Venue

Athens
(www.athenstourism.gr, www.gnto.gr)

Opening Ceremony: Athens Concert Hall (www.megaron.gr)

Since Athens Concert Hall opened its doors to the public in 1991, the Athens Concert Hall has been regarded as one of the most comprehensive culture centres in Europe. Its superb acoustics has been acclaimed both by the public and by renowned performers of the music and art world.

The Athens Concert Hall has welcomed top class artists, music ensembles, composers, conductors and performers in an artistic trajectory that has left its mark in the country's culture scene.

It is a place well known to most people, and easy to find. All you have to tell your taxi driver is to take you to 'the Megaron' and no more explanations will be necessary.

The Athens Concert Hall also has a metro stop named after it -'Megaron Mousikis'. Commuting to and from the town centre or other locations has become much easier.

More specifically, it only takes 3'30'' from the Megaron Mousikis metro stop to the Syntagma Square station.

Foundation for Biomedical Research of the Academy of Athens (www.bioacademy.gr)

The Biomedical Research Foundation (BRF) of the Academy of Athens is a non-profit institute dedicated to understanding, treating, and preventing human ailments through biomedical research. BRF seeks to serve science and medicine, and to participate fully in global innovation through its commitment to the true integration of biology, medicine, and informatics.

All 47 faculty members have a track record of academic excellence and joined BRF from leading US and European Research and Clinical Centers. Their different expertise are beautifully complementary, resulting in a powerful scientific team. More than 250 postdoctoral fellows, laboratory technicians, and Ph.D. students work closely with the faculty to unravel the mechanisms behind fundamental human diseases such as diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer's, cardiomyopathies etc. The Foundation is also fortunate to have a talented and dedicated administrative staff that supports the research and helps make this complex organization work smoothly and effectively. Everyone at BRF is committed to scientific excellence and integrity in all that they do and are dedicated to making a positive impact on improving human quality of life.

Established by the Academy of Athens the Foundation accommodates state-of-the-art facilities, over a 25.000 square meter area, for conducting internationally competitive biomedical research. It is equipped with a rich variety of highly specialized scientific equipment, some of which represent the only models available in Greece or even Europe. Within its 2 years in full operation, the rigorous research performed at BRF is already receiving international recognition, with over 100 publications to high impact international scientific journals, invited presentations to international conferences, collaborations with Universities in Europe, US and Australia, and most importantly the successful attraction of over 9.000.000 euro of competitive research grants from national, European and international funding organization. In addition to these grants, the Greek government and the EU are also providing their support in this ambitious yet most promising endeavor of establishing an institute of academic excellence where basic research and clinical application will come together to better serve human life!

Auditorium & Halls

In the central building of the campus, there is an Auditorium and 3 multipurpose Halls. The Auditorium hosts up to 270 persons and provides excellent auditory and visual contact with speakers. It also offers:

• A complete integrated audiovisual structure with a central system of picture and sound
• Video conference(4 ISDN lines)
• Internet access
• Translators' cabins for simultaneous translation
• Video recordings

The Halls can be used as an exhibition area, for welcome drinks, coffee breaks, cocktails, poster sessions, and more. Their dimensions are 170square meters, 150square meters, and 100square meters and combinations can be created since they are all open spaces.