Abstract

Prof. Plionis will present a brief introduction of the structure of the National Observatory of Athens and of its main research activities. Special attention will be paid on the services provided to the Hellenic state and the public, which are related to the detection, monitoring and mitigation of the effects of Natural Disasters, using remote sensing, satellite technology but also an extended network of ground based infrastructures.

He will also present the range of educational activities that the Observatory is involved in, starting from the MSc program on Space Science, Technology & Applications and ending with extended public outreach activities.

About the Speaker

MANOLIS PLIONIS is the Director and President of the BoD of the National Observatory of Athens, a Professor at the Physics Department of the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Astrophysics, Optics & Electronics (INAOE) of Mexico and Vice-Chairman of the Board of the Science and Technology Museum NOESIS. He received a Mathematics degree from the University of Crete and a PhD in Observational Cosmology in 1989 from the University of Sussex in the UK, supervised by Professor John Barrow. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the SISSA International Research Center in Italy for about 5 years and at the ICTP International Center of Theoretical Physics for 1 year. He returned to Greece in 1995 as a Researcher at the National Observatory of Athens where he stayed until 2012.

He has published over 200 scientific articles and many popular science articles, while he has supervised many Doctoral, Master and undergraduate theses. He is a member of the International Astronomical Union, a founding member and for four terms (until 2010) elected member of the Governing Board of the Hellenic Astronomical Society. He is also a founding member and elected member of the Governing Board for one term (2010-2012) of the Hellenic Society for Gravity, Relativity and Cosmology. His research interests are related to Observational Cosmology, Large-Scale Structure of the Universe and Extragalactic Astrophysics.

Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

View all CyI events.