The Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH, www.certh.gr) is one of the largest research centres in Greece. It was founded in 2000 and is located in Thessaloniki, Greece. The mission of CERTH is to promote the triplet Research – Development – Innovation by conducting high quality scientific research and developing innovative products and services while building strong partnerships with industry (national and international) and strong collaborations with research centres and universities in Greece and abroad.
CERTH consists of five (5) Institutes and the Central Directorate and is governed by its Board of Directors. The five institutes are: Information Technologies Institute (ITI), Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute (CPERI), Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT), Institute of Applied Biosciences (INAB), Institute for Research & Technology of Thessaly (IRETETH). CERTH is essentially a self-supported Research Centre generating an average annual turnover of ~ € 22 Million coming from: >30% from bilateral industrial research contracts, >60% from competitive research projects, and <10% as government institutional funding. More than 600 people work at CERTH with the majority being scientists. CERTH has participated successfully in more than 1,000 competitive research projects (with a total budget exceeding 423 M€ and involving more than 1,100 international partner organizations) financed by the European Union (EU), leading industries from USA, Japan and Europe and the Greek Government. Four spin off companies have been already launched through CERTH research activities. CERTH is listed among the Top-20 Research Centres of the EU with the highest participation in FP7 competitive research grants for the period 2007-2012 (16th place, up from 18th in 2011). CERTH has received numerous awards and distinctions such as: the European Commissions’ Descartes Prize (2006), the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant (2010), the 1st Prize in the Microsoft International Contest (2010) and many more. Since 2003, CERTH has been appointed by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) as the coordinator of the Greek EURAXESS Network, a European initiative aiming at offering personalised assistance to mobile researchers. In 2008, CERTH was among the first Greek research organisations to undersign and accept the principles of the Charter and Code for researchers while at the same time CERTH’s representatives were members of the Greek delegation at the Steering Group for Human Resources and Mobility (SG HRM). Its latest achievement in the field of human resources is the “HR EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH” logo awarded by the EC in April 2012 as a proof that CERTH is committed to offer the best possible working conditions, regardless the socioeconomic environment, and at the same time work towards the realisation of the European Research Area (Innovation Union, Commitment #4). CERTH is involved in strong and long term collaborations with significant international partners. From CERTH, Information Technologies Institute (ITI) will participate in order to fulfil the objectives of AVENUE. These are outlined in details in the next paragraphs.
Short Profile of Institute/Organization
The Information Technologies Institute (ITI – Web Site: www.iti.gr):
It was founded in 1998 as a non-profit organisation under the auspices of the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of Greece, with its head office located in Thessaloniki, Greece. Since 10.3.2000 it is a founding member of the CERTH also supervised by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT). CERTH/ITI is one of the leading Institutions of Greece in the fields of Informatics, Telematics and Telecommunications, with long experience in numerous European and national R&D projects. It is active in a large number of research domains such as Energy Efficiency, Security and Surveillance, Image and Signal Processing, Computer & Cognitive Vision, Human Computer Interaction, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Machine Learning & Deep Learning, Multimedia, Visual and Data Analytics, Database and Information Systems and Social Media Analysis. Since its establishment, CERTH/ITI has participated in more than 175 research projects funded by the European Commission (IST FP5-FP6-FP7 & H2020) and more than 160 research projects funded by Greek National Research Programmes and Consulting Subcontracts with the Private Sector (I&T Industry). ITI currently has 216 employees including Scientific Personnel (Researchers, Collaborating faculty members, Postdoctoral Research Fellows, Postgraduate Research Fellows, and Research Assistants), Administrative and Technical Staff. In the last 10 years, the publication record of ITI includes 270 scientific publications in international journals, 600 publications in conferences and 100 books and book chapters. These works have been cited in more than 6500 times.
The Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT – Web Site: www.hit.certh.gr):
Established in 2000, the Hellenic Institute of Transport is the Greek National Institute for the promotion of Transport Research and Policy support. It focuses on applied research in all fields and modes of Transport, providing input for policy formulation, documentation of major trends and impacts, formulation of operational rules and procedures, improvement of the operation and management in the field of Transport. It has been recognized as a center of excellence in several fields and is a well recognised source of innovation and entrepreneurship in the field of transport in Europ e, thus achieving one of the key objectives of the Center for Research and Technology Hellas (CE.R.T.H.).
The Institute cooperates with local, private and public bodies and other institutions in Europe and internationally, and represents Greece in various International trade and scientific fora. The team that will be involved in AVENUE, encompasses the following key research expertise:
- Profound experience in road safety research, being involved with lead or main role in more than 40 European road safety research projects so far.
- Infrastructure excellence for conducting road safety research, including research vehicles, passenger car simulator, riding simulator, hybrid motorcycle and Virtual Reality Lab.
- Conducting evaluation and impact assessment studies for ITS innovation.
