Mr. Panagiotis Tsakalides, Professor at the Department of Computer Science of the University of Crete, ex-Deputy Director of the Institute of Computer Science (ICS) of FORTH (19/6/2021-31/8/2025) and ex- Acting Director of the Institute (1/9/2025-23/10/2025), was unanimously elected Director of ICS on 24 October 2025 (Official Government Gazette appointment (FEK): 129_ΥΟΔΔ_10.2.2026).

The election was carried out by a seven-member Evaluation Committee appointed by the Ministry of Development and chaired by Nikolaos Sidiropoulos, Louis T. Rader Professor, and Chair of the Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Virginia.

Brief Curriculum Vitae

Panagiotis Tsakalides earned his Diploma in Electrical Engineering from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, in 1990. That same year, he moved to Los Angeles to pursue graduate studies, supported by scholarships from the Fulbright and Bodossakis Foundations. He obtained his M.Sc. in Computer Engineering in 1991 and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering in 1995, both from the University of Southern California (USC). From 1996 to 1999, he served as a Research Assistant Professor at USC’s Signal & Image Processing Institute. Between 1999 and 2002, he was with the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Patras, Greece. In September 2002, he joined the Computer Science Department at the University of Crete as an Associate Professor and FORTH-ICS as a Researcher. From March 2017 to September 2019, he served as Vice Rector for Financial Planning, Infrastructure, and Development at the University of Crete, and from September 2019 to August 2020, he held the position of Rector.

He is currently a Professor of Computer Science and Head of the Signal Processing Laboratory at FORTH-ICS. Committed to mentoring young researchers, he has supervised 10 PhD students, 31 MSc students, and 11 postdoctoral fellows. In 2025, he received the Pihoridis Award for Outstanding Teaching from the University of Crete. His research focuses on statistical signal processing and machine learning, with emphasis on non-Gaussian estimation and detection theory, sparse representations, and applications in imaging, sensor networks, audio, and multimedia systems. He has coauthored over 250 technical publications (more than 7,200 citations, h-index 38). Prof. Tsakalides has extensive experience in technology transfer and industry collaboration, having coordinated 9 European Commission and 13 national projects with a total budget exceeding €15 million.