Dr. Evangelos Bekiaris, the Director of the Hellenic Institute of Transport has become one of the 11 members of the new National Council for Research, Technology & Innovation of Greece (ESETEK) as nominated by the Deputy Minister for Development and Investments,  Mr. Christos Dimas, responsible for Research and Innovation.

This is a particularly honorable participation that confirms the State’s recognition of of HIT’s contributionin the field of Research and Transport and in its established role as an internationally recognized body of excellence, research and innovation across Europe.

At the same time the inclusion of Researchers for the first time in this Council, signifies the Ministry's goal of more effectively linking Research with Innovation, as the National Council for Research, Technology and Innovation (ESETEK) is the State's highest advisory body in developing the National Strategy for Research, Technology and Development of Innovation.

It is worth noting that Dr. Evangelos Bekiaris is the President of the European ECTRIAssociation(European Conference of Transport Research Institutes), representing the European Research Institutes in Transport, and has been recently elected as the new President of the EURNEX Association (EUropean rail Research Network of EXcellence).

HIT/ CERTH (the Hellenic Institute of Transport of the Centre for Research and Technology Hellas)), based in Thermi, Thessaloniki, is the leading Transport Research Institute in Greece, one of the most respected and recognized technology hubs in Europe and falls under the General Secretariat for Research and Technology (GSRT) of the Ministry of Development and Investment.