The Faculty of Sciences will confer the 2025 Awards of Excellence for Young Researcher, Excellence in Teaching, and Social Contribution at a special ceremony organized by the Dean’s Office of the Faculty. The event will take place on Wednesday, 17 December 2025, at 12:00, in the “Alexandros Papanastasiou” Ceremonial Hall of the Old Building of the Faculty of Philosophy.

According to the organizers, the Awards of Excellence aim to recognize the continuous efforts of the members of the Faculty of Sciences toward contribution and excellence, through outstanding achievements that highlight the Faculty’s work both in Greece and internationally.

As part of the event, a lecture entitled “Planetary Defense Space Missions and the Participation of AUTH” will be delivered by Kleomenis Tsiganis, Professor at the School of Physics of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Excellence in Research, Teaching, and Social Contribution

Specifically, the event will include the presentation of the Awards of Excellence for Young Researcher to postgraduate students and doctoral candidates, thereby promoting and showcasing their research work.

In addition, the Faculty will present the Awards for Excellence in Teaching to members of the Faculty of Sciences who distinguished themselves for their teaching performance during the previous academic year. Each School of the Faculty will honor one faculty member (DEP) and one member of the Special Teaching Staff (EDIP) with this distinction.

Finally, the Faculty will present the Awards for Social Contribution to individuals whose social work has made a substantial contribution to highlighting the Faculty of Sciences of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

Specifically, the Awards for Social Contribution will be presented to Mr. Dimitrios Babtzellis, member of the Special Teaching Staff (EDIP) of the School of Geology, and to Mr. Stelios Sfondylis, a graduate of the School of Mathematics.

The Faculty will honor Mr. Babtzellis for his long-standing, selfless social contribution which, according to the organizers, goes beyond his formal duties and highlights the social role and outward-looking character of the Aristotle University. Over the past two academic years, he has conducted more than 20 educational tours at the Meteorological Observatory and the facilities of the Division of Meteorology and Climatology, significantly contributing to the dissemination of scientific knowledge to students from across Northern Greece.

The Faculty will honor Mr. Sfondylis for his selfless contribution and awareness-raising efforts on issues concerning Persons with Disabilities. He created a video guide for persons with disabilities, describing accessibility routes and facilities within the Faculty and across the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. The guide is available on YouTube via the following links: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztu2QVhWIkw)
and on the Faculty’s official YouTube channel: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztu2QVhWIkw).

More information about the Awards of the Faculty of Sciences is available at the following link: https://www.sci.auth.gr/vraveia/