Dr. Vangelis Karkaletsis is Director and Chairman of the Board of the National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos” (NCSR Demokritos), Greece’s largest multidisciplinary research centre. He represents Greece at the European Artificial Intelligence Board and serves on the High-Level Advisory Committee on AI to the Greek Prime Minister, as well as on the National Commission for Bioethics & Technoethics.

Over the past two decades, Dr. Karkaletsis has worked to advance artificial intelligence from an isolated research field into a collaborative driver of innovation across science, industry, and society. Formerly Head of the Software & Knowledge Engineering Lab (SKEL | The AI Lab) and Director of the Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications at NCSR Demokritos, he has coordinated numerous European and national R&D projects and led major educational initiatives, including two of Greece’s first MSc programmes in Data Science and AI.

His work focuses on trustworthy, human-centric AI and its role in shaping Europe’s technological future. He contributes to national and European AI strategy through flagship initiatives such as PHAROS, the Greek AI Factory within the EU AI Factories network, and Greece’s Blueprint for AI Transformation. His research interests include natural language processing, knowledge representation, and human-machine interaction.

Dr. Christos Markou is an experimental physicist with research interests in the fields of Astrophysics, Particle Physics, instrumentation, distributed computing systems, and signal processing. Dr. Markou studied Physics at Imperial College, University of London (B.Sc. in Physics, 1985 and Ph.D. in Physics, 1989). During his career, he has participated in high- energy physics experiments at CERN (Geneva), DESY (Hamburg), and recently in KM3NeT. Dr. Markou has worked at Imperial College, CERN, and since 1995 he has been a researcher at NCSR “Demokritos”. Since 2019, he has served as Director of the Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics and member of the Board of Directors of NCSR Demokritos.
He participates in the KM3NeT experiment, preparing a next-generation deep-sea neutrino telescope installed in the Mediterranean Sea. KM3NeT, a distributed research infrastructure being deployed across three European locations (France, Italy, and Greece), is part of the ESFRI roadmap. Dr. Markou served as Chair of the Board of Directors of KM3NeT (2016–2020) and is a member of the experiment’s Management Team.
Dr. Markou is the Scientific Delegate for Greece to the CERN Council, while also representing the country in APPEC and the Einstein Telescope Board.

Dr. Andreas Karydas is Research Director at the Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics of NCSR “Demokritos” and scientific head of its X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF) Laboratory. He holds a degree in Physics from the University of Athens and a PhD from the National Technical University of Athens in the analytical applications of nuclear techniques.
He has nearly thirty years of research experience. From 2009 to 2015, he led the XRF team at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Nuclear Science and Instrumentation Laboratory, coordinating technical cooperation programmes involving more than 60 Member States. In 2015, he received an IAEA award for his contribution to developing a new experimental station at the Elettra synchrotron facility in Trieste.
His research focuses on X-ray interactions with matter, XRF methodologies, ion-beam techniques, and interdisciplinary applications, particularly in cultural heritage, ancient gold technology, and ancient polychromy. He has coordinated numerous national and European research projects and authored 167 Scopus-indexed publications, with 3,560 citations and an h-index of 32. He has delivered more than 18 invited lectures, supervised doctoral and postgraduate research, and teaches in postgraduate programmes at the University of the Peloponnese and Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. He also serves on international scientific committees, evaluates research proposals, and has represented Greece in IAEA programmes and COST Actions.

Dr. Dimitris Kletsas is biologist, Research Director and Head of the Laboratory of Cell Proliferation and Ageing of the Institute of Biosciences and Applications at NCSR “Demokritos”. He has served as the Director of the Institute and Member of the Board of Directors of NCSR “Demokritos” (2017-2026).

He conducted research work at EMBL (Heidelberg), Imperial college (London) and Georgetown University (Washington DC). His research interests include, among others, the study of mechanisms of ageing, longevity, major age-related diseases and cancer, as well as the discovery of novel bioactive compounds with antiageing, anticancer, and healing properties. His work has resulted in more than 240 publications, more than 19,800 citation (h-index 65) and three patents, while he is included in the list of the top 2% scientists. He has managed or participated in numerous European and National research projects.

He is the co-coordinator of the National Research Infrastructure OSTRI and member of the Council of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS). Among others, he has served as President of the Hellenic Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2014–2017, 2020–2021, and 2024–2025), President of the European Tissue Repair Society (2013–2015), National Expert for the EU FP6 and coordinator of the National Research Infrastructure OPENSCREEN-GR.

Kotrotsios has a 42-year career in Research, Technology and Innovation, including more than 17 years in senior executive positions at CSEM, a Swiss technology research and innovation organization, today recognized as a global leader in microelectronics, microsystems and smart digital systems.

Elected a member of the Swiss Academy of Engineering Sciences (SATW) in 2015, in recognition of his contribution to Switzerland’s international standing and his role in bridging research and industry, he was recently re-elected to the Academy’s Industrial Council.

He currently serves as Vice President of the Executive Board of the Hellenic Competence Center for Semiconductors (HCCC), Greece’s National Representative on the European Innovation Council (EIC) and European Research Council (ERC), and Chair of the Sectoral Scientific Council for Technology Diplomacy and the Scientific Diaspora. He is also a Technology Advisor to biomedical startups.

He has served on international boards, including:

• EARTO, European Association of Research and Technology Organisations, representing Swiss research organizations
• the Microelectronics HTA Alliance (Fraunhofer Microelectronics, CEA-LETI, VTT, CSEM), where he served for three years as Chair
• EREA, the Association of European Research Establishments in Aeronautics

the Task Force for the structuring of the Open Quantum Institute, an initiative of GESDA (Geneva Science and Diplomacy Anticipator)

George Laskaris is a nuclear physicist and policy analyst. He holds a PhD in Nuclear Physics from Duke University and conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University and MIT. He is the Founder and President of the Deon Policy Institute, where his work focuses on evidence-based energy policy and the development of science-informed public policy in the areas of education, entrepreneurship, and diaspora affairs.

Lida Arnellou is a Research Scientist (Grade C) at the Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications, of NCSR “Demokritos”. She is the head of the ARTIFACT (Artificial Intelligence for Culture) research group focusing on immersive cultural experiences, the digitization of cultural heritage, and the use of digital technologies and artificial intelligence in culture. She is also the Scientific Responsible and Curator of AiTHERION, an innovative cultural space that implements interactive exhibitions on ancient Greek philosophy using cutting-edge technologies. A collaborative initiative between NCSR Demokritos and the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, AiTHERION fosters public dialogue, inspires philosophical reflection in daily life, and raises awareness of contemporary techno-ethical challenges. It also serves as an Open Lab, a dynamic testbed for advanced cultural technologies. Its inaugural exhibition, “Democracy and Eudaimonia,” has received multiple accolades, including the 2024 EBGE Gold Award for Digital Applications and the Silver Award in the Place-Specific Experiences category at the 2024 Art Directors Club of Europe Awards.

Dr Athanasios Stubos is Research Director, Head of the Environmental Research Laboratory and former Director of the Institute of Nuclear & Radiological Sciences & Technology, Energy & Safety, at the National Research Center Demokritos, Athens, Greece. He has studied Chemical Engineering at the National Technical University of Athens and holds MSc and doctoral degrees in Fluid Dynamics from the Von Karman Institute, Belgium. His main research interests include Hydrogen Technologies, Environmental Fluid Mechanics, Transport Phenomena in Porous Media, Energy Processes and Environmental Impact. He has co-authored more than 185 publications in international refereed Journals, 25 chapters in books and more than 200 presentations in international Conferences. He has supervised several post-graduate students and post-doctoral researchers and has acted as invited expert evaluator for R&D programs in the USA, European Commission, France, Italy, Greece, Cyprus, etc. He was also project coordinator for various European and National R&D projects, and performed industrial R&D in the USA and Europe. At present he is the Greek delegate in the States Representatives Group of the Clean H2 Partnership (Joint Undertaking) of the EC.

Dr Evangelos Gogolides is a Chemical Engineer from NTUA, Greece, and holds an MSc and a PhD (1990), both from MIT, USA. His thesis work was on plasma processing of semiconductors and plasma simulation, and he did postdoctoral research on microlithography with Michael Hatzakis. He is Director of Research at NCSR Demokritos and served as Director of the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (2022–2026). He has authored more than 330 publications (h-index 61, 12,786 citations, Google Scholar) and 15 patent families, while he is included in the top 2% Scientists list. His current interests include plasmas for electronics, microsystems and lab-on-chip fabrication. He uses plasma surface engineering for biomimetic, multifunctional surface and membrane fabrication, as well as for water and food treatment. He uses these innovative membranes to unlock advanced water and air cleaning processes. Finally, he works on nanometrology and plasma process simulation.

He is a founding member of the iMNE Society, President of the Hellenic Micro&Nano Society, chair of several large international conferences (MNE 1997, MNE 2008, MNE 2019, i-PlasmaNano 2016, etc.), and Editor-in-Chief of Elsevier’s Micro and Nano Engineering (MNE) Journal. Dr Gogolides is a co-founder of the spin-off companies Nanoplasmas and Nanometrisis (2019). In 2025, he co-founded Salvinno for the production of smart membranes.

Email: e.gogolides@inn.demokritos.gr
Website of research group: https://inn.demokritos.gr/research_group/plasma/
Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ifqL2toAAAAJ&hl=en

Dr. Florentia Fostira has been a Senior Researcher at the Institute of Nuclear & Radiological Sciences & Technology, Energy & Safety (INRASTES) of the NCSR “Demokritos” since March 2020. She was previously an adjunct researcher with a fellowship from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation starting in July 2017. In 2014, she received the “UNESCO-L’Oréal” Award for Women in Science for her scientific contribution. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology from King’s College London, a master’s degree in Molecular Medicine from Imperial College London, and a PhD in Cancer Genetics from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics of the Democritus University of Thrace. During her postdoctoral research in 2013, she worked in Professor Mary-Claire King’s laboratory at the University of Washington, where she trained in next-generation sequencing technologies. She has been certified by the European Board of Medical Genetics since 2017 and is a member of the board since 2021. She holds a Genetic Counselor degree from Cardiff University. Her main research interest focuses on hereditary cancer syndromes and underlying genetic predisposition, implemented through the identification of predisposing genetic variants that can be therapeutically targeted. She has more than 120 publications in peer-reviewed journals and her h-index is 41.

Afroditi Sevasti is a senior technology executive with over 25 years of leadership in large-scale digital transformation, innovation, and mission-critical digital infrastructures, widely recognized for bridging technology, policy, and strategic execution at national and European levels. She has held pivotal roles across academia, European-scale research, sovereign institutions, and the private sector. Her career includes senior leadership positions at GÉANT, GRNET, Munich Re HealthTech, and Hellenic Growth Fund, Greece’s national Sovereign Wealth Fund, where she recently served as Chief Technology Officer. She is currently the CEO of Pharos SA, the Greek AI Factory, spearheading Greece’s national AI infrastructure and ecosystem, and serves as a Non-Executive Board Member of CrediaBank. Since 2014, she has been an independent expert for the European Commission on Research and Innovation. Afroditi holds a PhD in Communication Networks from the University of Patras and an MSc from Carnegie Mellon University.

Dr. George Loudos is Co-founder and Chief Visionary Officer of BIOEMTECH, a company that develops products and provides services for the preclinical evaluation of new drugs, with a focus on oncology and nuclear medicine. From 2008 to 2021, he served as Assistant Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering of the University of West Attica. He has participated as coordinator and partner in more than 30 European and national research projects, including two Excellence projects. Over the past five years, he has focused on the strategic development of the company, with particular emphasis on strengthening its international presence and creating new business opportunities.

Sofia Magkia is Head of the Innovation Department at NCSR “Demokritos”, where she has spent more than three decades working across research, administration, and innovation.

Her journey at Demokritos began with Lefkippos Technology Park, when the Park itself was just starting. She has remained closely involved in its development ever since, contributing to its transformation into a vibrant deep-tech ecosystem where research meets entrepreneurship, industry, and investment.

Sofia later spent 15 years in the Office of the President, working closely with the Centre’s leadership and gaining a deep understanding of its research community, its challenges, and its strategic development.

Since 2017, she has led Demokritos’ innovation activities, strengthening the links between research and industry and supporting the translation of scientific knowledge into real-world impact. Over the years, she has been entrusted with developing and implementing some of the Centre’s key new initiatives, bringing together researchers, companies, public institutions, and international partners.

At the heart of her work is a simple belief: innovation is about people — creating the connections, trust, and opportunities that allow good ideas to make a difference.

She has served as Chief Executive Officer of the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments S.A. (HDBI, formerly TANEO) since July 2020. She began her professional career at the Ministry of Finance, where she worked from 1999 to 2001. She subsequently joined the Hellenic Development Bank of Investments S.A. (formerly TANEO) as Investment Director, a position she held from 2001 to 2020, actively contributing to the development of the organization and the broader venture capital ecosystem. In parallel with her role at HDBI, she has served for several years as an advisor to the European Commission on matters related to her field of expertise, including venture capital, private equity, access to risk finance and related areas. She has also contributed significantly to pan-European cooperation initiatives, including the Scale-Up Initiative. She holds an i-MBA and an MSc in Decision Sciences and e-Management, as well as a degree in Statistics from the Athens University of Economics and Business. She is a Certified Investment Manager accredited by the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) and holds the corresponding Level C certification from the Hellenic Capital Market Commission.

Panagiotis holds a degree in Financial and Banking Management from the University of Piraeus. During his studies, he worked at the International Fund of Investment Funds Group in Greece and was the Head of Corporate Partnerships at AIESEC in Greece, the largest student organization in the world.

Panagiotis joined Endeavor in 2012 and, until 2018, worked on the development of the network, overseeing the process of selecting prospective entrepreneurs and managing a portfolio of 14 major entrepreneurs in Greece, owners of successful companies such as Workable, FrezyDerm, Ergon, Konva, Christodoulou Brothers, Metamaterial Inc and others. Panagiotis was also the Head of the Global F&B Community, a community of 80 high-impact Endeavor entrepreneurs from 30 countries working in the F&B industry. Through the association and cooperation of all entrepreneurs, he organized F&B initiatives and events around the world to help the community develop its entrepreneurial activities and skills.

In 2018, he was appointed Managing Director of Endeavor Greece and, in January 2026, he additionally assumed the role of Regional Managing Director for Europe.

Panagiotis is also a co-founder of TEDxKalamata and a volunteer with the Red Cross Samaritan.

Dr. Yannis Assael is a Special Advisor on Artificial Intelligence at the Hellenic Ministry of Digital Governance, a member of the National Council for Research, Technology and Innovation, and Greece’s Delegate at the Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence. He has been featured in MIT’s “Innovators Under 35” and Forbes’ “30 Under 30” lists of distinguished scientists in Europe and has contributed to shaping Greece’s National AI Strategy. In 2013, he graduated from the Department of Applied Informatics at the University of Macedonia. With full scholarships, he completed an MSc in Computer Science at the University of Oxford, where he graduated first in his class, followed by an MRes in Machine Learning at Imperial College London. In 2016, he returned to Oxford to pursue a DPhil, and after achieving several research breakthroughs and launching entrepreneurial ventures, he joined one of the world’s leading AI labs as a Research Scientist. His contributions span audio-visual speech recognition, multi-agent communication, and AI applications for cultural heritage and the study of damaged ancient texts. His research has been featured on the cover of the scientific journal Nature and focuses on expanding knowledge and contributing to the greater good.

Charalambos Tsekeris (PhD) is Chair of the Greek National Commission for Bioethics & Technoethics; Research Director (Full Professor rank) at the Greek National Centre for Social Research (EKKE); and CHS Associate in Technology and Ethics, Harvard University. He currently serves as a Full Member of the Greek National Commission for Human Rights; Member of the OECD Expert Group on AI Futures; Member of the Greek High-Level Advisory Committee on Artificial Intelligence; and Member of the National Council for Research, Technology and Innovation (ESETEK). He is also Deputy National Representative of Greece at the European Network of Research Integrity Offices (ENRIO) and founder and Director of the Strategic Foresight Unit at EKKE. He has previously served as External Scientist at ETH Zürich and as Professor Extraordinary at the School of Public Leadership, Stellenbosch University. Currently, he holds the position of Research Associate at the Anti-Corruption Centre for Education and Research (Stellenbosch) and actively coordinates the World Internet Project–Greece, which examines the use of digital technology and algorithmic technoscience in Greece and worldwide. He has taught at numerous academic institutions and study programs in Greece and abroad.

Yannis Mastrogeorgiou is the Special Secretary for Strategic Foresight at the Presidency of the Government of the Hellenic Republic.
He was also the coordinator of the High Level Advisory Committee on Artificial Intelligence. Yannis has worked for years at the crossroads of politics, innovative policy research and communications. He served as Secretary General for Media and Communications in the Presidency of the Government, as Director of the Scientific Council with The Constantinos Caramanlis Institute for Democracy and as Executive Director with DIKTIO – Network for Reform in Greece and Europe, a leading Athens-based think tank, where he spearheaded informed Greek discourse on AI and its socioeconomic impact.
Previously, Yannis served with the Greek Government in a variety of advising roles. He was Director of Communications and Special Adviser to the Minister at the Ministry of Development, Competitiveness and Shipping and the Ministry of Education as well as Adviser with the Hellenic Parliament.
Prior to that, he worked as advisor and account manager with multinational communication firms, dealing with many important international clients.
Yannis was educated at the University of Athens, the Athens University of Economics and Business and the University of the Aegean, where he received undergraduate and graduate degrees in History, International Affairs and European Law.
He has written several books on AI and the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
In 2012, he was a Marshall Memorial Fellow.

Graduate of Athens College. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens at the Department of Media and Communication Studies. She continued her postgraduate studies at the London School of Economics (LSE) in London and Columbia University in New York. She has conducted numerous interviews with prominent politicians, scientists, academics and professionals in the Arts, Literature and Science. She is working at SKAI TV as a broadcast journalist in the Foreign News Department and is presenting the weekend news broadcast of SKAI TV at 14:00. She also presents the TV show “Eco News” and she hosts the European radio show “Euranet” at SKAI Radio. Additionally she is part of the team of journalists of SKAI’s documentary tv series “Prime Time”.

Dr Vasiliki (Vicky) Mollaki is a Researcher (Level C) in Research Ethics and Policy of Digital Technologies and Biotechnology, at the Institute of Informatics and Telecommunications, National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos” (NCSRD).

Her research focuses on the ethics of emerging and disruptive technologies, as well as relevant policies in research and innovation. At NCSRD, she coordinates the EU-funded projects: CHANGER, developing novel methodologies for ethics reviews to address new challenges posed by emerging technologies, and SFERELATO, developing a flexible and proactive ethics and integrity framework for established and emerging digital vulnerabilities.

Since 2016 she serves as an external Ethics Expert to the European Commission, carrying out ethics evaluations of research projects within FP7, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. Since 2017, she teaches ethics-related courses at the International Hellenic University and the Open University of Cyprus, as an adjunct  Professor.

She was a Scientific Officer at the Greek National Commission for Bioethics and Technoethics (2011-2025). She was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens, University of Athens, and NCSRD, in research projects investigating the genetic basis of human diseases (2007-2015). She served as a member of the National Committee for the Protection of Animals Used for Scientific Purposes in Greece and Research Ethics Committees in Greek universities.

She has published monographs, an e-book, several articles in international/national scientific journals (http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8479-8704), and contributed to several collective books.