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How proteins find
their way out of cells -
an essential mechanism
for cellular function
"ERMIS" at the European
e-Government Awards
The challenge of Gender in
the European Research Area
ERMIS, the Greek Public Service Portal,
received a distinction at the European
e-Government Awards 2009 as one of
the three best applications for adminis-
trative efficiency and effectiveness. The
awards ceremony took place at the 5th
Ministerial eGovernment Conference:
"Teaming up for the eUnion", on 19-20
November, in Malmo, Sweden, under
the auspices of the Swedish EU Presidency.
The contest, organized by the European
Commission for the fourth time, acknowl-
edges and awards the best ICT applica-
tions in the fields of eGovernment sup-
porting the Single Market, eGovernment
empowering citizens, eGovernment
empower ing businesses, as wel l as
eGovernment enabling administrative
efficiency and effectiveness. This year,
there were 259 candidates from 31 coun-
tries. The Greek application was com-
peting with 118 other practices from all
over Europe.
INNO
VATION
RESEARCH
ΤECHNOLOGY
&
The Institute of Molecular Biology and
Biotechnology (IMBB) of FORTH is partici-
pating in the effort to understand a fun-
damental biological problem, namely how
cells regulate the movement of their pro-
teins. Some of the research results are pre-
sented in today's edition of Nature, one
of the most authoritative international sci-
entific journals. They stem from an inter-
continental cooperation between the
research teams of Tassos Economou, IMBB
Researcher and Associate Professor at the
Biology Department of the University of
Crete, and that of Charalambos Kalodimou,
Associate Professor at Rutgers University
(New Jersey, USA).
Thousands of proteins are produced inside
our cells. More than a third of these pro-
teins can fulfil their function only after
migrating to the outside of the cell, becom-
ing anchored to the cell membrane or by
targeting specific subcellular compartments.
These processes are essential for life. Examples
of migrating proteins are insulin (whose
absence leads to diabetes), antibodies (that
combat infections), membrane channels
(essential, amongst other things, for neu-
ronal cell function) and toxin-proteins secret-
ed by pathogenic microorganisms. How
do migrant proteins make their way to
their final destinations and how do they
go through cell membranes?With the new
publication inNature, the Economou/Kalodimos
teams reveal an essential, previously unknown
role of signal-peptides. Specifically, the
researchers show that, as soon as the sig-
nal peptide binds to its docking groove, it
acts as a key that opens the secretory chan-
nel, thus allowing the remaining part of
the migrant protein to cross the membrane
through the channel.
Despite the progress in sectors such as
politics, business and public administra-
tion and, although there have been intense
efforts to introduce equal opportunities
in research and science, today, only 25%
of all researchers in the world are women,
according to UNESCO statistics.
In Europe, women occupy 20% of grade
A academic posts, although they represent
55%of all students and 60%of graduates.
While the statistics are systematically improv-
ing, nevertheless, the real improvement
rate is still slow (around 2% increase in
female university professors in 5 years).
The importance of the issue is now well
acknowledged and many organizations
in Europe and throughout the world
have introduced policies addressing the
gender dimension in research. The European
Commission has been integrating a pol-
icy for "equal opportunities" in science
since the mid 1990s, and many mea-
sures and programmes have been adopt-
ed in this regard. Similar initiatives have
also started at national and organiza-
tional level.
In Greece, female researchers represent
36% of the total research potential, a
percentage above the EU average. More
specifically, women represent 38% of
researchers in higher education, 41% in
public organizations and 32% in indus-
try. The annual growth rate is 6.9%, while
the respective figure for male researchers
is 5.7%. According to the data, 45% of
PhD holders in Greece are women. The
main fields of their theses are Health
(86% of PHD graduates), Socio-economic
Sciences and Humanities (52%) and
Education (47%).
The magazine presents statistical infor-
mation about women in science in Greece
and the rest of Europe, policies and rel-
evant initiatives, European projects sup-
porting the equal participation of women
in research, the LOREAL-UNESCO awards,
as well as the activities of the National
Documentation Centre for mapping
female researchers in Greece and pro-
moting best practices through the GEN-
DERA project.
Enterprise Europe Network-
Hellas at the EC campaign
for Social Europe
The Enterprise Europe Network-Hellas
participated in the information campaign
organized by the European Commission
under the topic "Do you know what
Social Europe can do for you?" The infor-
mation exhibition took place in Athens
(Syntagma Square), on 27-28 November
2009. The National Documentation
Centre, Coordinator of the Enterprise
Europe Network-Hellas, together with
the Chamber of Smal l and Medium
Enterprises of Athens and Diktyo PRAXI
(Help-Forward), partners of the Network,
participated in the event.
The visitors were informed about activ-
ities of the European Commission for
the improvement of working conditions,
equal opportunities, funding programmes,
future initiatives related to worldwide
social issues, and initiatives to improve
the everyday life of European citizens.
ΚΑΙΝΟΤΟΜΙΑ
ΕΡΕΥΝΑ & ΤΕΧΝΟΛΟΓΙΑ
Ι
11/2009 - 01/ 2010
3 2
highlights
i
ΙΜΒΒ/FORTH, Economou Lab
Nature Journal
i
European eGovernment
Awards
The Greek Public Service
Portal ERMIS
i
Women and Science
(European Commission)
GENDERA: Gender Debate in
the European Research Area
L'ORΕAL-UNESCO –
For Women in Science
i
Enterprise Europe Network
– Hellas