Dr. Nektarios Nasikas was born in Athens and graduated from the Physics Department of the University of Crete in 2006. He served in the Greek Army as a reserve officer and was named Second Lieutenant of the Ordnance Corps. He received a Master’s Degree in Materials Science from the University of Patras in 2009. He received a second Master’s Degree in Banking and Financial Management from the University of Piraeus with a specialty in Finance and Investments in 2020. He was awarded his PhD in Materials Science from the University of Patras in 2012 while his research was carried out in the Institute of Chemical Engineering Sciences of the Foundation of Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH/ICEHT) in Patras.

Significant part of his PhD was carried out in collaboration with the Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science of the University of California, Davis in the U.S.A. For his Doctoral studies he received a full five-year scholarship for academic excellence from FORTH.Since April 2021 he holds the position of Assistant Professor in the Division of Mathematics and Military Sciences in the Hellenic Army Academy. Additionally, he has taught as a visiting Professor at the University of West Attica the course of organic materials used in the conservation of antiquities and works of art. He has worked in the Peter A. Rock Thermochemistry Laboratory of the University of California, Davis as well as in the Institute of Physical Chemistry of the National Hellenic Research Foundation, as a Post-Doctoral Researcher.He has served as Director (2017 – 2021) of the Hellenic Foundation of Research and Innovation (H.F.R.I.) since its creation, following a unanimous election by the Foundation’s Scientific Council. As a Director he was responsible for the initial staff hiring and operation of the Foundation while managing its budget of 300 million euros aiming to support the excellent research activities carried out in the Universities and Research Centers of the country.He has authored several scientific papers published in international scientific journals following peer review, such as Advanced Functional Materials, Chemistry of Materials, Journal of the American Ceramic Society. He is also a reviewer in a large number of journals, such as Applied Physics A, Journal of Defense Modelling and Simulation, Journal of the American Ceramic Society.His research interests lay in the fields of multifunctional materials, materials used in antiballistic protection and armor as well as the technology of amorphous and ceramic materials.