School of Liberal Arts & Sciences
Scope of Research
The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences (SLAS) aims to foster academic excellence through scholarly and creative endeavors that promote the study of human experience and behavior, properties of the human body and of the natural world, and the potential of technology in enhancing the quality of modern life. Through the use of the latest pedagogical tools, it aims to habituate students in critical and analytical thinking, while inculcating respect for ethical principles and the values of citizenship and global belonging. Simultaneously, it aims to impart knowledge and skills essential for graduate study and professional careers in an era of technological advancements.
The School of Liberal Arts and Sciences displays a high-quality record of scholarship, with 83% of the full-time faculty being actively engaged in producing monographs, articles in refereed journals, book chapters, and papers in refereed national and international conferences. Faculty in Sciences and in Information Technology are also participating in research teams pursuing EU and US grants. SLAS aims to enhance the research output of faculty through close collaboration with the ACG Centers of Excellence, as well as with the Institute of Hellenic Studies and the Liberal Arts and the Institute of Global Affairs.
Faculty in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences engage in scholarship that is mostly centered around the disciplinary fields covered by the SLAS curricula: Biomedical Sciences, Cinema Studies, Communication, Cybersecurity and Networks, English and American Literature, Environmental Studies, History, Information Technology, International Relations and European Affairs, Linguistics, Philosophy, Psychology, and Sociology. However, there is a growing trend for interdisciplinary collaborations in the areas of research and scholarship.
Research Areas
Scholarly and research activity in the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences is organized around the following themes.
Human Biology
Molecular and cell biology, protein-DNA interactions and gene expression, microbiology, virology, structural biology/molecular biophysics and bioinformatics, cancer research, genetic diseases, and rare diseases, chemical biology, neuroscience, pharmacology and drug development and research on environmental health issues, on big data analytics in bioinformatics, medicine, health, and healthcare.
Human Behavior
Study of cognitive processes (attention, memory, decision making, intelligence, creativity, and language), examination of prejudice and discrimination (i.e., homophobia, sexism, racism) from psychological and sociological perspectives, psychology of addiction, family relations and social interactions; adult development and aging; prevention intervention psychoeducational programs.
Technology in the Digital Era
Software engineering, artificial intelligence, games, data science, cybersecurity, wireless technologies and networks, software-defined networks, federated learning, multi-agent systems, machine learning, explainable AI, big data mining and analytics, parallel/distributed/high-performance computing and optimization, the interplay of AI and O/R, design/development and AI for games, signal processing and antenna design, energy neural networks and biomedical engineering.
Culture, Society and Language
Media communication (including film and advertising), sociological analyses of contemporary phenomena, deviance and crime, philosophy and science, philosophy and society, ethics, migration and the refugee crisis, terrorism and political violence, US-Greek relations, geopolitics (with special emphasis on the Balkan region), securitization, literature in the context of history and society, the study of language and pedagogy (including the Teaching of English as a Second Language).
Sustainability
Climate change (assessing vulnerability, adaptation and resilience), climate change & heritage (natural and historical), citizen science, civic engagement and climate change, conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity, marine research and conservation, education on Sustainable Development Goals, sustainable agriculture, green and sustainable maritime industry