Founded in July 1961 as a Research Centre for Nuclear Research, the National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos” (NCSRD) is today the largest multidisciplinary Research Centre in Greece. The Centre consists of five independent Institutes focusing on different scientific fields. It is governed by the Board of Directors and is supervised by the General Secretariat of Research and Innovation, which is in the Ministry of Development & Investments. One of the goals of NCSRD is the production of scientific know-how and innovative tools for research and the provision of services in the fields of environment, climate and energy. Its activities focus on a number of topics that serve sustainable development purposes. These topics are clearly pursued in the current and forthcoming EC Framework Programs for research and National competitive calls. The Centre’s strategic approach in the area of Climate Change consists of world-class basic and applied R&D based on state-of-the-art computational, analytical and measurement expertise and infrastructures as well as the design of innovative experimental techniques.

NCSRD focuses on the conduction of world-class research of complementary research areas, covering the parsimoniously critical challenges identified in the EU Mission on Climate Adaptation, to study complex and interconnected infrastructures where even micro-disruptions in the functioning of the systems can lead to catastrophic domino effects, and to the concept of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are based on the idea that multiple aspects of development do not occur in isolation but are influenced by many compounded different socio-economic and organizational factors.

NCSRD has developed unparalleled in Greece expertise on the provision of Climate Services (CS) for infrastructure, various societal and economic sectors and disaster management through numerous RTD projects and participations in international fora. Additionally, the in-house seasonal forecasting models with a spatial resolution of 5km, generated on a biweekly basis, and the dynamic downscaling of climate projections on 5km are unique products. NCSRD has documented expertise in impact assessment models and tools for infrastructure. The researchers that are actively involved in publishing economic and societal impacts of climate change. The Centre has been involved in the JPI-Cofund ERANET FOR Climate Services, which aimed to boost research for CS including climate adaptation, mitigation and disaster risk management at the EU level. NCSRD has partnered with multiple municipalities and regional authorities in Greece in order to co-create and co-implement climate-resilient interventions with a strong focus on citizen participation.

Diamanto (Mandy) Vlachogianni                 

Dr. Diamanto Vlachogianni is a Research Director in the Environmental Research Laboratory (EREL) of the National Centre for Scientific Research “Demokritos”, in Athens, Greece. She holds a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Physics 1997 (Imperial College, London), M.Sc. in Remote Sensing 1993 (UCL, Imperial College, London), B.Sc. in Astrophysics 1992 (University College London). She has extensive expertise in the coordination and management of large-scale research and development projects with the participation of industry and academia at both National and European level. Ηer research interests include Atmospheric modelling, Climate research, Climatology and Climate Change and related impacts, Climate Services and Climate Modelling (Regional Scale). She has been the Principal Investigator of and scientifically involved in numerous R&D collaborative projects funded by the EC and National Entities. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mandy-vlachogianni-90447b25/ ORCID: 0000-0001-8287-5123

SFETSOS ATHANASIOS 

Dr. Athanasios Sfetsos received a B.Sc. in Physics from University of Patras in 1995 and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College, University of London (1999). Presently, he is a Research Director at the Institute of Nuclear and Radiological Sciences, Technology Energy and Safety at NCSR Demokritos in the domain of “Climate Change and Critical Infrastructure Protection” (elected 2021). He has served as part time Associate at the University of Western Macedonia between 2004 – 2010 in the field of Environmental Management. His research interests fall to the thematic priorities of (i) Climate change resilience of infrastructures, (ii) Critical Infrastructure Protection (risk analysis, design of physical protection, vulnerability assessment), (iii) Disaster Management with emphasis on climate hazards and extreme events; and (iii) Climate Change analysis and provision of climate services. Οrcid: 0000-0003-1906-8059