The Agricultural University of Athens participates in Researcher’s Night 2025

On Friday, September 26, 2025, the National Technical University of Athens hosted the twelfth consecutive year of the Researchers’ Night, in which the Agricultural University of Athens (A.U.A.) also participated. The event, which is linked this year to the European Research Festival European Researchers’ Night, is attended by over two million citizens in more than 350 cities in Europe. With their participation, leading public universities and research centers of Attica highlight their decisive contribution to research and innovation, which is produced by the scientific potential and contributes to the country’s development, progress and prosperity.

The main objective of the Researcher’s Night, which was covered by the massive participation of the public and was organized for the first time at the Zografou Campus of NTUA, was to promote and highlight the work of researchers and the importance of their role in science and society, in everyday life, as well as to encourage young people to pursue research and scientific careers.

At the opening event, a greeting was delivered on behalf of the Agricultural University of Athens by the Rector, Professor Mr. Spyridon Kintzios, while seven (7) research groups of the Agricultural University of Athens presented their research achievements to the public.

Specifically, the following Committees and Laboratories participated in the Researcher's Night 2025:

• The Committee for Sustainable Development

During the event, the 20-member Committee team presented to the public, the academic and student community and the hundreds of students who visited the event, initiatives and actions of the AUA that promote sustainable development, the green transition and environmental awareness.

The title of our action was "Pollution Games....in Sustainability".

Through interactive workshops and games, exhibits and informative material, visitors had the opportunity to learn about:

• Innovative practices for saving resources and energy.
• How the circular economy changes the way we see "waste".
• How plastics and microplastics accumulate in the soil and the food chain and in what ways we can detect them.
• Educational programs and research activities that strengthen the University's connection with society.

 

The warm response from the public and the active participation of students, pupils and citizens highlighted the importance of scientific knowledge as a lever for social progress and sustainability.

The success of this year's presence is a strong motivation for the continuation and strengthening of the Committee's work in the field of sustainable development and environmental awareness.

 

• Laboratory of General and Agricultural Microbiology

School of Plant Sciences

Department of Botany and Microbiology

 

Description of Participation:

Basidiomycetes, our familiar mushrooms, as microorganisms with multiple capabilities: from the degradation of plastic polymers to the production of enzymes with industrial value.

 

Head of Participation

Anthi Karnaouri, Assistant Professor  

 

Team of Participation

Evaggelia – Loukia Youroukou, Doctoral Candidate

Maria – Constantina Karonidi, Doctoral Candidate

Aggeliki Koutouvali, Scientific Associate

Alexandra Charitoudi, Scientific Associate

 

The research on the use of mushrooms for the degradation of plastics has received funding from the Hellenic Institute of Biotechnology and Biotechnology (ELIDEK) within the framework of the "3rd Call for Research Projects by ELIDEK for the support of Faculty Members and Researchers" entitled "Development of processes for the utilization of plastics using biodegradation and upcycling methods with the help of fungi (MycoVaL)" and code 25829.

 

• Laboratory of Zoology and Entomology

School of Plant Sciences

 

Head of Participation:

Antonios Tsagarakis, Assistant Professor

 

 

Research Team

D. Lazarakis, Teaching Assistant

E. Arapostathi, Doctoral Candidate

A. Antonopoulos, Doctoral Candidate

Z. Thanou Doctoral Candidate

M. Stamouli, Doctoral Candidate

H. Panopoulou, Doctoral Candidate

G. Vourloumis, A.U.A Student

O. Plota, A.U.A. Student

 

Some of the subjects that the research team deals with and were presented at the Researcher's Night were: "the impact of 5G on the biodiversity of insects, wild pollinators and the biological characteristics of bees", as well as "the use of Precision Agriculture and Machine Learning in the early detection of projections from wood-eating insects, reducing the environmental footprint". Furthermore, live insect farms used to produce high-quality animal feed were presented, contributing to the reduction of carbon emissions. Entomological collections were also exhibited, including samples from the most impressive insect orders. Finally, the pavilion exhibited collections of wild and domesticated silkworm species, while there were also silkworm cocoons, from which silk fiber is produced, which were given as souvenirs to visitors.

 

• Laboratory of Food Quality Control and Hygiene

School of Food and Nutritional Sciences

 

The research team presented the education, research and innovation actions related to:

• Predictive Microbiology και Quantitative Risk Assessment.
• Food preservation, active and smart packaging.
• Food and surface sanitization methods.
• Pathogenic microorganisms under stress conditions (adaptive stress responses).
• Development of new innovative food products.

The presentation highlighted the role of microbiology in food safety and quality, as well as the contribution of the Laboratory's research to the prevention of microbiological risks and the development of innovative packaging and preservation technologies.

 

Research Team:
P.N.Skandamis, Professor

E.H.Drosinos, Professor

K. Papadimitriou, Assistant Professor

M. Kapandai, Teaching Assistant

M. Gialitaki, Teaching Assistant

A. Gounadaki, Teaching Assistant

M. Arvaniti, Post Doctoral Researcher

E. Korozi, Post Doctoral Researcher

S. Proiakakis, Doctoral Candidate

M. Tsigrimani, Doctoral Candidate

V. Pemai, Doctoral Candidate

N. Papastathi, Researcher

D. Tsoliakou, Researcher

Students who voluntarily supported the Laboratory's presence at the Researcher's Night: Andreas Angelopoulos, Anna Vidali, Vasiliki Louli, Angeliki Lolou, Konstantinos Papakonstantinou, Vasilios Sapounas and Konstantina Chondrou.

 

• Student Group DNA Voyagers

Students at the Department of Biotechnology and the Department of Crop Science

 

Action Group

Lydia Geriki

Ioanna Maria Zafiratou

Stavroula Alina Kazila

Antigoni Kassimati

Nefeli Lelidi

Dafne Rouda

Emmanouil Spyridakis

Charis Stamoulis

Nasia Stefanaki

Anastasia Striga

 

Microscope Material Supply by

Dr. Eleni Douni, Genetics Laboratory, Department of Biotechnology  

 

Description of Participation

The aims of our group's participation in the Researcher's Night are in line with our work on communicating the science of Biology. We wanted to present both the professional prospects of the field and the activities of our group, along with interactive experiments. Specifically, the members of the action prepared the following:

• Presentation "Do I really have many choices?" addressed to secondary school students, in order to present the professions of Biology and Biotechnology, as well as the facilities and laboratories of our school
• Presentation of the group's free electronic magazine
• Interactive quizzes on biotechnology
• Fruits’ DNA isolation experiment
• Microscopy presentation with various samples

An audience of all ages responded to our action with great interest and thus we had the opportunity to promote our science and our work.