Angelos Tsiaras

Dr. Angelos Tsiaras is a highly accomplished astronomer and a Visiting Professor in the Department of Astrophysics, Astronomy, and Mechanics within the School of Physics at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (AUTh), Greece. He holds a PhD in Astronomy from University College London (UCL), UK, having previously earned a first-class BSc in Physics from AUTh, where he has also served as an invited lecturer. Dr. Tsiaras currently holds the position of Honorary Senior Research Fellow at UCL and works as an R&D consultant for a space-related company in London, showcasing a robust career across academia and industry. His primary scientific expertise lies in Exoplanetary Atmospheres and the use of space telescopes for their characterization. He is a specialist in analyzing spectroscopic observations from instruments like the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), particularly the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3), to determine the chemical composition of planets orbiting distant stars. A notable scientific contribution for which he gained international recognition was his involvement in the team that announced the detection of water vapor in the atmosphere of the super-Earth exoplanet K2-18b, which orbits within the star’s habitable zone. This work, alongside his research on planets like 55 Cancri e, demonstrates his focus on finding and characterizing potentially habitable worlds and understanding the nature of planets beyond our Solar System. Beyond his academic appointments, Dr. Tsiaras is actively involved in the future of exoplanet research, specifically with the European Space Agency’s (ESA) ARIEL (Atmospheric Remote-sensing Infrared Exoplanet Large-survey) mission, which is scheduled to launch later this decade. He is a co-coordinator of the working group focused on Synergies with amateur astronomers for the ARIEL consortium. Furthermore, he directs the ExoClock project, a citizen science initiative that mobilizes amateur astronomers globally to perform follow-up observations of transiting exoplanets, providing crucial data to support missions like ARIEL and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). His dedication to science communication and outreach is also evident through his work as a trainer for Greek students participating in the International Olympiad on Astronomy and Astrophysics (IOAA).