Academic Accomplishments

Beginning my academic career as a founding faculty member and the first elected Chairman of the newly established Department of Chemistry at the University of Crete (UoC), I embraced the challenge of organizing, alongside four other colleagues, a new department at a developing university in the southern periphery of Europe. Simultaneously, our goal was to produce high-quality research. The UoC had gained a reputation among Greek academics overseas as an emerging research and teaching institution committed to quality.

Due to the dedication of the founding members, including myself, the UoC and its Department of Chemistry achieved notable accomplishments. The Chemistry Department at UoC was classified as the top Department of Chemistry in Greece based on the quality of faculty publications (mean h-Factor of faculty: refer to T. Lazaridis, Scientometrics (2010) 82:211–216). This achievement was further confirmed by the evaluation of the Hellenic Quality Assurance & Accreditation Agency (ADIP), considering its overall performance in teaching, research, and infrastructure (http://www.hqaa.gr/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=141&Itemid=247&lang=en).

Within the Department of Chemistry, I organized the Division of Environmental and Analytical Chemistry and founded the Environmental Chemical Processes Laboratory (ECPL) in 1997, by decision of the Senate of the University of Crete and the Ministry of Education of Greece. I successfully repatriated and hired three young prolific scientists for the Department of Chemistry and ECPL: N. Mihalopoulos [Atmospheric Chemistry] in 1993, M. Kanakidou [Environmental Modelling] in 1997, and S. Pergantis [Instrumental Analytical Chemistry] in 2003. This team formed a multidisciplinary group for Environmental Research. Since its creation, ECPL has been the most productive research unit of the Department of Chemistry and the School of Sciences at UoC, measured by the number and quality of publications, citation record, and success in competitive research funding.

As the Director of the Environmental Chemical Processes Laboratory, during my term, ECPL consistently ranked in the top 1% for Environmental Sciences and Ecology (individual scientists with 340 citations), Geosciences (540 citations), and Chemistry (850 citations) according to Essential Science Indicators rankings (http://incites.com/rsg/esi).

I successfully applied for competitive funding from the Ministry of Education and the European Commission to initiate and run postgraduate programs, namely “Environmental Sciences and Engineering” (1998-2002) in collaboration with the School of Public Health, Harvard University, and the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Patras, and “Environmental Protection Technologies” (2003-present) in collaboration with the Higher Technological Educational Institution of Crete. These programs have consistently attracted high numbers of candidates, with 60-70 applicants for six positions in each call. The graduate programs received positive evaluations three times from international committees, including prominent members of the international scientific community such as Prof. Paul Crutzen, Max Planck Institute, Nobel Prize in Chemistry; Prof. A. J. Zehnder, President of ETHZ and EPFL; Prof. W. Giger, ETHZ, Editor of Environmental Science & Technology.

During my tenure as the Dean of the Faculty of Sciences, I expanded it to the Faculty of Sciences and Engineering by establishing two new departments: the Department of Materials Science and the Department of Applied Mathematics.

As the President of the Technical Council of the University of Crete, I oversaw the extension of the new campus in Voutes with the construction of new buildings for the Chemistry Department, the Student Centre, and the Sport Centre. Additionally, the main frames for the Departments of Computer Science and Mathematics (now completed) were constructed. Notably, these achievements were realized within five years without any increase in their initial budget. For comparison, the buildings of Biology and Physics at the same campus were constructed in ten years with a doubling of their initial budget before my term.

I am honored that 60% of the Faculty and 70% of the Personnel of the University of Crete elected me as the Rector (President) of the University of Crete in May 2011 (term started on September 1, 2011, and ended on September 15, 2015). Despite the challenges faced by all Greek Higher Education Institutions due to changes in the Universities law in 2011 and dramatic personnel and budget cuts from 2012 to the present, the University of Crete distinguished itself from other Greek universities by the harmonious collaboration of the newly established University Council (equivalent to the Board of Trustees) and the Rector. The university functioned smoothly, and, despite the challenges, it was recognized as the best research academic institution in Greece during my term. According to a ranking for research accomplishments (http://www.leidenranking.com/ranking.aspx), it was ranked 1st among the 23 Greek Universities and 48th in the Times Higher Education 2014 rankings of the world’s top 100 universities under 50 years old (improving compared with 2011-2013). It also ranked 5th for natural sciences in Europe in 2014 according to the CWTS Leiden Ranking of universities’ scientific performance (see NATURE 2015, vol. 517, pp. 127-128). Phil Baty, editor of Times Higher Education Rankings, commented, 'The Times Higher Education 100 Under 50 is a hotlist of the world's most dynamic and exciting young universities. The list contains many global superstars, including some of the most exceptional and well-funded East Asian institutions; so to make it into the top 100 is a significant achievement in itself. I would like to congratulate the University of Crete on their impressive performance this year, despite Greece’s well-documented and extraordinary economic challenges, in strengthening their position amongst this world elite.' (http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/world-university-rankings/2014/one-hundred-under-fifty).

At the start of my term as Rector, I secured financing from the National Strategic Reference Framework (ESPA) to install all remaining departments in the old buildings (Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, and Material Science) in the new Heraklion-Voutes campus by September 2012. I also oversaw the construction of the extension of the Research Centre of Social and Human Sciences in the Rethymnon campus, achieved in September 2015. Additionally, the old campus of Knossos was remodeled to build 67 student rooms, completed in August 2015.

Throughout my term as Rector, I continued my teaching responsibilities (a semester undergraduate course and a semester graduate course) and research activities, as detailed in my publications list.

In March 2015, the Board of Trustees of the Cyprus Institute offered me the position of Vice-President for Research. From September 15, 2015, to December 31, 2019, I served as the Vice-President for Research of the Cyprus Institute.

In November 2016, I was honored with the title of Professor Emeritus at the University of Crete.