Researchers at the Department of Biomedical Research IMBB Ioannina revealed that growth factor signaling in cells integrates the response mechanism to the presence of unfolded proteins (Unfolded Protein Response, UPR) in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). This study shows that ER plays an important role in normal cell functions, such as signaling by growth factors, and is not limited to the adaptation of the cell to stress.

Phase separation in otherwise chemically homogenous, strongly correlated electron systems is a crucial parameter, leading to fascinating tunable functional properties, such as high-Tc superconductivity in cuprates and giant magnetoresistance in manganites.

A new distinction for FORTH comes from the European Research Council (ERC) which approved the research program submitted by Dr. Andreas Zezas, researcher of the Astrophysics Group at the Institute of Electronic Structure and LASER (IESL) of FORTH. The approved program is entitled: "Accreting binary populations in Nearby Galaxies: Observations and Simulations" (A-BINGOS), and was submitted in the first ERC "Consolidator Grants" call. The goal of the ERC Consolidator Grants is to "enable already independent excellent researchers to consolidate their own research teams and to develop their most innovative ideas". In this call were approved 312 programs out of 3637 submitted proposals (a success rate of 8.5%). The program A-BINGOS is one of the only 2 programs awarded to Greek Institutions, and the first one to be awarded to a Greek Astrophysicist.

Many animals – such as crabs, octopuses and salamanders – have the ability to regenerate parts of their body that are severely injured or amputated. Just as we are able to replace a broken part of our car, these animals can replace lost limbs by new ones with the same form and function. Contrary to cars, animals do not possess spare parts and cannot suspend their functions in order to be repaired; they generate their new limbs in situ, while going about in their normal lives.

Controlling the propagation of high-intensity light beams as they travel through transparent media is a challenging task, but IESL scientists have now shown that a relatively new type of light beam called a ring-Airy beam can self-focus into intense light bullets that propagate over extended distances. These highly focused, high-intensity ring-Airy beam light bullets offer a very unique level of control that cannot be achieved with equivalent Gaussian beams, making them ideal for a variety of optical applications ranging from precision materials processing and nanosurgery to attosecond pulse drivers.

Thousands of proteins are produced inside our cells. More than a third of these proteins can fulfill their function only after migrating to the outside of the cell, becoming anchored to the cell membrane or being targeted to specific subcellular compartments. How cells regulate trafficking of their proteins is a fundamental problem in biology andis essential for life. Examples of migrating proteins are insulin (whose absence leads to diabetes), antibodies (that combat infections), membrane channels (essential amongst other for neuronal cell function) and toxin-proteins secreted by pathogenic microorganisms.

Research carried out at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology-FORTH and published today in Cell Metabolism reveals that intrinsic DNA damage triggers a chronic auto-inflammatory response leading to fat depletion.

A new distinction for FORTH, Greece's major Research Centre, came through the recent approval by the ERC (European Research Council) of one more proposal that was submitted by Dr. Xenofontas Dimitropoulos of FORTH's Institute of Computer Science (ICS). This ERC grant will fund Dimitropoulos' "NetVolution" project, to perform research on evolving the routing system of the Internet. ERC starting grants are considered highly honorary: they are given for cutting edge research and they are very competitive -- in 2013, out of 3,329 proposals that were submitted Europe-wide and across all disciplines, only 287 were accepted, i.e. just nine percent (9%); only two (2) of these 287 approved grants are given to researchers in Greek institutions, and "NetVolution" is one of the two. Dr. Dimitropoulos is repatriating to Greece, coming to FORTH and the University of Crete, where he has been elected Assistant Professor, leaving his position with ETH Zurich.

“Creative Crete” is a unique installation of pioneering interactive technologies located at Heraklion international airport “Nikos Kazantzakis”, realized by the Institute of Computer Science of FORTH under the initiative of the Region of Crete.

Turn down the volume! Noise in everyday life is a significant and growing problem that, according to the World Health Organisation, is responsible for many healthy years of life lost [1]. And it is not just traffic,mobile devices or so-called personal music equipment that is responsible, but speech itself. Anyone unfortunate enough to spend much time at a public transport interchange or airport is assailed by loud, distorted and repetitive announcements. Keeping the volume high is the easy way to ensure that anyone listening gets the message, especially in noisy environments, but is it the smartest solution?