Prof.

George Garinis, revealed that persistent DNA damage

signaling triggers a chronic auto-inflammatory re-

sponse that leads to severe fat depletion in mice.

Integrity of the genome is critical for normal cellular

function but the DNA is continually challenged by in-

trinsic and extrinsic genotoxic factors. To counteract

DNA damage, cells have evolved DNA repair mecha-

nisms ensuring that the genome remains functionally

intact and is faithfully transmitted to progeny. Nucleo-

tide excision repair (NER) is a major DNA repair mech-

anism that cells employ to remove a wide class of

bulky, DNA-distorting lesions from the genome. The

importance of NER defects in man is illustrated by

rare syndromes that either show increased cancer

predisposition or dramatic features of accelerated

aging, including depletion of fat depots. However, with

the exception of cancer, the links between defects in

NER and the rapid onset of progeroid features are not

well understood. Using genetically modified mice that

carry the NER defect systemically or only in the fat

tissue, the IMBB researchers provide evidence for a

causal link between persistent DNA damage and the

gradual manifestation of progressive lipodystrophy in

NER progerias; we find that the accumulation of irrep-

arable DNA inter-strand crosslinks (ICLs) triggers the

transcriptional derepression of pro-inflammatory cyto-

kines in adipocytes, the recruitment of leukocytes to

sites of tissue damage and the destruction of white

adipose tissue depots in NER-defective animals. Tak-

en together, the findings provide a novel mechanism

by which stochastic, endogenous DNA damage insti-

gates tissue-specific pathology in accelerated aging

syndromes and by analogy likely with aging.

More info: http://www.imbb.forth.gr/people/garinis/

The findings show that intrinsic DNA damage

triggers a chronic auto-inflammatory re-

sponse leading to fat depletion

774% difference in phone call prices across the EU

M obile users across the European Union face

huge price differences for the same services.

The biggest price difference is in domestic

mobile calls – a 774% difference between Lithuania,

the cheapest country, and Netherlands, the most ex-

pensive. These price differences cannot be explained

by differences in quality, differences in the cost to

provide the service, or by differences between coun-

tries in consumer purchasing power. There are much

smaller price differentials in other categories of basic

goods and services in the European single market. For

example a litre of milk can be bought for between

€0.69 and €0.99 wherever they are in the EU, a price

difference of 43%. An occasional purchase like an

iPad is subject to only an 11% price difference across

the EU. In the following days, Vice President of Europe-

an Commission Neelie Kroes is to present a new pack-

age aimed at strengthening the Telecoms single mar-

ket.

A new package aimed at strengthening the

Telecoms single market is to be announced

NEWS

3

NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER # 9_2013

Commission announces €13.7 million boost

to cross-border digital public services

NEWS

T he European Commission is making a €13.7

million investment aiming to further develop

cross-border digital public services. The new "e-

SENS" project (Electronic Simple European Networked

Services) aims to help develop digital public services

which make it easier for companies to do business in

their own Member State and elsewhere in the EU -

including setting up a company, fulfilling legal require-

ments and taking part in public tenders. It will also link

up national digital services for citizens who visit a dif-

ferent Member State on holiday, or for work or study.

Since 2008, large-scale pilots (LSPs) for cross-border

digital public services were developed by the European

Commission in cooperation with EU Member States,

industry, national administrations, academia, the pri-

vate sector and local communities to develop and test

seamless cross-border digital services. As part of e-

SENS, over 100 partners from 20 countries from Por-

tugal to Turkey are developing and implementing

building blocks based on open standards and specifi-

cations in interoperable eIDs, eSignature, eDelivery

and eDocuments.

The specific projects are:

Securely linking electronic identities - the STORK

2.0 project contributes to the realisation of a

single European electronic identification and

authentication area. It establishes interopera-

bility at national and EU level for eIDs for both

legal & physical persons.

Making justice faster – the e-CODEX project im-

proves the cross-border access of citizens and

businesses to legal services in Europe as well

as the interoperability between legal authori-

ties within the EU.

Making healthcare better - the epSOS project

designs, builds and evaluates a service infra-

structure that allows for cross-border interoper-

ability between electronic health record sys-

tems.

Making procurement better – the results of

the PEPPOL project on eProcurement

(transferred to the non-profit association

"OpenPEPPOL") help European businesses to

deal easily and electronically with European

public authorities in their procurement pro-

cesses.

Making business easier – the results of

the SPOCS project enable businesses to estab-

lish themselves abroad. The Starter-

Kit provides them with seamless cross-border

electronic alternatives to long administrative

procedures, which businesses usually have to

encounter when trying to expand into other

countries.

The European Telecommunications Standards Insti-

tute (ETSI) and OpenPEPPOL contribute significantly to

the project. e-SENS kicked off on 1st April 2013 and

the signature of the Grant Agreement with the Europe-

an Commission means the project can now officially

launch.

The Commission is providing € 13.7 million to support

e-SENS over three years (50% of the €27.4 million

budget), from its Information and Communication

Technology Policy Support Programme (ICT-PSP).

The new "e-SENS" project aims to help devel-

op digital public services which make it easi-

er for companies to do business in their own

Member State and elsewhere in the EU

4

NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER # 9_2013

I n Europe today road transport is responsible for

40% of carbon dioxide, while urban traffic is re-

sponsible for 70% of other pollutants in our envi-

ronment. In recent years many visionaries and even

policymakers have dreamt of creating societies where

transport is green, safe and sustainable, but more

often than not these dreams have remained on pen

and paper.

Now, try to imagine a future with clean, modern Euro-

pean cities that adopt cutting-edge sustainable mobili-

ty initiatives and offer superlative green transport op-

tions.

CIVITAS however aims to bring a breath of fresh air in

this respect, introducing change to over 200 European

cities towards greener transport under one dynamic

and very active network.

The word CIVITAS was coined by joining three key com-

ponents of a modern European society, namely City,

Vitality and Sustainability. The initiative was launched

in 2002 to redefine transport measures and policies in

order to create cleaner, better transport in cities.

More than 10 years after its inception, the CIVITAS

Initiative has made progress in extending cleaner and

better transport across the continent, from Cork in

Ireland and Tallinn in Estonia to Coimbra in Portugal

and Nicosia in Cyprus.

It has established over 60 demonstration cities where

it introduced new technologies and helped adopt new

eco-friendly transport initiatives.

This involved testing over 800 measures and building

a larger network of over 200 cities to further green

transport, representing a drive that has been support-

ed by an EU-funded budget of EUR 120 million.

Examples include a public transport ticketing system

in Tallinn, Estonia, a 100% clean bus fleet in Toulouse,

France, waterborne goods transport in Bremen, Ger-

many and a new traffic control system in Bologna,

Italy.

The Forum

CIVITAS runs until 2016. Every European city has the

chance to become a member of the CIVITAS Forum

Network which is an active community that currently

incorporates over 160 cities. Through workshops and

training events, cities have the opportunity to inspire

and aid active exchange of knowhow, ideas and expe-

rience to facilitate change in the field of transport.

More info: http://civitas.eu/

The initiative was launched in 2002 to rede-

fine transport measures and policies in order

to create cleaner, better transport in cities

FOCUS

CIVITAS PLUS II PRO-

JECTS (2012 - 2016)

CIVITAS DYN@MO: Aachen,

Gdynia, Koprivnica, Palma

CIVITAS 2MOVE2:

Stuttgart, Brno, Malaga, Te

l Aviv - Yafo

CIVITAS PLUS PRO-

JECTS

(2008 - 2012)

CIVITAS ARCHIMEDES:

Aalborg, Brighton &

Hove, San Sebas-

tian, Iasi, Monza, Usti-nad-

Labem

CIVITAS ELAN: Ljubljana,

Gent, Zagreb, Porto, Brno

CIVITAS MIMOSA: Bologna,

Fun-

chal, Utrecht, Gdansk, Talli

nn

CIVITAS MODERN: Craiova,

Brescia, Coimbra, Vitoria-

Gasteiz

CIVITAS RENAISSANCE:

Perugia, Bath, Gorna-

Oryahovitsa, Szcze-

cinek, Skopje

CIVITAS II PROJECTS

(2005 - 2009)

CIVITAS SUCCESS: Pres-

ton, La Rochelle, Ploiesti

CIVITAS CARAVEL: Genova,

Kraków, Burgos, Stuttgart

CIVITAS MOBILIS: Tou-

louse, Debrecen, Venezia,

Odense, Ljubljana

CIVITAS SMILE: Norwich,

Suceava, Potenza, Malmö,

Tallin

CIVITAS I PROJECTS

(2002 - 2006)

CIVITAS MIRACLES: Barce-

lona, Cork, Winchester, Ro

ma

CIVITAS TELLUS: Rotter-

dam, Berlin, Göteborg, Gdy

nia, Bukaresti

CIVITAS VIVALDI: Nantes,

Bristol, Bremen, Kaunas,

Aalborg

CIVITAS: Cleaner and better

transport in cities

5

NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER # 9_2013

CretaMASSS 2013 and

HAISS'13-Agents

EVENTS

C retaMASSS2013/ HAISS'13-Agents, the first

ever Multiagent Systems Summer School in

Greece, took place at the Department of

Electronic and Computer Engineering of the Tech-

nical University of Crete (TUC), at Chania, Crete,

Greece, from the 22nd to the 26th of July 2013.

The School offered a well-balanced tutorial curricu-

lum, covering topics such as Information Sharing

in Large Multi-

agent Systems

(MAS), Cooper-

ative MAS,

Game Theory,

Economies

and Markets,

the Smart

Grid, Robotics,

Agent-Based

Modeling (and

its application in interpreting archaeological data),

Geospatial open data in the Semantic Web, and

Agent-Oriented Software Engineering. The event

was co-organized by the International Foundation

of Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems

(IFAAMAS), the Hellenic AI Society (EETN), the

Computational Social Choice ICT COST Action

IC1205, and the Technical University of Crete. It

was also endorsed by EURAMAS (the European

Association for Multi-Agent Systems), and ACM-

SIGART (Association for Computing Machinery -

Special Interest Group on Artificial Intelligence).

The school was attended by 53 students and sci-

entists. A total of 11 scientists delivered high-

quality tutorials and research talks. Four of them

from the co-organizing institution, the Technical

University of Crete, Greece: Assistant Professor

Georgios Chalkiadakis, Dr Nikolaos Spanoudakis,

Associate Professor Michail Lagoudakis, and PhD

candidate Aggelos Chliaoutakis. The external tu-

tors were: Professor Manolis Koubarakis

(University of Athens, Greece), Professor George

Vouros (University of Piraeus, Greece), Lecturer

Vangelis Markakis (Athens University of Economics

and Business, Greece), Lecturer Michael Rovatsos

(University of Edinburgh, UK), Dr Alexander Artikis

(National Centre for Scientific Research

“Demokritos”, Greece), Dr Maria Polukarov

(University of Southampton, UK) and Dr Valentin

Robu (University of Southampton, UK).

http://www.intelligence.tuc.gr/cretamasss

The first ever Multiagent Systems Summer

School in Greece, took place in Crete, Greece

Neuroscience through

the eyes of Art

CREATIVITY IN SCIENCE

T he Neuro-

s c i e n c e

o p e r a

"Rosetta's Stone"

is a new collabo-

rative project

being developed

by artists in the

United States

and Europe, and

is inspired by two

interviews and

the books of

Baroness Profes-

sor Susan Green-

field from Oxford

University. The

following draw-

ings by Greek

art is t L inda

Crast, who is

based in Matala,

were created simultaneously with related scenes in

the opera's music and libretto. Linda Crast is one of

several artists who have contributed to the process

and inspired this developing multi-disciplinary work

with their talents. Author: Oded Ben Horin

(oded.ben@hsh.no), Stord Haugesund University Col-

lege, Norway, Faculty of Learning and Culture (Music

Dept.) * Artist: Linda Crast (lindacrast@hotmail.com)

“Rosetta's Stone” is a new collaborative project

being developed by artists in the United States

and Europe

6

NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER # 9_2013

Linda Crast's black and white painting,

"Dream Aria, the Subconscious".

Linda Crast's fist draft of Alzheimer

drawing of Hippocampus

International Open Access

Conference @ EKT

T he National Documentation Centre (EKT) an-

nounces the International Open Access Confer-

ence @ EKT. The 2013 conference is the third

in a series of

international

conferences

on Open Ac-

cess organized

by ΕΚΤ since

2008. The

c o n f e r e n c e

brings togeth-

er specialists

on open ac-

cess, research

policy-makers,

such as research funders and research performing

institution administrators, students and interested

individuals to explore current trends in Open Access

in Greece and Europe.

The conference comprises two parts: The first part

(16th October) focuses on the trends and develop-

ments in Open Access in Greece, and specifically

public sector information, open government and open

education/open research. A call for paper abstracts

for this part of the conference is addressed to Greek

organizations who desire to present relative initia-

tives (Call for paper abstracts). The second part of the

conference (October 17th and 18th) is the final con-

ference of MedOANet (www.medoanet.eu), a Europe-

an project coordinated by the National Documenta-

tion Centre (EKT/NHRF) to promote the implementa-

tion of coordinated open access policies among Med-

iterranean European countries. The final conference

of MedOANet will serve to present the results of the

project, placing them in the wider European perspec-

tives on Open Access policies, and providing a forum

for the current debate on Open Access policy imple-

mentation practices within the EU. Specifically, the

final conference will focus on best practices in policy

implementation among research funders and re-

search performing institutions, as well as a discus-

sion of open access within the European Research

Area. The program of the International Open Access

Conference @ EKT will include presentations by re-

nowned experts and representatives from the areas

of research and Open Access. The conference is of

special interest for institutions that are involved in

research policy and research performing institutions.

The Conference will be broadcasted live

at www.ekt.gr/events/live.

Open Access in Greece at October 16, 2013

and MedOANet European Conference on

October 17-18, 2013

EVENTS

SafeCity makes

cities safer

PROGRAMMES

P rotecting citizens is the first duty of states

and cities. It is a priority for the success of

businesses, communities and civil society

at large. For cities, ensured safety is a key factor

in attracting new inhabitants and fostering eco-

nomic activity. Perceived safety is a major factor

in a city’s attractiveness and fear of crime can

have a large impact on location decisions, with

ensuing economic consequences.

Leapfrogging ICT technologies applied into ad-

vanced anticipation and prevention mechanisms

could avoid damages to society in the form of

socio-economic losses, socio-political adverse

effects, environmental consequences or even

substantial human casualties, each being ac-

companied by better cost-effective solutions for

any organisation in charge of those infrastruc-

tures.

SafeCity elaborated scenarios based on Public

Safety in European Cities. The project analysed

the technical implications generated by end-user

requirements and needs within six different Euro-

pean cities: Athens, Bucharest, Madrid, Helsinki,

Stockholm, and Óbidos. SafeCity provides 9 con-

crete applications, including Video Analytics, Real

-time 3D Positioning, Road track and environ-

mental sensors, and Data Fusion. The project

interacted with the FI-WARE project to ensure

that the generic technology delivered by FI-WARE

satisfies the requirements and specifications

derived from safety-related advanced services,

SafeCity delivered a number of very successful

Proof-of-Concepts:

The Stockholm Proof-of-Concept concerned a

simulated incident – fire on the Arlanda Express

high-speed train – in the tunnel which is located

under the Stockholm Arlanda Airport. The proto-

type was a cloud-based surveillance system,

used remote data processing, focused on sensor

data, and allowed any device with an Internet

browser and the right authorization to monitor

the sensors and alerts. The Madrid Proof-of-

Concept was focused on early detection of suspi-

cious activities by means of video surveillance

sensors in a street in downtown Madrid. It aimed

to reduce operators’ response time and automat-

ed real-time detection of events.

A summary of the SafeCity results can be found

in the final report. More info: http://www.safecity

-project.eu/

The project analysed the technical implica-

tions generated by end-user requirements

and needs within six different European cit-

9

NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER # 9_2013

Kick off meeting of

OPTIMIZEMED project

EVENTS

O PTIMIZEMED kick-off meeting took place on

the 10th and 11th of July, 2013 in Valen-

cia. This is a project approved by MED pro-

gram of re-

gional cooper-

ation and co-

financed by

the European

Regional De-

v e l o p m e n t

Fund of the

E u r o p e a n

Union and

more specifically is a project under the CAPITALI-

ZATION MED Call. Eleven partners of 5 Mediterra-

nean countries participate in this project among

which Port Authorities (Piraeus and Catania), Euro-

pean Regions (Liguria, Piedmont through the Prov-

ince of Novara and Koper through its Center of

Regional Development), Chambers of Commerce

(Chamber of Commerce of Marseilles in addition

to the Council of Cameras of the Valencian Com-

munity), technological Centers (CERTH - Hellenic

Institut of Transport, Prometni Institut in addition

to FEPORTS) and Universities (University of the

Aegean).

The project gathers the work made in 7 previous

projects on intermodal transport and security in

the Mediterranean that have developed computer

science tools of support to the export, the man-

agement of the intermodal transport, the pursuit

of the harbor policies and the marine safety and

security.

The objective of the project is to harness the add-

ed value of these tools, being taken advantage of

synergies that occur among them, gathering the

best thing of each one, so that an only servicing

platform is obtained, accessible through Internet.

The next meeting will take place in Greece, and

the Plan of Communication will be presented. This

plan will define how the companies could contrib-

ute to the development of the works and how to

make available of the interested companies and

organizations the results that are obtained in the

project.

It is also predicted to have a draft of the report in

that they define the structure of the new platform

and the services that this one will be able to offer.

More info: http://www.programmemed.eu/

“Optimizing and profiting best practices in the

Mediterranean area on foreign trade, inter-

modal transport and maritime safety”

7th Hi-Tech ΕΚΟ Mobility

Rally 2013

EVENTS

A rally for electric, hybrid and alternative ener-

gies vehicles which is organised by the Hellenic

Institute of Electric Vehicles (HEL.I.E.V.) at 5-6

October 2013 in Greece, with

Athens being the starting point.

The rally is recognised by the Fed-

eration Internationale de l'Auto-

mobile (FIA) and this year will take

place in Central Greece in a circu-

lar route, starting from Holiday Inn

Athens Airport (headquarters of

the event). The official kick-off of

the rally will take place on Satur-

day noon, the 5th of October

2013, from the central premises

of BOSCH. The rally will consist of different routes for

the purely electric vehicles (193 km in total) and the

hybrid and alternative energies vehicles (585 km in

total), which consist of special routes parts.

More info: http://www.heliev.gr

A rally for electric, hybrid and alternative ener-

gies vehicles which is organised by the Hellenic

Institute of Electric Vehicles

The European Data Forum

2014 in Athens, Greece

EVENTS

The annual meeting-point for data practitioners

from industry, research, the public-sector and

the community will be held on March 19-20 2014

T he European Data Forum (EDF) is an annual

meeting-point for data practitioners from indus-

try, research, the public-sector and the commu-

nity, to discuss the opportunities and challenges of

the emerging European Data Economy. The next edi-

tion of EDF will be held in Athens, Greece on March

19-20, 2014. The program will comprise of a mixture

of keynotes, presentations, panels, networking and

exhibition sessions by industry, academics, policy

makers, and community initiatives on topics covering

the whole spectrum of research and technology de-

velopment, applications, and socio-economic aspects

of the data value chain. The Calls for Contributions

and Exhibitions, in addition to sponsoring opportuni-

ties and the conference programme will follow soon.

More info: http://2014.data-forum.eu/

8

NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER # 9_2013

Let’s discuss about Astrology

and Astronomy!

EVENTS

A breathtaking Science Café took place this sum-

mer in Pelion, Greece, which was organized in

terms of DISCOVER the COSMOS CONFERENCE,

e-Infrastructure for an Engaging Science Class-

room

T his summer an amazing science cafe took place

in a traditional village in Pelion Mountain, called

Milies. We travelled there by a little train! It was

10 o’clock at the Ano Lehonia Railway Station. The

little train’s whistle signals the beginning of an unfor-

gettable trip through the mountain. Up until Milies, the

route is filled with natutal beauty and features numer-

ous architectural landmarks, especially constructions

from carved stone and grey limestone that form

arched bridges, tunnel entries and retaining walls.

In the main square of the village we had the chance to

visit the orthodox church of Greatest Taxiarhes (built

before 1741)

where an old

faded wall paint-

ing of the Zodiac

Circle or Circle

of Life can be

found. This was

of huge interest

to the group of

approximately

100 scientists,

a s t r o n o m e r s

and physics

teachers attend-

ing the science

cafe. The paint-

ing marks out

the constella-

tions through

which the sun appears throughout the year. Outside

the church of Greatest Taxiarhes and under the

planes, having a really good mood, almost 100 people

took part in the amazing Science cafe. Mrs. Barbie

Drillsma, President of EUSJA, was the coordinator of

the science cafe, whereas Mrs. Drillsma and Mr. Wolf-

gang Goede, EUSJA’s Honorary Secretary both chaired

sessions.

Mrs. Pamela Gay, an astronomer from Southern Illinois

University launched the science cafe’s main activities

by urging the participants to wear constellation t-shirts

and took positions showing to the others the path of

the sun and moon and how we can use the constella-

tions to show planets, galaxies and objects within

them. During the Science Café, we had the pleasure to

meet the famous Iranian photographer, Babak A.

Tafreshi, whose laminated photographs of stars and

planets were distributed to the audience as a prize for

the participation in the event!

The Discover the COS-

MOS coordination ac-

tion aims to demonstrate

innovative ways to involve

teachers and students in

eScience through the use

o f e x i s t i n g e -

infrastructures in order to

spark young people's inter-

est in science and in fol-

lowing scientific careers.

It aims to support policy

development by:

a) demonstrating effective

community building be-

tween researchers, teach-

ers and students and em-

powering the latter to use,

share and exploit the col-

lective power of unique

s c i e n t i f i c r e s o u r c e s

(research facilities, scien-

tific instruments, ad-

vanced ICT tools, simula-

tion and visualisation ap-

plications and scientific

databases) in meaningful

educational activities, that

promote inquiry-based

learning and appreciation

of how science works

b) demonstrating effective

integration of science

e d u c a t i o n w i t h e -

infrastructures through a

monitored-for-impact use

of eScience activities,

which will provide feed-

back for the take-up of

such interventions at large

scale in Europe and

c) documenting the whole

process through the devel-

opment of a roadmap that

will include guidelines for

the design and implemen-

tation of effective educa-

tional and outreach activi-

ties that could act as a

reference to be adapted for

stakeholders in both scien-

tific research outreach and

science educa-

tion policy. Dis-

cover The COS-

MOS Project is

financed by the

European Commission's

Framework Programme 7

(FP7)

About Discover the COSMOS

9

NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER # 9_2013

Photo by Dimitris Zisopoulos

Photo by Dimitris Zisopoulos

Photo by Wolfgang C. Goede

Photo by Wolfgang C. Goede

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