Houdusse Anne

Dear Sir/Madam,What makes a civilization remarkable is its ability in innovation and thinking. Greece has played such a tremendous role in history. It has today as many talented people in science that have been trained in Greece and are key to the future generation of ideas in your country.This is one of the reasons why the closure of the center CERETETH would have terrible consequences. It is now that the country faces difficulty that it also has to make the right choices to keep its most talented people.I really hope you will keep CERETETH open. Sincerely yours,Anne HoudusseResearch director, Institut Curie, Paris

Χ. Καρατζαφέρη

Συμφωνώ κι εγώ με το περιεχόμενο της επιστολής της ΕΕ και με την γενική πρόταση να αποσυρθούν τα άρθρα 7 και 9. Επίσης, αναφέρω ότι και οι παρακάτω ερευνητές δηλώνουν την αντίθεσή τους στην προτεινόμενη συγχώνευση (=κατάργηση) του ΚΕΤΕΑΘ, και συμφωνούν με την επιστολή που έστειλαν οι το ΔΣ, το προσωπικό και οι συνεργάτες του ΚΕΤΕΑΘ. (η σχετική αλληλογραφία είναι διαθέσιμη) Pieter P. de Tombe, Ph.D.James R. DePauw Professor of PhysiologyChair, Department of Cell and Molecular PhysiologyDirector Cardiovascular Research CenterLoyola University Chicago, USA Dilson RassierProfessor, William Dawson ScholarDepartment of Kinesiology and Physical EducationFaculty of EducationMcGill University, Canada Gabriele Pfitzer, MDProfessor and ChairInstitut für Vegetative PhysiologieUniversität Koeln, Germany Anders Arner,MD,PhDProfessorDivision Genetic PhysiologyDept Physiology and PharmacologyKarolinska Institutet, Sweden

Masataka Kawai

Dear Sirs/Madams, I have heard you are planning to close the Centre for Research and Technology Thessaly (CERETETH) located in Thessaly, Greece. This is an extremely bad idea even in the middle of this economic crisis. This institution performs many functions, above all it raises future scientists and engineers, and supports technology transfer, the very elements Greece needs for growth and competitiveness in coming years. Unless you continue with CERETETH and similar isntitutions and raise a well educated and talented young generation, Greece will not have a future in the global economy. My wife and I visited Greece for the first time in early September, and were impressed with its rich history and culture dating back 3500 years. We found that the Theatre at Epidaurus was most sophisticated, and we wondered how engineers 2500 years ago could design such a theatre with perfect acoustics. We agreed that Greece has had a rich civilization, which has been inherited for thousands of years. We do not agree with the idea of terminating the continuation of such civilization and the skills developed. You terminating CERETETH is equivalent of terminating this long inherited culture and technology. This should be avoided at all expenses. Please consider the following facts.(i) CERETETH has been evaluated by external reviewers recently, and was determined to be an excellent research center.(ii) CERETETH costs very little to the government, because most of CERETETH’s budget comes from competitive funding from outside of Greece. 70- 80% of its staffs’ salary is paid from such funds. Thus, CERETETH does not contribute to the overgrowth of the public secotr. CERETETH actually generates 3.5 euros for every euro it receives from the government.(iii) CERETETH is one of the few research institutes not based in Athens or Thessaloniki, and it adds to the local economy, halting the brain-drain of Greek researchers. If you close CERETETH, many young and talented researchers will immigrate to other European countries where science and technology are well funded. If you lose these researchers, Greece will not have a future.(iv) Scientist and engineers of CERETETH collaborate with people in University of Thessaly (UTh), and terminating CERETETH will damage the livelihood of UTh seriously. Because of these considerations, I sincerely urge you to keep CERETETH open and maintain it, so that a long inherited culture and civilization continues to the next generations for thousands of more years. You have an excellent tradition. It is not the time to terminate this tradition. Sincerely yours,Masataka Kawai, Ph.D.ProfessorDepartment of Anatomy and Cell BiologyCollege of MedicineThe University of IowaIowa City, IA 52245, USA

Stefano Schiaffino

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN I am seriously worried about the planned closure of the Center of Research Technology Thessaly (CERERETH). I recently attended the European Muscle Conference held in Rodos, where I presented a keynote lecture. This international meeting was organized by the head of Kinesiology Department of the Center of Research Technology Thessaly (CERERETH), Giorgos Sakkas, and by Christina Karatzaferi, also a member of CERERETH. The meeting was perfectly orhanized and was a great success. On this occasion I could appreciate the excellent research activity reported by the partecipating CERERETH groups, their active interactions with foreign research centers, the enthusiasm of the greek young researchers present at the meeting. I learned that they are supported by european grants and are active partners in EC networks. To create such efficient research groups requires a lot of time and effort, therefore it would be a wrong decision to destroy what has been built with great effort in many years. I do understand very well the situation in Greece because in Italy we have similar problems. Greek and italian goverments must cut expenses, no doubt. The problem is what to cut. I believe that our countries should ponder with great attention these decisions, and certainly should not cut good science and technology, because they represent our future, only by investing in good science we can hope to get out of the tunnel. The last point I want to make is that in my opinion good research centers should be spread throughout the territory and not only in a few selected places, say Rome and Milan in Italy, or Athens and Thessaloniki in Greece, because in this way they can act as a stimulus for local industry and start-up companies, as well as local universities, when present. For all these reasons I invite greek authorities to reconsider the decision to close the Center of Research Technology Thessaly (CERERETH). Stefano SchiaffinoProfessore Emeritus, University of Padova, ItalyGroup Leader, Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine

Δρ. Δέσποινα Τσιαφάκη

Η αναδιάταξη και αναδιάρθρωση της σύγχρονης έρευνας στην Ελλάδα αποτελεί κύριο ζητούμενο των τελευταίων ετών, καθώς συνδεδεμένοι μαζί της είναι σημαντικοί άξονες όπως αυτοί της ανάπτυξης, της κοινωνικής και οικονομικής ζωής και γενικότερα της πορείας μας προς το μέλλον. Η συμπόρευση της έρευνας με την παιδεία είναι αυτονόητη και αυταπόδεικτη και οποιαδήποτε αλλαγή πρέπει να στοχεύει εκεί. Γι’ αυτό και η αναδιάρθρωση της έρευνας οφείλει να γίνει μέσα σε ένα συντεταγμένο και οργανωμένο πλαίσιο εθνικής μακροπρόθεσμης στρατηγικής, στο οποίο θα καθορίζονται με σαφήνεια οι κατευθύνσεις και στόχοι.Οι προτεινόμενες συγχωνεύσεις δεν διακρίνεται να εμπεριέχουν κάτι από τα παραπάνω και η υλοποίησή τους δεν φαίνεται να αποφέρει κάποιο ουσιαστικό κέρδος.Για τις υπόλοιπες σκέψεις μου καλύπτομαι από τις αναρτήσεις της Ένωσης Ελλήνων Ερευνητών