Research challenges

Tomorrow’s research requires us to solve problems of depth and scale simultaneously: explaining mechanisms at the molecular level, designing materials with multiple functions, integrating different types of data, and making sense of huge digital collections of culture. The answer is not single-track; it is synthetic. The NHRF invests in such syntheses in order to reduce the time from working hypothesis to clinical practice, production laboratory, or museum.

In the microcosm of life, the ICB develops stratified medicine with molecular targeting, cryo-electron microscopy, biomarkers, and translational biology; at the level of materials, the TPCI promotes computational/theoretical chemistry, material synthesis, physicochemical characterization, and photonics for diagnostic, energy, and sensory applications. Parallel progress in these fields is creating new diagnostics, therapies, and measurement systems with real added value.

In the “data-AI-omics technologies” axis, CLOUDSCREEN leverages artificial and human intelligence for drug retargeting, ACCC organizes a national critical mass for data integration, biobanks, and omics infrastructures, while ENVESOME uses AI to convert exposure measurements into public health decisions. The challenges here are demanding: FAIR data, security/privacy, interoperability, but also new quality standards that make results reliable and reusable.

In digital humanities, the IIE acts as a hub: from PANDEKTIS to the platform for the First Hellenic State (1821) and 100memories, large collections of texts, images, and documents become searchable, reusable, and educational. The challenge is twofold: accurate documentation and methodological rigor, but also sustainable dissemination models that empower educators, researchers, and communities.

Finally, open science and human resources are catalysts. Helios consolidates and disseminates the knowledge produced by the NHRF; the Gender Equality Plan ensures fair access and advancement; the infrastructure of TPCI (clean rooms, characterization platforms) and ICB (e.g., cryo EM) enables cutting-edge experimentation. The strategic challenge is to keep these capabilities “alive,” connect them to society and industry, and continuously train the next generation.