The Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH) is one of the largest research centres in Greece; top 1 in north Greece. It was founded in 2000 and is located in Thessaloniki. Its mission is to promote the triplet Research – Development – Innovation by conducting high quality research and developing innovative products and services while building strong partnerships with industry and strategic collaborations with academia and other research and technology organisations in Greece and abroad.
CERTH consists of five (5) Institutes and the Central Directorate and is governed by its Board of Directors. The institutes are: the Information Technologies Institute (ITI), the Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute (CPERI), the Hellenic Institute of Transport (HIT), the Institute of Applied Biosciences (INAB), and the Institute of Bio-Economy and Agri-Technology (iBO). CERTH is essentially a self-supported Research Centre generating an average annual turnover of ~ € 25 Million coming from: >30% from bilateral industrial research contracts, >60% from competitive research projects, and <10% as government institutional funding.
More than 800 people work at CERTH with the majority being scientists. CERTH has received numerous awards and distinctions such as the European Descartes Prize, the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant, Microsoft International Contest Prize, the Trading Agents Competition Award and many more and is listed among the Top-25 of the EU’s Research Centres with the highest participation in H2020 competitive research grants9. CERTH has participated successfully in more than 1.200 competitive research projects (with a total budget exceeding 450 M€ and involving more than 1.100 international partner organizations) financed by the European Union (EU), leading industries from USA, Japan and Europe and the Greek Government via the General Secretariat of Research and Technology (GSRT). CERTH’s research results (more than 350 publications/year) have significant scientific impact (about 7.100 heterocitations/year). Since 2003, CERTH has been appointed by the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) as the coordinator of the Greek EURAXESS Network, a European initiative aiming at offering personalised assistance to mobile researchers.
In 2008, CERTH was among the first Greek research organisations to undersign and accept the principles of the Charter and Code for researchers while at the same time CERTH’s representatives were members of the Greek delegation at the Steering Group for Human Resources and Mobility (SG HRM). Its latest achievement in the field of human resources is the “HR EXCELLENCE IN RESEARCH” logo awarded by the EC in April 2012 as a proof that CERTH is committed to offer the best possible working conditions, regardless the socioeconomic environment, and at the same time work towards the realisation of the European Research Area (Innovation Union, Commitment #4). CERTH is involved in strong and long term collaborations with significant international partners.