Materials research in GreeceIn 1974, democracy replaced a military dictatorship. Since joining the European Community in 1981, Greece has embarked upon rapid modernization. A 1982 OECD report noted that the "Greek people have great entrepreneurial vitality and a deeply-rooted desire for progress, but both are hampered by two essential difficulties:
[Source: OECD, Reviews of national science policy - Greece, Paris: OECD, 1984, p. 55] In July 1982, the Greek government established a new ministry, the Ministry of Research and Technology. With the help of the European Social Fund and the RTD [Research, Technology, and Development] Framework Programmes, the infrastructure for a knowledge-based society has been bolstered. Greece's GDP has been growing by an average of 1.2% between 1900 and 1995 and accelerated to 3.2% in the following four years. The Greek economy is gradually becoming more knowledge-based: in 1999 there was a 12% growth of employment in the high-tech sector and an 11% growth in knowledge intensive services. But, according to the Greek government itself, much remains to be done:
To address these shortcomings, the government has announced its ambition to align Greece with the rest of the EU within less than a decade:
[Source: Research & technology priorities of the Greek Ministry of Development.] Government researchUp until the 1980s, government intramural funding used to be focused on agricultural research with the exception of the Demokritos research center that used to be focused on nuclear research. It is now called the Demokritos National Centre for Scientific Research, and it has a number of institutes including one for Materials Science. It has a couple research areas: nanostructured materials, alloys & advanced ceramics, catalysis, and archaeometry. The theoretical physics unit provides modelling and simulation support and there is a materials characterization facilities center (providing services also to public agencies and private companies). UniversitiesThe School of Chemical Engineering of the National Technical University of Athens has had a Department of Materials Science and Engineering since 1983. It "covers teaching and research on Physical Chemistry, Corrosion of Materials, and the Science of Inorganic and Organic Materials, from the view point of the relation of structure (molecular, crystalline, microstructure) properties and of imposing selected properties." In addition, the Department's Laboratory offers services to third parties, including technical consulting, measurements, and testing. The University of Athens has no administrative unit containing the word "materials". There is substantial materials specific research going on within the chemistry and physics faculties. In chemistry, for example, several faculty work on polymers. In the Department for Solid-State Physics, a part of the Faculty of Physics, many different types of materials are researched (amorphous materials, silica glasses, fullerenes, nanotubes, conducting polymers, in addition to semi- and superconductors) and a graduate course is given on "Physics and Technology of Materials". Some smaller universities, such as the University of Crete and the University of Patras, offer materials science courses. Crete has a Department of Materials Science and Technology but its website is out of date and noone there has responded to e-mail queries. In 1999 Patras started a Materials Science Department with the aim of contributing to cohesion amongst other science departments and collaborating with departments in the schools of engineering and health sciences. Temporarily, the faculty members are drafted in from other departments, pending new appointments. None of the universities list the textbooks used for materials-related courses.
This page was written and last updated on 20 August 2002 by Arne Hessenbruch. |
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