Here’s a space dedicated to the TT8 team. A multidisciploinary group consisting of cultural managers, artists, computer researchers and psychology researchers.
Panos Gkiokas
Co-founder & CEO of MENTORPanos was born in 1984, and raised in Eleusis. He graduated from the Kapodistrian University of Athens in 2007, and went on to do a postgraduate course in Marketing at the University of Leicester, and Heritage Management at the Hellenic Open University. In 2017 he received a scholarship from the Hellenic Initiative to participate in the StartMIT program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 2008, he has worked in various B2B companies in the private sector as a Sales and Marketing Director. Currently, he is active in the organization and management of NGOs, with the goal of protecting and promoting the rich cultural heritage of Greece abroad.
Philia Issari
Project Scientific DirectorPhilia Issari is a Professor of Counseling Psychology and Founding Director of the Centre for Qualitative Research in Psychology and Psychosocial Well-being at the Department of Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She studied Psychology at the Paris-Sorbonne University, and Counseling Psychology at New York University (M.A.), and University of California, Los Angeles (Ph.D). She also holds an M.A. in Classics (University of California, Los Angeles). She was a Guest Lecturer at the University of Roehampton (UK) and has taught at the University of Crete, and the European University of Cyprus. Her teaching, research and therapeutic practices are influenced by social constructionist, collaborative, dialogic and narrative ideas. Her work focuses on counseling across cultures and social justice, as well as psychosocial aspects of health and well-being. She is interested in the use of visual and creative methods in research and therapeutic work, and she is currently working in qualitative research projects concerned with life-histories of refugees, unaccompanied refugee adolescents and mental health workers who work with refugees and immigrants in Greece (in collaboration with Medecins du Monde and Red Cross). She is a member of several national and international associations including the European Network of Qualitative Inquiry (ENQI) (https://kuleuvencongres.be/enqi/articles/steering-group. Her work has been published in international journals; she is the main author of the e- book Qualitative Research in Psychology and Education (Hellenic Academic e-books, 2015, www.kallipos.gr), and co-editor of the collective work Qualitative Research in Counseling Psychology (Pedio, 2018, in Gr.). She has also edited the Greek translation of Kenneth Gergen’s book Therapeutic Realities: Collaboration, Oppression and Relational Flow [Therapeutikes Pragmatikotites: Synergasia, Katapiesi kai Sxesiaki Roe}. Athens: Pedio (Original work published 2006).
Yannis Ioannidis
Scientific Project ManagerYannis Ioannidis (PhD, Computer Science, UC Berkeley, 1986 – MSc, Applied Mathematics, Harvard University, 1983 – Diploma, Electrical Engineering, National Technical University of Athens, 1982) is the President and General Director of the “Athena” Research and Innovation Center as well as a Professor at the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. His research interests include Database and Information Systems, Data Infrastructures and Digital Repositories, Data Science, Scalable Data Processing, Data and Text Analytics, and Recommender Systems and Personalization, topics on which he has published over 150 articles in leading journals and conferences and also holds three patents. His work is often inspired by and applied to data management problems that arise in industrial environments or in the context of other scientific fields (Cultural Heritage, Life Sciences, Physical Sciences, Biodiversity). He has been the coordinator of several European and national research and innovation projects and a partner in tens of others, and has led or is currently leading the creation of new international or spin-off companies. He is an ACM and IEEE Fellow, a member of Academia Europaea, and a recipient of several research and teaching awards. He is currently serving as the Secretary / Treasurer of the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM) and is a member of the ACM Europe Council. He is a vice chair of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), the Greek delegate to ESFRI and a member of its Executive Board, and the ESFRI representative to the e-Infrastructures Reflection Group (e-IRG).
Katerina El Raheb
ResearcherShe is a researcher in Human Computer Interaction since 2009 working in projects that investigate technologies in Culture, Art and Education (e.g., WhoLoDance, Bridges, Transitionto8) and focuses on the design and methodologies that celebrate the embodied, moving, expressive, social multifaceted human nature. She was born in Alexandria, Egypt. For Katerina the challenge of creatively connecting things that seem completely diverse is a part of her life. She holds a PhD in the study of "dance as language" from the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications at the University of Athens (UoA), a MSc. in Advanced Information Systems from the same department, a BSc. in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, a diploma in classical and contemporary dance (Professional Dance School "Niki Kontaxaki”, and has practical experience from the industry and the performing arts as dance artist. She has been teaching at the Department of Performing and Digital Arts at the University of Peloponnese since 2019.
Yannis Pappas
Co-founder & COO of MENTORYannis studied Italian Language & Literature at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and holds a Master's degree in Conference Interpreting & Translation (EN/FR>GR) from the University of Strasbourg. In 2014, he co-founded and is the chief operations officer at Mentor, specializing in digital communications. As he himself acknowledges, he is an introvert, typo crusader, wanderlust-filled, allergic to animal abuse/racism/bullying/stereotypes, philhellene from Chios island, Greece.
Virginia Vassilakou
Project ManagerVirginia grew up in Athens, graduated from the Department of Physics at the University of Athens and AKTO from the Department of Interior Architecture. She completed her postgraduate studies in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Lund University, Sweden. She has worked in various industries in the field of business development and new market networks and as a strategic development consultant. She joined MENTOR in 2019 as General Manager in Cultural Production and Management, where she has been responsible for managing and coordinating artistic and cultural projects and developing strategic partnerships with organisations on a European level. Some of the projects are productions within the framework of "All Greece is one culture" of the Ministry of Culture, the project "Narrative Archaeology" within the artistic programme of the 2023 Eleusis European Capital of Culture, "Transition to 8" under the EU Regional Development program, as well as international collaborations such as the Art Lab initiative by UNESCO, the project "Adama" funded by the EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology) in the framework of the New European Bauhaus initiative, and the participation of MENTOR in consortia for Creative Europe and Horizon projects.
Fofi Tsesmeli
Artistic CuratorOne of the most known DJs in Greece, Fofi (aka Fo) has cooperated with several promoters, festival directors and international DJs. The past years she has been professionally active in the media sector (digital & printed), but she has also worked in radio producing, as an A&R in labels, as a consultant in a music publishing company, and more. Currently, she is working at the leading urban culture mag called ‘LiFO’ providing exclusive interviews of international producers & DJs, as well as content regarding the local and international club scene. Fofi is also the founder of HER Project, a local initiative regarding female empowerment in the music industry.
Alkistis Kontopoulou
Communications ManagerAlkistis Kontopoulou is a graduate of the Art Theory and History Department of the Athens School of Fine Arts and is currently completing her studies at the masters program of the aforementioned institution. Her thesis explores the political art performance pieces presented in Greece during the ‘70s. She has attended university courses on diverse areas, including methodologies of education, adult education and digital marketing. She has participated in several art projects as a curator, organizer and writer. For five years, she held the administration assistant position at Dieleusis, a cultural space in Athens. At MENTOR she was in charge of content creation and communications.
Eugene Georgaka
Member of the scientific teamEugenie Georgaca holds a degree in Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology, majoring in Psychology, from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (1990). She completed postgraduate studies at the University of Kent (1992) and doctoral studies at Manchester Metropolitan University, UK (1996). She teaches and researches in the fields of clinical psychology, psychotherapy and mental health. Specifically, she uses constructionist approaches for the study of mental distress and psychotherapy. She is also interested in promoting mental health at community level through participatory practices. She has published papers and is member of editorial boards of international scientific journals. She co-organised the 1st conference of the Association of European Qualitative Researchers in Psychology (EQuiP) in 2021 and the 5th and 6th Qualitative Research on Mental Health (QRMH) conferences in 2014 and 2016. She was coordinator of the Clinical Psychology Section of the Hellenic Psychological Society and since 2018 she is Board Member and Treasurer of the Society. She supports self-help organisations in Greece and abroad, and participated in the organization of the World Hearing Voices conference in Thessaloniki in 2015.
George Haniotis
Sociodramatist - Member of the scientific teamGeorge Haniotis is a Clinical Psychologist, Group Analyst, Psychodramatist. He holds a DESS in Clinical Psychology and Pathology (Paris VII University) and a DEA in Byzantine and Post-Byzantine History (Paris II University). In France, she specialized in Raichian Psychotherapy, Mascotherapy, Psychodrama and in Greece in Group Analysis at the Hellenic Society for Group Analysis and Psychotherapy (EEOAPS). He was an organizing member and is a therapist at the Social Service of the Municipality of Ag. Dimitrios and at the therapeutic community "Kipseli" in the EEOPP-EOAK. He also organized the Prevention Center "Helios" of the Municipalities of Ag. Dimitrios-N. Smyrni, Okana. He is a member of EEOPPS-EOAK and director of the Psychodrama-Sociodrama Zones, as well as a trainer-supervisor in Psychodrama and Sociodrama. He is a member of the International Advisory Committee of the International Sociodrama Conference and represents the EEOPS-EOAK in the European Federation for Psychodrama Training (FEPTO). He is in charge of the Pan-European Training Committee of FEPTO and from 2021 he is its Vice President. He was Full Member of the Group Analytic Society (1998-2010) in London, member of the International Association of Group Therapies (2003-2009), founding member of the Society for the Study of Greek Jewry (1991), member of the Literary Workshop "Albert Cohen" in Paris and "Fondation Memory À.Cohen" in Corfu.
Katerina Lioliou
Sociodramatist - Member of the volunteer teamKaterina Lioliou is an educator and psychodramatist. She is a graduate of the Zosima Pedagogical Academy (1983-1985) and a graduate of the Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy-Pedagogy-Psychology, University of Ioannina (1986-1989). She holds a Diploma in Psychodrama, Psychodrama Section, of the Hellenic Society for Group Analysis and Psychotherapy (2006-2011). She has taught for 25 years in primary public schools as well as in bilingual public schools for returning expatriates. Since 2009 she has coordinated training seminars for primary school teachers, psychodrama groups (Health Centre of the Municipality of Agioi Anargyroi etc.) and has taught in educational programmes (Roma training programme, addiction prevention programmes etc.). Her project "Psychodrama at school" was based on experiential work with primary school children during her employment in public education. She has been in private practice since 2011. Role in the project: Participation in conducting sociodrama sessions on issues related to the environment, unemployment and migration/refugee issues.
Dora Skali
Member of the scientific teamTheodora Skali (Msc, PhD, EKPA) is a member of the Faculty of Psychology of the Medical School of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, with the subject "Developmental Psychology, Developmental Psychopathology and Group Dynamics" and Psychotherapist, ECP, GCP. She practices her clinical work at the A' Psychiatric Clinic, at the Byron-Kaisariani Community Mental Health Centre, with emphasis on Group Psychotherapy, and her teaching work at the Medical School and at the A' and B' Psychiatric Clinic of the University of Athens. She has been trained in Cognitive Psychotherapy, Family Systems Therapy, Group Systems Therapy, Group Dynamics in Psychiatric Contexts, and Systems-Centered Theory-SCT. Her scientific and clinical work concerns group dynamics, with special emphasis on Large Group - both in Greece and abroad (USA, England), Attachment Theory, as well as Intercultural Psychology; she has been working with adolescent immigrants and refugees for more than 15 years. She has also been working on bereavement and loss support for children since 1999, leadership issues and "tele-" mental health services as a member of the Scientific and Project Coordination Team of the Psychosocial Support Line 1030. He is a member of scientific societies (ELPSE, ELESYTH, EESSEPSO), member of the Editorial Board of the journal "Systemic Thinking & Psychotherapy", founding member and Secretary General of the Hellenic Network of Group Analysts (EDOA). She participates in the mapping of the social issues of Elefsina, in conducting relevant interviews with residents, in the introductory presentation of the sociodrama sessions as well as in the collection and analysis of research data and the writing of scientific publications.
Antigone Apostolopoulou
Member of the scientific teamAntigoni Apostolopoulou is a counseling psychologist with a Ph.D. in Psychology at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She graduated the Psychology Department of the Panteion University and continued her studies in Postgraduate Diploma in Counseling Psychology and Counseling in Health, Work and Education at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Her research interests include the use of art in psychotherapy and counseling, aspects of artistic creative activity, embodied artistic creativity, psychosocial factors related to artistic creativity, as well as issues concerning the therapeutic process and the therapeutic relationship.
Evangelia Karydi
Member of the scientific teamEvangelia Karydi is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Laboratory of Qualitative Research in Psychology and Mental Health, Department of Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She holds a BSc in Psychology from the National University of Athens and a PhD in Psychotherapy and Counselling Psychology from the University of Surrey, England. Her PhD thesis focused on childhood bereavement. She has been trained in different psychotherapeutic models and has many years of clinical experience in public settings in England as well as in non-profit organisations and services for adults, children and adolescents. If she could briefly describe her way of working, she focuses on how people make sense of their life experiences and learn to manage them in an empowering way. Alongside her research work at the NSCA, she works privately as a psychologist in England.
Nikos Papadopoulos
Member of the scientific teamNikos Papadopoulos is a doctoral candidate in Psychology (University of Athens). He holds a degree in Sociology (Panteion) and Law (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki - Aristotle University of Thessaloniki - AUTh). His postgraduate studies are related to the Psychopedagogy of Integration (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) and Private International Law (Athens University of Thessaloniki). He was retrained in the synthetic model of psychotherapy and his research interests include multicultural counselling, visual research methods, sociology of mental health and comparative law. He is a member of the Hellenic Society of Counseling, the European Association of Counseling and the Thessaloniki Bar Association.
Elpida Simou
Member of the scientific teamElpida Simou is a graduate of the Department of Psychology of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. She participates in research activities of the Laboratory of Qualitative Research in Psychology and Mental Health of the Department of Psychology of the University of Athens. She deals with issues of qualitative methodology in psychology and her interests include the promotion of mental health and the linking of scientific research with practice in the field of psychology and in the broader field of social sciences. She is involved in the organisational support of the project, in the mapping and collection of research data
Flora Koliouli
Member of the scientific teamFlora Koliouli is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Laboratory of Qualitative Research in Psychology and Mental Health, Department of Psychology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, in interdisciplinary mixed-methods research projects that aim to create new methods of recording and intervening in targeted psychosocial problems of the community. Her studies include a B.Sc. degree in Psychology, Department of Psychology, an M.Sc. degree in "Developmental Psychology of Children and Adolescents", Université de Toulouse II-Jean Jaurès, Toulouse, France and a Ph.D. degree at the same University. Her research focuses on early child development, formal or informal, and on support and intervention programs for parents and health and early childhood professionals. Finally, she works in parallel as a Psychologist at the Speech and Occupational Therapy Centre of Mykonos and privately, in Athens, following cases of children and adolescents. Role in the project: Participation in the mapping of pressing social issues through questionnaires, contribution to literature review, collection, analysis of research data in the context of sociodrama sessions and writing scientific publications.
Pandelis Diamantides
Digital Artist - ResearcherPandelis Diamantides is a sound, visual artist and researcher active at the intersection of art, science and technology. In his music compositions and audiovisual performances, he uses custom digital technology to create complex binary landscapes, where detailed sound design and electronic rhythms are enhanced by multifaceted visuals providing a true immersive experience. He is the author of the audiovisual series of works Green, False Awakenings, Go Back to Hiding in the Shadows and the recent Quickly Photographed and Released Unharmed. Through a series of collaborations he has created sound, visuals and software for audiovisual performances, interactive audiovisual installations, contemporary dance and theatre, co-creating artworks such as Drowning, plplpl.pl, Mutual Wave Machine, Polaris, Anima, In Circles and Tune In. In recent years, his work has been presented at international festivals and galleries in Europe, USA, South America, Asia and the UAE. Between 2017-19 he was a visiting teacher of Programming Multimedia at Cyprus University of Technology and in 2020 he had the opportunity to work as Research Associate at the Immersive Technologies for Intelligent and Creative Applications multidisciplinary research group at the Research Center on Interactive Media, Cyprus. He currently holds a position of Research Associate at ATHENA Research Center, Greece while working on projects with his team at Studio Pandelis Diamantides in the Netherlands.
Vilelmini Kalampratsidou
Computer researcherVilelmini Kalampratsidou got her Ph.D. from the Computer Science Department at Rutgers University, NJ, USA in 2018, after completing her engineering degree at the Technical University of Crete, Greece, at the Electronic and Computer Engineering Department. She also attained the Cognitive Science Certificate from Rutgers Center for Cognitive Science in May 2018. Her research focuses on developing interactive interfaces that augment auditorily and visually (among other ways of sensory augmentation) information recorded from the human body, such as heart activity and movement. She is particularly interested in using these interfaces in real-time to raise awareness of our own sensory-motor system and investigate the human adaptation and learning process. She also loves the blending of those interfaces with artistic practices, including interactive dance performances. Finally, she has studied at the Professional Dance School of Athens Conservatoire, where she studies the practical aspects of classical and contemporary dance.
Akrivi Katifori
Computer Science ResearcherVivi completed her studies as a computer engineer in the Department of Informatics and Telecommunications at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens. She was directly involved in research projects related to virtual museums and digital experiences for heritage, working initially as a programmer and later as an analyst and experience designer. Her interests span across different research areas of computer science, including computer human interaction, personalization, experience design and evaluation, and she has authored several papers in these fields. Working closely with heritage experts made her realize that a common cross-domain language and mutual understanding are crucial for digital heritage to be truly meaningful and she is working to cultivate this within all projects of the team, including the EU funded CHESS and the EMOTIVE research programmes.
Maria Boile
Project ManagerMaria is a research associate at the “Athena” Research and Innovation Center in Information, Communication and Knowledge Technologies and the University of Athens. She is also PhD candidate in History of Art, holding a BS degree from the University of Athens in Archaeology and History of Art, an MSc degree in History of Art from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and an MSc from the Hellenic Open University in Cultural Organisations Management. Her research interests are on the diffusion of innovation in cultural organisations, open data, preservation and reuse of cultural heritage, and new management approaches of collections and museums. Since 2005, she has been working in several European and national funded projects related to ICT in the Cultural Heritage domain.
Marina Stergiou
Computer Science Researcher / DeveloperMarina is a researcher in the field of human-computer interaction and a designer and developer of Mixed, Virtual and Augmented reality applications. She loves music and dance, therefore her research interests focus mainly on the intersection of these arts with technology. She collaborates with research center “ATHENA” and National and Kapodistrian University of Athens from 2017, participating in projects such as :WhoLoDance, Aria, Transitioto8. Since 2021 she collaborates with the University of the Aegean, department of Product and System Design Engineering, where she is a phd student as well. She holds a Chemical Engineering Diploma from National Technical University of Athens, a MEng in Design of Industrial and Interactive Products and Systems, University of the Aegean and a Piano Degree from National Conservatoire of Athens.
Stavros Bilionis
Branding identity, Graphic designStavros undertook the research and design of the visual identity of TT8.
Dimitris Iliopoulos
Web developerDimitris undertook the research and implementation of the Transition to 8 website.
Petros Chytiris
PhotographerPetros Chytiris undertook the photographic coverage of project activities, while he took photos of Eleusis inspired by the three social issues studied in the project.
Christina Sotiropoulou
Communications & Social mediaAs part of MENTOR Christina was responsible for the project communication and social media.