Aristotle University of Thessaloniki

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTH) is the largest Higher Education Institution in Greece and SE Europe, with 12 Faculties, 42 Schools and 289 Laboratories. Aristotle University is located in the centre of Thessaloniki, spreading over an area of 43 hectares. The University has two main goals: to educate its undergraduate and postgraduate students, and to produce original scientific knowledge and innovative research. Over 70,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students currently study in the Aristotle University (60,000 in undergraduate courses, and 10,000 in postgraduate courses). Moreover, AUTH cooperates with 19 universities abroad for the cosupervision of PhD dissertations. The University Research Policy has two main objectives: to promote quality and to foster excellence. At the basis of the philosophy of quality are the principles of measurement, correction, evaluation and redefinition, which ultimately provide for the continuous development of products or/and services produced or provided by the institution.

During the past three years, 985 researchers have provided educational and research services in collaboration with a total of 7,263 external scientific associates for the implementation of 3,151 International, European and National Research and Technological Development (RTD) projects. 1,436 of these partners were universities, research centres and organisations, while 405 were businesses. AUTH research and technological development projects are funded by national, European and international agencies. At national level, these agencies include ministries, public sector organisations, and private sector businesses/companies. The majority of research projects are funded mainly by the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation and other General Directorates of the European Commission. Additionally, a significant number of research projects are funded by European and international agencies, such as UNESCO, or major industries, which focus their business interests on technology and research applications.

The Laboratory of Ichthyology (School of Biology) has been active in marine and freshwater research (ichthyology, fisheries biology and management, stock assessment, zooplankton ecology, limnology, oceanography) since its establishment in 1990. Faculty members of the laboratory have been participating in international projects, monitoring of marine and freshwater populations and habitats and various national and international committees and editorial boards and currently supervise over 10 PhD and 10 MSc theses. There are also 5 research fellows that have been employed for various research activities. The laboratory’s field and experimental equipment can fully support field work and data analysis. The research staff have been trained in international workshops and courses including stock assessment (e.g. CMSY, AMSY, LBB, SS3, a4a, SPiCT), mapping (e.g. GIS, MARXAN) and ecological modelling techniques (e.g. ECOPATH-ECOSPACEECOSIM). Seven members of the lab (two males and five females) will be directly involved at various stages of the project.

Role In Project

Project Coordination

WP1 and WP5 leader

Participation in all WPs

Leader of the Aegean Sea case study

Ecosystem models and indicators; assessments of stocks and ecosystems; fisheries management and ecosystem based fisheries management; toolbox development