Dr. Yannis Liodakis, a NASA postdoctoral fellow at the Marshall Space Flight Center (USA), who was recently awarded the prestigious European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant, and was also elected as "Researcher C" at the Institute of Astrophysics, is recognized by the Academy of Athens with the "Prize in Memory of Academician Ioannis N. Xanthakis". The prize is awarded "for scientific work by a Greek researcher in Greek, English or French in the field of Astronomy, Astrophysics or Space Sciences".
Dr. Liodakis' is awarded the prize for his first-authored scientific paper entitled "Optical polarization from colliding stellar stream shocks in a tidal disruption event" published in Science, one of the world's most prestigious scientific journals. The award ceremony will take place during the gala conference, at the Athens Academy Hall, on the afternoon of Thursday 21 December 2023,
Since its foundation in 1927, the Academy of Athens has promoted literature, science, the fine arts, and communication and exchange between academics. Each year it honors people and organizations that have excelled during the year. One of these awards is the "Award in Memory of Academician Ioannis N. Xanthakis". Ioannis Xanthakis (1904-1994) was a professor at the Military School of Evelpidon (1939-1940), professor of Astronomy at the University of Thessaloniki (1940-1956), and was elected a member of the Academy of Athens in 1955. He also served twice as Minister of Agriculture (1963, 1964) and President of the National Astronomical Committee of the Hellenic Mathematical Society (1965-1972).
Dr. Liodakis will start building his scientific group at the Institute of Astrophysics of FORTH in 2024.
Short Bio
Ioannis Liodakis obtained his undergraduate and Master’s degree from the University of Patras. Native Cretan, he moved back to the University of Crete and FORTH for his PhD, which he completed in 2017. For his work, he was awarded the Best Young Researcher award by the University of Crete and the Best PhD thesis from the Hellenic Astronomical Society. He continued his career in the USA with a prestigious Fellowship at the Kavli Institute for Particle Astrophysics and Cosmology, at Stanford University. In 2020, he moved to the University of Turku as a FINCA fellow. His research has been recognized by the International Astronomical Union and the Gruber Foundation by awarding him the Gruber Fellowship (2020), as well as by the Region of Crete with the Best Young Cretan Researcher award (2022). Since early September 2023 he has been a NASA postdoctoral fellow at the Marshall Space Flight Center.
