Since 2024 the Department of Physics honours the catalytic contribution of Prof. Eleftherios Economou to the establishment and development of the Department of Physics over a period of 40 years with the annual awards: a) "Best Graduate Academic Achievement Award", b) "Doctoral Student Research Award", c) "Distinguished Graduate Award".
From 2023 onwards, the Department also honours the memory of Prof. George Grammatikakis, known for his love of astronomy and his work for the popularisation of science, especially through his books, with the annual "George Grammatikakis Award". The award recongnizes the best student of the Department of Physics of the University of Crete, according to her/his academic and research performance especially in astronomy, after the completion of the 2nd or 3rd year of studies.
In addition, the University of Crete grants awards and scholarships based on academic performance and/or financial criteria. Relevant information is available, in Greek, on the University's website
https://www.uoc.gr/foitites/ipotrofies/
while all relevant announcements with the associated deadlines are also made by the Department's secretariat.
Two more awards were offered by the Department of Physics in the past, and they were associated to the tragic events of November 27, 1990, when two young and distinguished colleagues, Basilis Xanthopoulos and Stephanos Pnevmatikos, were killed by the bullets of a paranoid former student of the Department during a seminar. In their memory, the University of Crete named the two large auditoriums of the buildings in Knossos and then the large auditorium of the Department of Physics in Boutes after them. In addition, in collaboration with the Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas and in an attempt to pay a minimum tribute to their educational and teaching work, the Department had established two awards focused on young scientists under 40 years of age. These are a) The Basilis Xanthopoulos International Award which was awarded until 2010 every 3 years by the General Relativity and Gravitation society for outstanding contribution to the field of Gravity, b) The Stefanos Pnevmatikos International Award which was awarded until 2008 every 2 years for outstanding contribution to the field of Nonlinear Physics. Along these lines, in 1991, FORTH established the annual national Basilis Xanthopoulos - Stephanos Pnevmatikos Award for Outstanding University Teaching, which is awarded to a member of the Academic Community.
