The person who came up with the title “Trust Your Stars” for the ill-fated program for young researchers and scientists must have been infected by a heavy dose of sarcasm. The aim of the call, which had been published in late 2023 by the Education Ministry, was, supposedly, intended to “support research projects with a high impact on the economy and society through the production of high-quality research.” The all-too-familiar buzzwords about hubs of excellence and innovation were obviously scattered in there as well.
The program, however, was dropped from the Recovery and Resilience Facility package after failing to meet its implementation deadlines. The decision was announced on the very day the evaluation process was completed and around 145 proposals – from a total of 1,241 – had been approved. Despite repeated efforts, including contacting the appropriate authorities on multiple occasions, launching signature campaigns and sending formal legal notices, the scientists affected by the decision received no official communication from the summer of 2025 onward. And the government’s responses to questions in Parliament were entirely formulaic and bureaucratic.
The dispute has spilled over into social media, with Aristides Hatzis, a professor of philosophy of law and theory of institutions at the University of Athens, being at the forefront of the assault. In an earlier article published in Kathimerini in May, he argued that “this fiasco had many victims … not only excellence and science, but also hundreds of young researchers who made the mistake of believing the Greek state was trustworthy, giving up positions, missing opportunities and taking risks in order to participate in this program.”
