Alternate Minister for Research & Innovation is Professor Costas Fotakis.
The Research and Innovation (R&I) Division was first founded in the Ministry of Education, Research and Religious Affairs by establishing the Alternate Minister of R&I portfolio, with the purpose of advancing Research on a national level. The Division, which officially started its operation on March 21st, 2015, was structured as an addition to the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT), with the purpose of coordinating relevant actions throughout various Ministries, among other things.
Our mission:
- To design and promote a comprehensive, inclusive strategy for research, technology and innovation
- To maximize the impact of the highly qualified human potential in the area of research through the creation of new employment opportunities for the highly skilled and to reverse brain drain
- To transfer and disseminate innovative technologies to the country's productive sector for targeted use of the research results
- To supervise and fund the country's Research and Technological Institutions
- To enhance public awareness on Science, Research and Technology issues o represent the country to the relevant bodies of the European Union and other International Organizations
- To promote initiatives and programmes for International Research & Technological Cooperation with other countries
- To assess the outcome and impact of research and innovation policies and programmes
Our goals:
In the R&I Division, policies were developed based on three crucial objectives:
1. The support of Education and Culture via the production of new Knowledge arising from Research. To this end various initiatives were developed that advocate the osmosis of Research, Education and Culture, with emphasis given on the humanitarian and social sciences.
2. The pursuit of excellence and high-quality scientific Research, so that it can become a proxy for promoting the country on an international level, especially in today’s times of crisis.
3. The development of Innovation that arises from scientific Research so that it can be a driver for national growth and take part in confronting the social and economic crisis, as well as to create prospects for the near future.
It should be noted that Greece possesses exemplary scientific resources, with a high degree of specialization, that are competitive on an international level. These resources constitute the significant foundation on which the means for achieving the aforementioned goals will be built.
The development of actions supporting human resources, with an emphasis on young scientists, has always been and always will be a priority for the R&I Division.
