Dr. Katerina Kouravelou

Dr. Katerina Kouravelou is a Chemical Engineer and holds a postgraduate degree in “Science and Technology of Materials” and a PhD on Nanotechnology from the Department of Chemical Engineering of the University of Patras.

She has worked in various positions in the wider research sector, in the academia as well as the business sector, in companies (mostly spin-offs) which operate in Greece and in the wider European research ecosystem. Her most significant position was that of Director for Research and Development in the company Nanothinx S.A.

She has many publications in international journals and has participated in many scientific conferences.

At the same time, she is an evaluator for European research proposals (Horizon Europe, H2020 [MSCA, PILOTS, SME Instrument Phase I and II, now EIC-Accelerator]), as well as responsible for certifying the physical activities of EIC-Accelerator projects (formerly known as SME – Instrument Phase II).

Since April 28, 2022 she has taken office as the Director of the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.), where she was working since August 2018, initially as an executive and later on as head of the Department of Research Projects.

Former Directors

Xenia Chryssochoou

Xenia Chryssochoou is a graduate of the University of Athens and a Doctor at the Rene Descartes-Paris-V University (France) and has worked in various universities in France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom before returning to Greece in 2004. She is currently a Professor of Social and Political Psychology at Panteion University. She is interested in the sociopsychological dimensions of identity and how it is constructed in liberal societies, and in issues of multiculturalism and political participation. She has written scientific articles and books, has conducted volumes and special issues and researches on these topics. She is a member of many international scientific societies and was a member of the Board of Directors and Secretary of the European Association of Social Psychology. She is President of the Scientific Council of H.F.R.I. She acting also as Director of the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation from April 15, 2021 until April 27, 2022

Dr. Nektarios Nasikas

Dr. Nektarios Nasikas studied Physics at the University of Crete. He then received a Masters of Science in Materials Science from the University of Patras in 2009 and a PhD in Physical Chemistry of Materials in collaboration with the University of California, Davis in 2012. He has worked in Research centers in Greece and in the United States of America, such as FORTH/ICEHT, NHRF/TPCI and Peter A. Rock Thermochemistry Laboratory/UCDavis, on research topics that include novel materials synthesis, novel experimental setup and design with the use of strong lasers as well as technology and applications of novel materials possessing special characteristics. He has authored several scientific papers in international scientific journals of high impact such as Chemistry of Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, and Journal of the American Ceramic Society etc. Since March 2015 until November 2017 he worked as an advisor for maters regarding Research & Innovation at the cabinet of the Alternate Minister of Education, Research and Religious Affairs responsible for matters of Research & Innovation, dealing with matters of Research Policy with emphasis on drafting and implementing policies aiming at the support of scientific personnel as well as Greece’s Academic and Research ecosystem. He was involved in the creation and the Board (High Council) of the Hellenic Equities Fund created along with the European Investment Fund and the European Investment Bank aiming to support innovative ideas with and entrepreneurial character. In July 2017 the Scientific Council of the Hellenic Foundation for Research and Innovation unanimously elected him as the Foundation’s Director. He was the Director of the Foundation from November 1, 2017 until April 5, 2021.