NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER...community and the wider public by imple-menting events, video productions and...
Transcript of NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER...community and the wider public by imple-menting events, video productions and...
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
([email protected]), Stord Haugesund University Col-
lege, Norway, Faculty of Learning and Culture (Music
Dept.) * Artist: Linda Crast ([email protected])
“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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NEWSLETTER NEWSLETTER # 9_2013
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