Education

The “Summer School Alpbach” has been succesfully completed. It took place in Alpbach, Austria, between July 9-18, and among 60 selected participants there were two students from Greece, whose participation was financially supported by the HSC: Georgia Moutsiana (PhD fellow, UOA Department of Physics) and Christos Dinos (PhD fellow at IPGP, France). The School topic was “Moons of the Giant Planets”. The participants had an in-depth learning experience, attending engaging lectures on aspects of space science and engineering, and worked intensively in four teams to define and plan a space mission under the supervision of important scientists and engineers. 

Between June 3rd and 6^th, the “Terrestrial Analogues for Solar System studies” workshop is held, organized by the Hellenic Space Center with the support of the European Geosciences Union (EGU), the Europlanet Society, and of the Municipality of Milos. 

The workshop will be a meeting point for planetary scientists from around the world, including students and early career scientists, in a location of great relevance for planetary geologic topics – the island of Milos in Greece. This region has experienced young volcanism and tectonism (Mars, Venus, Pluto), has undergone atmospheric shaping of volcanic deposits, and carving into yardangs (Mars, Titan, Venus, Pluto), and has current hydrothermal and fumarolic activity (Venus, Io, exoplanets).  

The workshop will include lectures, scientific discussions and field exercises, focusing on the analysis and observation of the geology and paleogeographic evolution of the island. Recognizing the necessity of supporting early career scientists, the conference offers financial support to 14 students/ early career scientists. 

On Monday, May 20^th, the presentation of the “Space Physics” textbook, organized by the Eugenides Foundation and the Hellenic Space Center, took place. The event, called “Beyond the Limits of Our Planet: The Exciting World of Space”, was attended by the former Rector of the UOA, Professor Emeritus, Dimosthenis Asimakopoulos, the Professors of the UOA Physics Department, Despina Hadjidimitriou and Elena Flokas, the Professor of the UOA Pedagogy and Primary Education Department, Alexandros-Stamatios Antoniou, the Professor Emeritus of the UOA Physics Department, Kanaris Tsiganos, as well as students and other attendees.  

The book presentation was followed by an extensive discussion with the audience. The event was recorded and is available through the Diavlos platform. 

The Eugenides Foundation and the Hellenic Space Center are organizing the presentation of the first academic textbook on Space Physics in Greek, titled “Space Physics”. The book will be presented by Dr. Stamatis Krimizis, President of the Academy of Athens. Talks will be given by the authors of the book: 

• Prof. Ioannis A. Daglis, President of the Hellenic Space Center 
• Dr. Christos Katsavrias, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Physics, UOA 
• Dr. Nick Sergis, CEO of the Hellenic Space Center 
• Dr. Marina Georgiou, Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Physics, UOA 

The event, entitled “Beyond the Limits of Our Planet: The Exciting World of Space”, will take place on Monday, May 20^th, at 19:00, at the Eugenides Foundation. A discussion with the audience will follow. Entry is free and as long as there are free spots available. The event will be broadcasted live through the Diavlos platform.

The Hellenic Space Center participates in the year’s Athens Science Festival, which will be hosted in the Technopolis of the City of Athens, between April 16 and 21.  

The Outreach and Education Team of the HSC organizes a workshop for children, called “Astronaut Academy”, which will be held on Wednesday, April 17th, at 11:00-11:45 and 12:00-12:45, in the INNOVATHENS facility.  

Workshop description:  

Children will learn in an interactive way about the peculiarities and difficulties of the daily life of astronauts as they hover above Earth in a spacecraft. At the same time, they learn about the purpose and operation of the International Space Station, but also become astronauts for a while as they are confronted with a real orienteering challenge. Finally, they take part in a fun quiz, completing their training!  

A ticket purchase is required for entering the Festival, through the more.com platform.  

A few deadlines are coming up for the Terrestrial Analogues workshop, organized by the HSC.  

• Registration deadline: March 1st, 2024 
• Financial support application deadline: March 1st, 2024 
• Abstract submission deadline: March 15th, 2024   

We are delighted to host a 4-day workshop dedicated to terrestrial analogues for extraterrestrial studies in the Greek volcanic island of Milos.  

Terrestrial Analogues for Solar System studies 
3-6 June 2024 
Milos Conference Center 

Our workshop aims to bring together planetary scientists from all over the world including students and early career scientists in a location of great relevance for planetary geologic topics – the island of Milos in Greece. This region has experienced young volcanism and tectonism (Mars, Venus, Pluto), has undergone atmospheric shaping of volcanic deposits, and carving into yardangs (Mars, Titan, Venus, Pluto), and has current hydrothermal and fumarolic activity (Venus, Io, exoplanets). The workshop will offer a combination of lectures, scientific discussions and field trips, with a central focus around the field. 

There is no registration fee and financial support will be offered to 10 students/early career scientists. 

Feel free to share this announcement! 

Organizer: Hellenic Space Center (HSC) 
Sponsors: EGU, Europlanet Society, HSC 

For queries please contact:  
Anezina Solomonidou anezina.solomonidou@hsc.gov.gr 
Stamatios Xydous stxydous@aua.gr  
Nantia Moutsouroufi konstantina.moutsouroufi@hsc.gov.gr 

On Sunday, January 21, the President of the HSC, Prof. Ioannis Daglis, gave a public lecture on “The exploration and understanding of Space with spacecraft observations” in Livadia, Greece. The lecture is part of the series “Traveling through our solar system”, organised by the Public Central Library of Livadia, the Directorate of Secondary Education of Boeotia and the Friends of the Livadia Library cultural association, with free admission, and under the coordination of Prof. Loukas Vlachos. The recording of the talk is available on YouTube (in greek).