The courses of the 2nd International Summer School of the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation, organised by the Institute of Oceanography of the Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR), start on 1 July 2010. The programme, which is funded exclusively by the Foundation, aims at gathering and disseminating the most recent scientific knowledge about the Mediterranean Sea to participating Greek and foreign students and researchers, thus helping to shape a new generation of scientists, who will be able to study, research and, ultimately, protect its marine ecosystems.

28 young Greek and foreign postgraduate students, PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers specialised in marine sciences are participating free of charge in the programme. During a 2-week period, they will have the opportunity to listen to the presentations and discuss the latest scientific developments with 26 internationally renowned scientists from research institutes and academic institutions in Greece and abroad. In addition, they will gain valuable experience through the hands-on training that will be conducted with the ‘AEGAEO’ oceanographic research vessel of the HCMR; indeed, they will receive training in sampling and measuring, in real-life situations.

Lastly, in order for scientific knowledge to be more widely shared, the organisers have decided that the six (6) lectures listed below will be open to a limited number of scientists and representatives of NGOs and other public organisations, whose work is related to Marine Sciences and the Environment, in general.

Open Lectures Schedule

Friday, 2 July 2010, 17:30-18:30

‘European Climate Change Research Post Copenhagen’

Speaker: Dr Elisabeth Lipiatou, Head of Unit Environment and Climate System, DG Research, European Commission

Wednesday, 7 July 2010, 17:30-18:30

‘Biodiversity Including Non-indigenous Species’

Speaker: Dr Argyro Zenetos, Marine Biologist, Research Director, Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Greece

Thursday, 8 July 2010, 17:30-18:30

‘Medusae: Trophic Role, Link to Microbial Food Web and Impacts on Humans’

Speaker: Dr Alenka Malej, Head, Marine Biology Station, National Institute of Biology, Slovenia & Director, International Ocean Institute Operational Centre, Slovenia

Friday, 9 July 2010, 17:30-18:30

‘Extreme and Deep Environments’

Speaker: Professor Imants (Monty) G. Priede DSc FRSE, Director, Oceanlab, University of Aberdeen, UK

Tuesday, 12 July 2010, 17:30-18:30

‘Impacts of Climate Change on the Ecosystems’

Speaker: Professor Philip (Chris) Reid, Professor of Oceanography, Marine Institute, University of Plymouth, Senior Research Fellow, Sir Alister Hardy Foundation for Ocean Science, Honorary Fellow, Marine Biological Association, UK

Wednesday, 14 July 2010, 17:30-18:30

‘Socioeconomic Scenarios’

Speaker: Professor Michalis S. Skourtos, Director of Postgraduate Studies, Professor of Environmental Economics and Policy, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Aegean, Greece

Additional information is available at HCMR's website.

The 2nd International Summer School is part of an initiative that the John S. Latsis Public Benefit Foundation started running in 2008 in order to promote scientific research, by putting in place and funding exclusively a series of International Summer Schools on various fields of knowledge in Greece and abroad. The lectures will be hosted at the ‘Pallas Athena’ building in Kefalari, which serves as the Foundation's headquarters, until the completion of the programme on 15 July 2010.