FORTH’s Friends Association organized a new event which included two interesting lectures and the presentation of the “Miltiadis Karatzis” Award to a PhD candidate of FORTH, which comes with a prize of 5.000 euros.

The event took place on Monday, 24 November 2025, at 7:00 p.m at the Heraklion Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

The ceremony featured a distinguished program of honors and lectures:

• The proclamation of Christoforos Charalambakis, Full Member of the Academy of Athens and Emeritus Professor of Linguistics at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, as an honorary member of the Association. Professor Charalambakis is the editor of the landmark publication of the Academy of Athens “Practical Dictionary of the Greek Language”

• A lecture entitled “Wandering through the Ocean of the Greek Language” delivered by Christoforos Charalambakis

• A lecture entitled “Searching for the Truth with Light!” presented by Vassilis Charmandaris, Professor of Astrophysics at the University of Crete and President of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH).

The event concluded with the presentation of the “Miltiadis Karatzis” Award to Mr. Dimitrios Zaridis, PhD Candidate at the National Technical University of Athens and the Institute of Biomedical Research of FORTH.

Mr. Zaridis was unanimously selected by the designated committee composed of leading Professors and Scientists in the field, based on academic criteria and the innovative character of his research.

The event was moderated by Ms. Katerina Zografistou.