Dr Georgios Papaioannou is an Associate Professor in Museology and Digital Cultural Heritage, and Director of the Museology Lab, in the Ionian University, Corfu, Greece, Faculty of Information Science and Informatics, Department of Archives, Library Sciences and Museology. Dr Papaioannou has a strong background in classics, archaeology, cultural heritage and Information Technology from his studies in Greece, the U.K. (UCL and King's College London) and Spain, and his trainings in the USA (Harvard, Columbia) and the U.K. (UCL, CILIP). With a strong background in educational theory and practice, he also specialises in Higher Education programme and curriculum design for humanities and museum studies to address diverse groups of students and by employing digital technologies and current educational advancements.

His research interests lie on applications of new technologies for cultural heritage and GLAM institutions. He works on museum studies and digital technologies for archaeology and education, including digitisation, data management and documentation (CIDOC-CRM), virtual reality, augmented reality and mobile applications. He has focused lately on Big Data for museums and cultural heritage, and he introduced the International Conferences on Museum Big Data (MBD2019 in Doha, Qatar; MBD2020 in Nicosia, Cyprus). He has directed and participated in numerous internationally-funded (of budgets exceeding € 2 million) research work and projects of cultural/museum works in the Mediterranean and the Arab world (Greece, Cyprus, Syria, Jordan, Oman, Qatar), where he has founded and organized museums and exhibitions, including the Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth in the Dead Sea, Jordan. He is has also worked towards cultural heritage management and educational programmes for museums and the cultural sector. He has received awards for his research, teaching and administrative work.

Dr Papaioannou has taught at universities in Greece, UK, USA, Australia, France, Cyprus, Jordan and Qatar, including teaching masterclasses and seminars in open and distance education settings via new technologies. He has authored books, papers and conference presentations, including textbooks and alternative teaching materials in the methodology of open and distance learning. He is Senior Fellow and Assessor of the Higher Education Academy (UK), the Secretary General of the Hellenic Studies Society of Near East (HSNES), a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM), and a member of the Pool of Experts of the European Museum Academy.

Dr Konstantinos D. Politis is an archaeologist, with studies in Greece, Britain, the USA and Belgium. His fields of expertise are the Late Antiquity and Islamic periods, and he is Chairperson of the Hellenic Society for Near East Studies. He has conducted archaeological research in Greece and Liechtenstein and excavations in Jordan and Oman, with the support of the British Museum. His legacy includes the discovery and excavation of the Sanctuary of Lot and the creation of the Museum at the Lowest Place on Earth, both by the Dead Sea. He furthermore leads a 20-year excavation of nearby Zoara, and he has coordinates projects in Oman and Syria, concerning the documentation of mosaics and an exhibition on Hellenistic Syria.

Email: kdpolitis@gmail.com

Postdoctoral Research

“Zoara/Zughar at Gor es Safi, Jordan: interdisciplinary research and study of the discoveries of the Early Byzantine and Medieval/Islamic commercial city at Palaestina Tertia, at South Bilad ash-Sham”.

Research Interests

• Archaeology of the Near East, particularly the Levant and Arabia
• Archaeology of the East Mediterranean, particularly Greece and the Aegean
• Architectural History
• Pottery and Ceramics
• Ethnoarchaeology

Panagiotis Sarantides is a historian (Ionian University) and museologist (MA, Department of Museum Studies, University of Leicester, UK). He is a teacher in Secondary Education and a certified Trainer of Adult Non-Formal Education. As a trainer for the “Greek Institute of Continuing Adult Education”, he has taught in educational programs for immigrants and refugees. He also coordinates the group "Museum and Education" in the Laboratory of Museology in Ionian University. He is a member of the Artistic Committee of the Corfu Art Gallery, a member of Hellenic Adult Education Association and a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

Email: sarantidisgiotis@gmail.com

Phd Dissertation Title

"Museum and adult learning in Greece: A contribution to the promotion of formal, non-formal education and informal adult learning".

Research Interests

• Museum pedagogy
• Museum and adult learning
• Lifelong learning
• Transformative learning
• Open and distance education

Elli Tsairi is a graduate of Early Childhood Care & Education (University of Brighton, UK) and a graduate of Studies in Hellenic Culture (Open University of Cyprus). She has a postgraduate degree in Hellenic Studies (European University of Cyprus).

She is teacher of English as a foreign language in Primary Education, a school librarian and a certified MIEE (Microsoft Expert Educator). As a school librarian and a teacher she strongly supports the “toward visitor centered” character of museums. On this basis, she has coοperated with museums around Greece and has created and implemented several pedagogical programmes in museums, public libraries and schools. She is a member of the Hellenic Society for Near East Studies (HSNES) and a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

Email: ellietsa1973@gmail.com

Postdoctoral Research

“The application of the philosophical theory of Phenomenology in the museum”

Research Interests

• The learning museum
• Phenomenology
• Inclusivity
• Developmental learning theory
• Transformation of stereotypical and dysfunctional perceptions

Dr Konstantinos F. Doukakis is an economist, teaching fellow at the Ionian University, the Hellenic Open University and the Open University of Cyprus. He has published on issues of social insurance, economic and social history. He has participated in numerous EU funded research projects closely related to his research interests. He has joined the Museology Laboratory as a researcher and contributes with his extensive experience in managing and supporting EU and other projects in supporting its aims.

Email: doukakisk@gmail.com

Postdoctoral Research

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Research Interests

• economic history
• economic history museums
• public administration
• European and Greek perspectives of the welfare state

Dr Sophia Paschou is a museologist, a researcher and lawyer. She has a postgraduate degree and a PhD from the Ionian University. She has taught at the Department of Fine Arts and Art Sciences of the University of Ioannina, and currently teaches the Department of Audio and Video Arts of the Ionian University. She has participated in international research projects and conferences, she coordinated projects of the Museology Laboratory of the Ionian University and is a member of the ICOM. She has introduced the field of “Museum Digital Atmosphere”, which is a subject of her research, as well as the museum digital ethics.

Email: spaschou@ionio.gr

Phd Dissertation Title

“Museums and digital technologies: contribution to the study and the outline of Museum Digital Ethics. (The emergence of Museum Digital Atmosphere)”.

Research Interests

• Museum Atmosphere
• Museum Ethics
• Museums
• Digital technologies (virtual/augmented reality, virtual museums)
• Cultural Heritage

Alexandra-Aikaterini Andrianou has a degree in Floriculture and Landscape Architecture from the Technological Education Institute of Epirus and postgraduate studies in Cultural Heritage Management & New Technologies-Museology from the Ionian University. She is a Phd Candidate at the Department of Archives, Library Science and Museology of the Ionian University. She is engaged in elaborating environmental studies and designing public and private exteriors. Furthermore, she has been engaged in studies for the environmental improvement of school yards and their use as learning spaces, and the promotion of gardens and exteriors as structural parts of cultural heritage.

Email: alexandra6891@gmail.com

Phd Dissertation Title

“Cultural landscape management using new technologies: the case of Ghor-es-Safi in Jordan”.

Research Interests

• Cultural landscape management as well as policies and methods for raising awareness about the value and protection of landscapes
• Design of public and private projects emphasizing on ecological planning and design based on the environmental needs of each area

Avgoustinos Avgousti works as acultural informatics specialist at the Cyprus Institutem at the Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center (STARC). He has also been employed in informatics and medical informatics in the USA and Cyprus, and as a college lecturer on informatics. He has a postgraduate degree from the New York State University (SUNY) in Medical Informatics and a Bachelor's Degree (BSc) from St. Francis College (SFC), New York, in Information Technology. He has overseen the coordination, management, development, maintenance, and supporting of more than twenty-five research and cultural heritage projects.

Email: I19avgo14@ionio.gr

Phd Dissertation Title

“Democratising Small Museum Collections: Publishing for Humans and Machines”.

Research Interests

• Museum online collections
• Digital libraries
• Lowercase semantic web
• Small museum online collections
• Documentation and analysis of works of art and cultural heritage monuments

Elia Vlachou is a cultural heritage advisor in Greece and abroad, on the subjects of documenting, planning and implementing museums and periodical exhibitions, educational projects, digital applications and cultural activities. She is a coordinator and secretary general for the Greek Steam Institute. She has worked at art halls, museums and services of the Greek Ministry of Culture, and as the head of the Museum Department of the Piraeus Bank Group Cultural Foundation she has coordinated the procedures of joint projects and the designing of the Quality Management System (ISO 9001:2008). She is an expert of the European Museum Academy, a member of the international committees for the Heritage in Motion, Živa, Museums in short and Children in Museums awards.

Email: eliavlachou@yahoo.gr

Phd Dissertation Title

“Planning and implementation of Greek public museums under the scope of accreditation systems: the case of the archaeological museums of Sparta”.

Research Interests

• Cultural management
• Innovative interpretation methods for the tangible and intangible heritage
• Visitor experience analysis
• Technological heritage preservation and promotion

Andreas K. Grammenos is a historian, MA, with long activity in research, concerning the local history of Corfu, and in popularising his research with numerous articles and lectures. He currently is a PhD candidate of the Ionian University, with his doctoral research concerning the local heritage interpretation in guided tours with the use of new technologies. He is also a licensed tourist guide for Greece and participates in professional boards and committees, dedicated in incorporating his research and academic experience in the profession and the tours and activities sector in general, with the promotion of cultural heritage as a pillar of sustainable tourism development as his focal point.

Email: I20gram@ionio.gr

Phd Dissertation Title

“Local Heritage Interpretation, guided tours and tourist guides in the Digital Era: roles, impact and effects”.

Research Interests

• Cultural Heritage Interpretation
• Cultural Heritage Preservation and Promotion
• Sustainable Tourism Development
• Tours and Activities Sector
• New Technologies

Aristoteles-Georgios Sakellariou works as Head of Conservation and Scientific Research for the Qatar Museums. He has also in museum and archaeology projects in Malaysia, Cyprus, Oman, Britain, Jordan and Greece, on the subject of the Collections Care. His undergraduate studies were on Conservation and Restoration, and he has two postgraduate degrees on Collections Care and Museum Management, and has a long research experience in these fields. He has been a life-time gamer and in his doctorate research combines his love for museums with his experience in videogames.

Email: asakellariou@ionio.gr

Phd Dissertation Title

“Museum Representations in Popular Videgames: a study on 40 years of buildings, spaces and collections”.

Research Interests

• Museums
• Videogames
• Collections Care and Management

Maria Svarnia is a graduate of Humanities and Art History (The Open University, UK), has a postgraduate degree in Museology (University of Leister, UK) and is a PhD candidate of Museology at the Ionian University. She has collaborated with several folk museums for their collections care, is engaged in the fields of museum marketing and Difficult Heritage, and she is conducting seminars and publishing on Art History and Museology.

Email: mariasvarnia@yahoo.gr

Phd Dissertation Title

“Difficult Heritage Museums and their audience: Visitors and non-visitors, presentation, evolution, appeal and prospective. The case of the Jewish Museum of Greece”.

Research Interests

• Difficult Heritage
• Visitor Studies
• Intangible Heritage
• Rebetiko
• Dark Art/Literature/Tourism

Eleni Sfyridou is a researcher in digital cultural heritage and a cultural media network administrator. She has studied Classics at the University of Athens, Greece, and Cultural Policy and Development at the Open University of Cyprus. She also reads and teaches ancient Greek and Latin. She works on museum digital data, use of social media in museums and cultural marketing. She has focused lately on digital technologies for archaeology, including digitization, data management and documentation (CIDOC-CRM), a research scheme that she addresses through her PhD research. She is a member of the International Council of Museums (ICOM).

Email: eleni.sfyridou@gmail.com

Phd Dissertation Title

“Cultural Documentation of Ancient Inscriptions, According to the Semantic Reference Model SIDOC-CRM and its extensions”.

Research Interests

• Data management and documentation (CIDOC-CRM)
• Analysis of social networks data of cultural organizations
• ICT applications in museums (virtual and augmented reality)

Digital cultural marketing