Renowned for its imposing medieval architecture, cobbled streets, huge parks and namesake river, the Cam, Cambridge is home to one of the oldest educational institutions in the world \u2013 a giant of 30 independent colleges and 125 Nobel prizes that was founded in 1209 \u2013 and some 130,000 residents \u2013 six in 10 of whom have a doctorate \u2013 including 3,000 Greek university academics, doctors, students, researchers and big tech executives. Many of them emigrated to the UK in search of a brighter future during the Greek economic crisis and Cambridge offered them an environment of meritocracy and transparency where they could thrive. They found opportunities there that they could only dream of in Greece. Their love for their native country remains strong, however, and it is also driving their efforts to keep Cambridge\u2019s Greek school \u2013 one of the biggest in the country, with 300 pupils \u2013 going.<\/p>\n The history of the Saint Athanasios School dates back to 1969, when a group of Greeks and Cypriots started giving lessons to the community\u2019s children for free. One of those volunteers was George Pippas, who was mayor of Cambridge in 2017-2018.<\/p>\n \u201cI was still studying at the time \u2013 engineering,\u201d he tells Kathimerini of those days in the late 1960s. \u201cThe city didn\u2019t have an Orthodox church or a Greek school. We rented an Anglican church to hold services and classes. Our priest, Father Amvrosios, actually taught grade six there. In 2015, with money collected from donations, the community was able to build the Church of Saint Athanasios and acquire a few rooms in an adjacent building where classes are now held, every afternoon for the older children and Saturdays and Sundays for the younger ones.\u201d<\/p>\n Kathimerini visited the building to meet with five members of the school committee, who also have children enrolled there: doctors Eleftheria Kleidi, Michalis Karvelis and Dimitris Giotikas, and engineers Giorgos Asfis and George Raikos.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re hanging on tooth and nail; we don\u2019t want our children to lose touch with the Greek language and, by extension, with our culture and traditions,\u201d they say, outlining some of the challenges the endeavor faces.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Greek Ministry of Education sends books covering all the grades and pays the salary for one teacher, Maria Perisianidou. The Cypriot delegation contributes by covering 30% of the annual operating budget. Parents pay out of pocket to cover all the other expenses, such as renting additional classrooms, operational costs and the wages for 15 part-time educators and the janitorial staff,\u201d they say.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you see how many of the kids are wearing their jackets in class? That\u2019s because there isn\u2019t enough money to pay for heating. The lack of support really hurts; please make sure to mention that. We keep hearing about the talk in Greece to reverse the brain drain and we just scoff: It\u2019s hot air, with no substance,\u201d says Spyros Roumaneas, a financial crimes adviser.<\/p>\n \u2018There\u2019s a transparent mechanism \u2013 that is not driven by partisan or other interests as is the case in Greece \u2013 which keeps you on your toes\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Eleftherios (Lefteris) Ioannou studied physics at Athens University and is now doing a postdoc at Cambridge, where he is involved in researching the modeling of rock fracturing under extreme conditions, with the aim of improving the drilling process for deep geothermal energy.<\/p>\n Maria Chrysanthou and Alexander Farmakalides are working on the development of magnetohydrodynamic models for unstable flows of magnetically confined plasma and its interaction with nuclear reactor walls, while Simeon Hatzopoulos, another physicist, is exploring the impact on global warming of the white elongated clouds of ice crystals that form behind aircraft during flight when the hot gases produced by their engines mix with the cold air.<\/p>\n Maria Nikodemou \u2013 who is developing advanced mathematical models for simulating chemical reaction flows \u2013 and Katerina Adamopoulou \u2013 who is also working on improving geothermal drilling \u2013 have different academic roots: in mathematics. All seven of these young Greek and Cypriot scientists, however, work with Nikos Nikiforakis, a professor of scientific commuting, director of studies in mathematics at Selwyn College and director of scientific computing at Cavendish. They are working together in an \u201cecosystem of research, teaching and engagement with industry.\u201d<\/p>\n The desire for his research to have an impact on people is also the motivating force driving Nikolaos Ktistakis. A lead researcher at the University of Cambridge\u2019s Babraham Institute, he transitioned from medicine to research, focusing on biochemistry and cell biology \u201cout of an interest in the mechanisms of human physiology \u2013 essentially, the fundamentals of life \u2013 and the molecular causes of diseases.\u201d His area of expertise is cellular signaling, or how cells receive stimuli or signals from the external environment, from other cells within the body and even from themselves, meaning their internal environment. Some of these signals then trigger functional changes, allowing the cells to adapt to new conditions (a process known as cellular response). This also includes autophagy \u2013 a key focus of research for Dr Ktistakis.<\/p>\n As the years go by, waste products, fat and dysfunctional or damaged proteins accumulate inside our cells. \u201cAutophagy is the process through which these are broken down and recycled into new, healthy components,\u201d Ktistakis explains. But how is autophagy activated? \u201cThrough intermittent fasting. The body needs to abstain from food for at least 18 hours in order to start producing its own nutrients within the cells,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n In fact, Ktistakis usually skips breakfast and has an early dinner, which is why our meeting at the Greek restaurant The Olive Grove is for 6.30 p.m. He and his wife, Maria Manifava \u2013 also a researcher at the Babraham Institute \u2013 talk about life in Cambridge, describing it as lovely, tranquil and balanced. \u201cThe lack of distractions allows you to focus on your home, your family, and your friends. And professionally, the direct link between effort and reward constantly pushes you to improve. There\u2019s a transparent mechanism \u2013 that is not driven by partisan or other interests as is, unfortunately, the case in Greece \u2013 which keeps you on your toes: You are judged by your work and face the consequences. In the last evaluation at our institute, for example, an entire department was shut down. Have you ever seen anything like that happen in Greece?\u201d says Ktistakis.<\/p>\n The following morning, I meet Effrossyni Gkrania-Klotsas, an associate professor of medicine at Cambridge University, at the entrance of the university hospital.<\/p>\n She and her husband, endocrinologist Angelos Klotsas, have lived here for 20 years. \u201cThere are doctors or nurses from Greece on every floor of this building. Speak Greek anywhere, and someone will turn around,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n Gkrania-Klotsas has been national lead for Infectious Diseases at the UK\u2019s National Institute of Health Research for the past few weeks. \u201cIf there is one thing that keeps me here, it\u2019s the meritocracy of the British system,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n On my last night in Cambridge, I drop by the Grain & Hop Store, which is hosting a Greek night, where I find around 300 Greeks dancing to \u201cRoza,\u201d by Thanos Mikroutsikos and Alkis Alkaios, which is being performed on the stage by Dorothea Papadaki. She and her band \u2013 musicians Christos Malliakos, Christos Kontos and Giannis Eleftheriadis \u2013 often play the city\u2019s live music stages.<\/p>\n Papadaki was born in the seaside town of Tolo in the Peloponnese and came to Cambridge eight years ago to study music. She\u2019s now doing a PhD combining music and anthropology. \u201cI didn\u2019t know what I would find when I came here but now \u2013 and even though I had an opportunity to move to London \u2013 I have chosen Cambridge quite consciously and wouldn\u2019t change it for the world,\u201d she says. \u201cIts multiculturality is what makes it special. You never feel like a foreigner in Cambridge because almost everyone else is foreign too!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n![\"a-slice-of-greece-in-the-heart-of-cambridge0\"](\"https:\/\/www.ekathimerini.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/cambr.jpg?1740482995812\")
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The scientists<\/h3>\n
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