The mission of Athena RC is to conduct outstanding research in Informatics and Computational Sciences, tackling global challenges, addressing local needs, and producing novel and deep technological results with a broad impact on other sciences, industry, and society at large.

Athena RC recognizes innovation as a driver of competitiveness and a catalyst for prosperity. For more than 25 years, it maintains an innovation culture, developing high-end technologies, products and services, and cultivating synergies between the entrepreneurial and research worlds. Its spin-off companies and its facilitation of three industrial clusters in knowledge-intensive thematic sectors are the result of a fertile technological innovation ecosystem within the Center.

The vision of Athena RC is to create knowledge and devise solutions and technologies for the digital society. It aims to serve the full spectrum of the research lifecycle, starting from basic and applied research, continuing on to system & product building and infrastructure service provision, and ending with technology transfer and entrepreneurship.

The scope of activities of Athena RC includes all Information and Communication Technologies, from the perspective of both Computer Science and Computational Sciences, and covering all software and hardware aspects. These include all areas of informatics, data science, robotics, automation, signal processing, artificial intelligence, networking and digital communication, and modelling.

Multidisciplinarity is at the foundation of the research philosophy of Athena RC, which carries out R&D both at the level of information technology itself and at the level of specific applications. Computational sciences thus form a strong component of the Athena RC activities, including – but not being limited to – computational linguistics, archaeology, engineering, medicine, biology, biodiversity, earth observation, space science, mechanics, and the arts.

The overall strategy of Athena RC consists of several plans along the following axes:

  • A research plan that targets fundamental and applied challenges with high potential impact, and has informatics at the core of synergies with other sciences
  • A technology transfer plan with a global focus and special attention to the Greek environment
  • A young researcher development plan based on identifying and supporting original talent
  • A strategic co-operations plan aiming at key industrial companies, governmental agencies, regional authorities, and international research and higher-education organisations
  • An educational plan that targets at designing and participating in local and international graduate programs

The key value of Athena RC lies in the deep expertise, extensive experience, and unique collection of skills and know-how of its more than 300 researchers, associated faculty, collaborating scientists, and professional staff. By participating in more than 200 national and European projects in the last 5 years and producing more than 1000 publications in the same time frame, the people of Athena RC are the ones giving it its strong international reputation.

Athena RC operates in three Greek cities (Athens, Patras, and Xanthi) and has become an important partner in the development plans of the corresponding regions.

INSTITUTES