European University Cyprus announces Annual Awards for Excellence in Research and Teaching
In an impressive ceremony held on 20 May 2024, at the European University Cyprus Cultural Center, the university’s 2024 Annual Excellence in Research and Teaching Awards were presented.
Acknowledging and rewarding the excellence demonstrated by its members in Research and Teaching, the University annually awards two Excellence in Teaching Awards and three Excellence in Research Awards.
The Excellence in Teaching awards are given in memory of Dr. Mary Eleftheriadou who served as dean of the EUC School of Sciences during the 2017-2018 academic year.
Excellence in Teaching Award
Dr. Gianna Danidou
Dr. Danidou is an Assistant Professor of Cybersecurity. She has extensive teaching experience in topics related to Cybersecurity and Computer Science. In parallel with academic teaching, she has been involved in research, and in particular with EU-funded research projects. She has been a Research Associate of the CERIDES Center of Excellence for the last 8 years and director and founding member of the newly established research center CYBER.EUC. Her main area of research interest is the interaction between law, science and informatics. She has published many scientific articles in journals and has participated in various conferences, workshops and seminars both as a participant and as a speaker.
Excellence in Teaching Award
Prof. Loucas Loucas
Loucas Louca is a professor of Natural Sciences teaching at the Department of Education Sciences. His research interests focus on supporting teacher professional development and professional learning communities. His scientific research focuses on analyses of visual data of authentic teachings from real learning environments. Much of his research concerns the teaching and learning of Natural Sciences in preschool education with the modelling approach. His research interests also focus on analyses of videotaped science lessons with an emphasis on children’s scientific reasoning skills and teacher strategies to promote them.
The Teaching Excellence Awards were presented by Dr. Christoforos Hadjikyprianou, President of the EUC Board; Mrs. Popi Oikonomidou Appiou, First Education Officer (on behalf of the Minister of Education, Sports and Youth); as well as the two recipients of last year’s corresponding Excellence in Teaching award, Dr. Vasiliki Gretsi of the Department of Life Sciences and Dr. Chrystalla Papadimitri of the Department of Education Sciences.
Regarding the Research topic, awards were given for Young Researcher, Distinguished Researcher and Female Researcher who has demonstrated significant work in the early stages of her career.
Award for a Female Researcher who has demonstrated significant work in the early stages of her career
Dr. Cleo Varianou Mikellidou
Dr. Cleo Varianou Mikellidou holds a bachelor’s degree in Physics, a master’s degree in Safety, Health and Environment and a PhD in Occupational Safety and Health. She started her professional career in 2009 as a health and safety consultant. Since 2015, she has been active in the field of teaching and research specializing in the safety and health management system, the aging of human resources, risk assessments and in particular those concerning high-risk occupations. She has participated in a coordinating role in a large number of research programs, has important publications in prestigious scientific journals and many participations in European and international scientific conferences.
Young Researcher Award
Dr. Theodoros Lytras
Dr. Theodoros Lytras is an epidemiologist, Occupational Physician and Assistant Professor of Public Health at the European University Cyprus School of Medicine. He received a doctorate in occupational epidemiology from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, and a master’s degree from the National School of Public Health in Athens. He has extensive experience in infectious disease surveillance, working at the National Public Health Organization of Greece, and was actively involved in the Public Health response during the COVID-19 pandemic. His interests focus on epidemiological/biostatistical methodology and data analysis, as well as systematic review methodology and clinical guideline development.
Distinguished Researcher Award
Prof. George Boustras
George Boustras is Professor of Risk Assessment, Director of the Center for Risk and Decision Sciences (CERIDES – Excellence in Innovation and Technology) and Visiting Researcher at the National Observatory of Athens. He is a Member of the EU Mission: Adaptation to Climate Change and Special Adviser on Civil Protection and Crisis Management of the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nikos Christodoulides. He holds a PhD in Probabilistic Fire Risk Assessment from CFES at Kingston University London (2003) while at the same time, he was an Honorary Researcher at CPSE at Imperial College London (2003-2005) and a KTP Research Fellow at FSEG at the University of Greenwich (2009). Among other public duties, he was appointed by the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cyprus as head of the Special Working Group for the modernization of the Fire Services (2016). He has worked with the World Bank to help modernize the licensing services provided by the Fire Service of the Hellenic Republic. He is Editor-in-Chief of Safety Science (Elsevier, IF 6.392) and a Member of the Editorial Board of Fire Technology (Springer Nature) and the International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection (Inderscience).
The Excellence in Research Awards were presented by Mr. Dimitris Skouridis, Chief Scientist for Research, Innovation and Technology; Prof. Andreas Efstathiou, Rector of European University Cyprus; Prof. Loizos Symeou, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs; Ms. Loukia Polygerinou, Director of the Human Resources Department of European University Cyprus; as well as the recipient of last year’s corresponding Distinguished Researcher Award, Prof. Apostolos Zaravinos of the Department of Life Sciences and the recipient of last year’s corresponding Young Researcher Award, Dr. Ioulia Televantou of the Department of Education Sciences.