The Onassis Seminar Lectures 2023, held from 03 to 07 July at FORTH in Heraklion, Crete, aim to further educate and promote young, talented scientists, postgraduate and final year students. This year's Onassis Lectures were dedicated to Applications of Extreme Light.

The keynote speaker of this year's lectures was the Nobel Laureate Gerard Mourou, who gave a public speech entitled "PASSION EXTREME LIGHT: FOR THE GREATEST BENEFIT OF HUMAN KIND" on Wednesday 05 July 2023.

Nine pioneers in the area of Extreme Light from America, Europe and Asia participated as Speakers.

Gerard Mourou

Professor, École Polytechnique, France

Nobel Prize (2018) in Physics

Jean – Claude Kieffer

Professor, INRS, Canada

Eleftherios Goulielmakis

Professor, University of Rostock, Germany

Maciej Lewenstein

Professor, ICFO, Spain

Victor Malka

Professor, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

Chang Hee Nam

Professor, Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology, Korea

Joerg Schreiber

Professor, Ludwig Maximillians Universitaet, Germany

Toshiki Tajima

Professor, University of California Irvine, USA

Paraskevas Tzallas

Research Director, FORTH, Greece

51 students from Institutions in Greece and abroad were accepted to participate, selected according to their academic performance. Their travel and accommodation expenses in Heraklion were covered with the financial assistance of the Onassis Foundation. 11 students from Cretan Foundations were also accepted, based on the same criteria, without receiving financial support. The Onassis Seminar Lectures were held, for the 28th time this year in Heraklion, Crete starting in 2001, with the cooperation of the Onassis non profit Foundation and FORTH.

Each cycle of Lectures lasts one week. Past speakers have included 23 Nobel Laureates, 4 Turing Award winners and Fields Medal winner Edward Witten. The aim of the institution is to give the opportunity to talented young scientists, post-graduate and final year undergraduate students, from Greece and abroad, to be trained in the cutting-edge research problems of their field, under the guidance of leading scientists from all over the world. The Onassis Foundation's mission is to unleash the creative forces of those who want to develop their research in the fields of education, health and culture.

For further information:

Yannis Papamastorakis

Emeritus Professor, University of Crete

Scientific Leader of the Onassis Lectures

Email: onassisf@admin.forth.gr