Vassilis Charmandaris

Vassilis Charmandaris is Professor of Astrophysics at the Department of Physics of the University of Crete and President of the Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH). He received his BSc in Physics from the University of Thessaloniki and his PhD from Iowa State University in 1995. He worked as a researcher at universities and research centers in the US and France before returning to Greece as a faculty at the University of Crete in 2005. He served as Director of the Institute of Astrophysics- FORTH and of Skinakas Observatory from 2019 until February 2025. His scientific work focuses on understanding the energy production mechanism in galactic nuclei in the near and distant universe, using mainly observations from space telescopes.

He has served as President of the Hellenic Astronomical Society, as well as a member of several international scientific committees. He is currently a member of the Space Sciences Advisory Committee of the European Space Agency, a member of the Scientific Council of the Institute for Research on the Fundamental Laws of the Universe at CEA (France), and a member of the Evaluation and Accreditation Council of the National Authority for Higher Education. He has been awarded a number of distinctions including the Public Service Award of the University of Crete for the year 2023, the title of Knight of the Order of Academic Palms from the French Republic in 2024, and he was elected full member of Academia Europaea in 2026.