Prof. Costas N. Papanicolas is the Founding President of the Cyprus Institute, currently President Emeritus. He holds B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has served at CEA (Saclay, France) and on the faculty of the University of Illinois, MIT and Athens University. He directed the Institute of Accelerating Systems and Applications of Greece and the Physics Laboratory of the University of Athens. He chaired the Accreditation Council for Tertiary Education of the Republic of Cyprus (1998 -2006), and served the National Advisory Board on Science and Technology of the Hellenic Republic and the Science and innovation Council of the Republic of Cyprus. He served as the “Advisor to the President of the Republic of Cyprus Special Envoy on Climate Change” (2018-2023). His research interests lie in the areas of nuclear, particle and medical physics, renewable energy technologies and Energy, Educational and Climate Policy. He is a Fellow of the American Physical Society, member of Academia Europaea, member of the Silk Road Academy of Sciences (China), of the Académie des sciences d’outre-mer (France) and Founding member of the Cyprus Academy of Sciences, Letters and the Arts. He currently serves on EASAC (the European Academies Scientific Advisory Committee). He was been awarded the “Medal of Excellence for Service to the Republic” by the Republic of Cyprus for his contributions to research and education to the Republic of Cyprus, “H.M. Gago Award in European Science Policy” of Portugal and ordained as “Commendatore dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia” by the President of Italy.