National Observatory of Athens, Greece (NOA)

The National Observatory of Athens (NOA) is the oldest scientific research center in Greece, established in 1842 continuously serving Greek and foreign researchers in geodynamic, astronomical and meteorological observations. NOA is a governmental research center, supervised by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology of the Ministry of Education and the activities are organized in 3 research Institutes: The Institute of Geodynamics, the Institute of Astronomy, Astrophysics, Space Applications and Remote Sensing and the Institute of Environmental Research and Sustainable Development.

NOA’s scientific mission primarily deals with the collection of observational data from hundreds of ground based stations and modern space probes as well as in applied research dealing with the crust and the interior of the earth, the atmospheric environment and the stellar and solar space.

NOA operates the National Seismological Network and hosts the UNESCO Chair for Natural Disasters, the Greek Focal Point of the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS), the National gate to the European Space Agency and many other international research networks. Besides basic and applied research, NOA provides the facilities for graduate studies in collaboration with other Greek and foreign Universities. The rich scientific outcomes and activities at NOA are linked to entrepreneurship, culture, education and the popularization of science to society. NOA offers critical social services, such as the daily seismicity monitoring on a 24/7 basis, weather forecasting, forest fire monitoring, a continuous150 years long climatic dataset and operation of one of the largest European telescopes. The research center has also an important contribution to public outreach via its two popular visitor’s centers in in Athens in Penteli and Thissio which also hosts the Astrogeophysics Museum displaying scientific instruments and an extensive scientific library since the 19th century.