People

Dr. Despoina Tsiafaki is a Classical Archaeologist, Director of Research and Head of the Department of Culture and Creative Industries of Institute for Language and Speech Processing (ILSP) at the Athena Research Center (Athena RC). She got her Bachelor, Masters, and Doctoral Degrees in Classical Archaeology, from the Department of History and Archaeology of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki.

She worked in the Antiquities Department of the J. Paul Getty Museum (Malibu) and she collaborated with numerous Research and Academic Institutions in Greece and abroad. Since 2002 has joined Athena RC as Researcher with focus on Archaeology, Digital Culture and Archaeological Sciences. She took part in many archaeological excavations and since 1994 she participates in the Karabournaki excavation (Thessaloniki), which she co-directs since 2014.

She participated in more than 30 European and national projects on Cultural Heritage and in the organization of several exhibitions, conferences & seminars on ancient Greek culture and art. She has supervised PhD and MA students and she has taught in various seminars and graduate courses regarding Archaeology and Digital Culture. Recently she was Getty Villa Scholar of the Getty Scholars Program 2019/2020.

She has published a CVA with Attic Red figure kraters from the J. Paul Getty Museum, a monograph on Thracian Myths in Attic Art and co-authored another on the contribution of Attic pottery in the relations between Athens and Thrace. She is editor of volumes on the Archaeology of Macedonia and Thrace, on Color in Ancient Art, on ancient Greek pottery and iconography, and on ancient Pottery Workshops in Northern Greece, while over 100 papers of hers on Greek Culture, Digital Culture and Archaeological Science have been published in international volumes, conferences, and journals. Her current research involves Ancient Ceramics, Aegean Archaeology, Ancient Thrace, Classical Archaeology & History, Archaeological Sciences, Digital Archaeology and Digital Humanities.

She is National Delegate in the Programme Committee of Cluster 2, Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society at Horizon Europe (2021-2027) και National Representative in the Strategic Working Group (SWG) “Social and Cultural Innovation” of the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI). She is member of the National Sectorial Scientific Council for Tourism, Culture and Creative Industries and member of the Consultative Working Group of the Platform for Culture, Tourism, Creative Industries within the framework of Strategic Research and Innovation for Smart Specialization of the 2021-2027 programming period (General Secretariat for Research & Innovation /GSRI).

She has been Evaluator on project proposals’ and ongoing projects’ for European Union, as well as National, and other European countries Calls and Actions. She has acted as evaluator for the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY), and Reviewer for international scholarly journals and conferences in the fields of archaeology, art history and digital culture and humanities.