The 7^th annual Nick Kylafis Distinguished Lecture will be given for 2025 by the distinguished astrophysicist Roger Blandford, Luke Blossom Professor at Stanford University (USA).

Professor Blandford’s lecture, which will follow the public ceremony, will be in English and it is entitled “New Horizons in Extreme Electrodynamics of Black Holes and Neutron Stars”. It will take place on Wednesday, 29 October 2025, at 14.00 at the Central Amphitheater of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), with simultaneous webcast.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH) are co-organizing the 7th Quantum Technology Conference, taking place on October 7–9, 2025, on FORTH’s premises in Heraklion, Crete. The Conference, which has become a benchmark in the field of quantum technologies for space exploration, is held every two years in different European cities, aiming to promote scientific excellence and showcase cutting-edge technological achievements.

The Institute of Astrophysics of the Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas, with the support of the Municipality of Heraklion, is organizing two stargazing nights dedicated to the impressive parade of planets that currently adorns the night sky, on Saturday 8th of March and on Sunday 9th of March 2025, at 19:00 - 21:00, Heraklion Walls, Jesus Bastion.

Mr. Vassilis Charmandaris, Professor of Astrophysics at the Dep. of Physics of the University of Crete and Director of the Institute of Astrophysics-FORTH and the Skinakas Observatory has been selected as a member of the Space Science Advisory Committee of the European Space Agency (ESA) for a period of three years starting on January 2025.

Prof. Charmandaris is the first Greek scientist to have ever been appointed to this advisory body.

Thanks to new sophisticated techniques and state-of-the-art facilities, Astronomy has entered a new era in which the depth of the sky can finally be accessed.

Ioannis Liodakis, a NASA postdoctoral fellow at the Marshall Space Flight Center, was recently awarded the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant.

It is worth mentioning that FORTH hosts the largest number of ERC Grants (40) in Greece.

The European Pulsar Timing Array joins teams worldwide in announcing compelling evidence for gravitational wave signals of Cosmological origin.

"Polarization of light can provide unique information about the underlying processes in astrophysical systems” said Yannis Liodakis, lead author of the study, astronomer at FINCA and alumnus of the University of Crete.

Dr. Raphael Skalidis, graduate of the Physics Department of the University of Crete, was awarded the Best PhD thesis Prize - "Emilios Harlaftis" of the Hellenic Astronomical Society for 2023.