Diana Tishchenko is a Ukrainian-born violinist acclaimed for her expressive artistry, versatility, and engagement with contemporary music. Her performances are noted for their depth, individuality, and wide stylistic range, combining classical repertoire with modern and rarely performed works.

She gained international recognition after winning the Grand Prix at the Long-Thibaud-Crespin International Competition in 2018. As an ECHO Rising Star in the 2022/23 season, she performed in major European venues, including the Philharmonie de Paris and the Wiener Konzerthaus.

She has since appeared with leading orchestras and at prominent festivals across Europe. Highlights of the 2025/26 season include performances with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and the Gulbenkian Orchestra, as well as appearances at the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg and the Konzerthaus Berlin.

Born in Simferopol, she studied in Kyiv, Berlin, and Graz. Her debut album, Strangers in PARadISe (2019), received wide critical acclaim.

Alongside her performing career, she is actively involved in cultural and charitable initiatives, including participation in the environmental project The Uncertain Four Seasons on the island of Delos, Greece. Now based in Berlin, she holds Ukrainian and German citizenship. In 2023, she was appointed Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture.

Dr. Vangelis Karkaletsis is President of NCSR “Demokritos” and one of the key architects of Greece’s national strategy for Artificial Intelligence. With extensive experience in AI, European infrastructures, and deep-tech ecosystems, he is leading the transformation of NCSR “Demokritos” into a regional hub of technological excellence. He also serves as the technical coordinator of the Greek AI Factory “Pharos”, coordinates the Smart Attica European Digital Innovation Hub for AI, and is a member of the coordinating team of the European AI-on-Demand platform through the DeployAI project. 

Dimosthenis (Denis) Sarigiannis is Director and President of the Board of the National Hellenic Research Foundation (NHRF) and Professor of Environmental Engineering at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, with parallel appointments in Environmental Health Engineering at the University School for Advanced Studies of Pavia (IUSS), in the Urology department of the Medical School of Johns Hopkins University and in Epidemiology at Yale School of Public Health. He holds a PhD in Nuclear Engineering from UC Berkeley.

Internationally recognized as a pioneer of translational exposomics, his work quantitatively links external exposures to internal dose, molecular perturbation, and health risk across the life course. He is equally recognised for operationalising Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) in chemicals, materials and products through AI-enabled computational toolboxes that bridge next-generation risk assessment with industrial innovation and regulatory practice.

Prior to his academic career, he held senior leadership roles at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), including Scientific Coordinator at the Institute for Health and Consumer Protection, Assistant to the JRC Director General and positions central to the development of the REACH Regulation on chemical safety.

He has contributed to over 50 international research projects — coordinating 15 — and currently leads the Center of Excellence on Cancer Theranostics at NHRF and the ENVESOME Horizon Europe initiative while serving on the Management Board in the ~€400M PARC partnership. He has authored 233 peer-reviewed papers, 500 conference papers, and 28 book chapters, and has been listed among Stanford’s top 2% of scientists worldwide since 2018. His contributions to the safety of pharmaceuticals and chemicals have been recognised with the Bo Holmstedt Award from Eurotox and multiple excellence prizes. Prize by the European Society of Toxicology and the Bo Holmstedt Foundation.

Dr. Nick Sergis is a researcher in the field of Space Physics. From 2006 to 2020 he worked at the Office of Space Research and Technology of the Academy of Athens in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University/Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL). His research work includes 80 scientific papers with more than 2.800 citations and many invited lectures-seminars in Greece and abroad. In 2009 and 2018 he received NASA awards for his participation in the Cassini-Huygens mission.  

Dr. Sergis has experience in managing research programs and has served as an evaluator for proposals submitted for funding to NASA, the European Commission and national agencies in Europe. He has led/participated in research groups in the field of Space Science and Applications, in collaboration with institutes from Europe and the USA.  

Since 2020, he is serving as CEO of the Hellenic Space Center (HSC), the National Space Agency of Greece. His responsibilities include the coordination/supervision of the administrative and scientific staff of the HSC to ensure the effective operation and achievement of the Agency’s strategic goals, among which is the formulation of a National Space Policy-Strategy.  

Dr. Sergis is a member of the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the European Geosciences Union (EGU) and the International Astronomical Union (IAU). 

Dimitris Papastergiou was born in 1973 in Trikala. 

He graduated from the Polycladic Lyceum of Trikala and the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering of NTUA (National Technical University of Athens). At the same time, he attended journalism courses, while he maintains strong ties with technology and the internet, a relationship that was strengthened at the Multimedia Laboratory of NTUA. 

In 2001 he built and presented, together with a group of his colleagues, the first integrated website for the Prefecture of Trikala, 3kala.gr.  

Since 2002 he has been practicing the profession of Electrical and Computer Engineer in the city of Trikala. He was involved in studies and construction of private electromechanical projects and the creation of software programs. In 2007 he entered the field of renewable energy and has constructed more than 300 private renewable energy projects. 

His involvement in the community began in 2002, with his election to the City Council. He was re-elected in 2006, and in 2014 he was elected Mayor of Trikkaion and member of the Board of Directors of KEDE. He was re-elected Mayor in 2019 and, in the same year, he was elected President of the KEDE. 

He is married to the engineer Soula Brakis and is the happy father of Faye, Kostas and Nikos. 

From June 2023, he is Minister of Digital Governance in the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.