Pavlos Baltas is a researcher at the Institute of Social Research (IKE) at the National Centre for Social Research (EKKE). He holds a PhD in Demography, two master’s degrees in “Population, Development and Prospects” and “Spatial Planning and Regional Policy,” and a Diploma (Eng.) in Spatial Planning and Regional Development. His research interests include Demographic Analysis and Population Geography. He has worked at the European Demographic Observatory (ODE) of the National Institute for Demographic Research (INED) in France and has taught at the University of Bordeaux, the University of Thessaly, the Athens University of Economics and Business, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and the University of the Aegean. He has participated in research projects on demographic analysis, spatial demography, population projections, spatial data analysis and visualisation.
George Kandylis is a Research Director at EKKE. His studies are in the fields of Political Science and Urban Social Geography and he has worked on research on contemporary migration and its consequences on urbanization processes in Greece. His research interests include issues of social segregation, inequalities, spatial mobility, racism and securitization in Greek urban space.
Michael Petrou is a social anthropologist, researcher at the National Centre for Social Research, Athens. His research interests and publications focus on the anthropological approach of rural space and rural-urban relationships, particularly on the socioeconomic transformation and the new stakes of countryside: social and environmental conflicts, land grabbing, multifunctionality and socio-spatial recomposition, consumption, cultural identities, emerging fascism phenomena in the countryside
Nicos Souliotis is Senior Researcher at the National Center for Social Research (EKKE), Greece. He holds a PhD in Sociology from the EHESS, Paris (1998-2005). His research interests focus on urban sociology, economic sociology and sociology of culture. He has more than 40 publications in international journals, collective volumes and conference proceedings, and two monographs in Greek (2021, Economists technocrats in Greek political scene 1974-2019, Alexandria and 2023, Attracting the powerful. Actors, institutions and policies of foreign investments in Greece, ΕΚΚΕ, with G. Karoulas, M. Komninou and A. Afouxenidis).
Stavros Spyrellis is a Senior Researcher at the National Centre for Social Research (EKKE) specialised on urban social geography. He has held teaching and research positions at several French and Greek universities. He is a graduate of the Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, and holds postgraduate degrees from the Université Paris I. He completed his doctoral thesis, titled “Social Division of the Athenian Metropolitan Area: Economic Factors and Educational Issues”, at Université Paris VII. His research focuses on the spatial analysis and mapping of social, economic, and educational segregation, with particular emphasis on the metropolitan area of Athens.
Alexandra Theofili works as a Special Scientific and Technical Staff member at the National Centre for Social Research (Institute of Social Research). She holds a degree in Business Administration, a Master’s degree in Spatial Policies and Development, She holds a PhD in Geography from Harokopio University (2025).
Fereniki Vatavali (Coordinator)
Fereniki Vatavali is an Applied Researcher at the Institute of Social Science of the National Center of Social Research since 2021. She holds a diploma in architectural engineering, as well as a master and a PhD on urban and regional planning from National Technical University of Athens. Her research activity, publications and teaching experience focus on the production and the planning of urban space.
Katerina Vezyrgianni is a Social Psychologist at the National Centre for Social Research (EKKE), with experience in organising, conducting, and analysing qualitative research. She specialises in applied social research methods, with an emphasis on the social and occupational integration of socially vulnerable groups. She has participated in projects related to the social inclusion of refugees through education, training, and support for humanitarian staff in the context of the refugee crisis. Her research interests also include issues of tolerance and social polarisation among young people through their participation in cultural and sporting activities.
External members
Dimitris Emmanuel has studied Architecture in NTU, Athens, received a M.Sc. and a Ph.D. from LSE and has since mainly worked on the social and economic analysis of housing and urban development and, more recently, on social classes and urban consumption. He has been the Head of Research and Housing Policy Studies in DEPOS (1979-2003) and since 2004, a research director in EKKE. His more recent publications include Supply of Planned Land, Housing and Prices in Athens (1984-2004), Athens, NCSR, 2008.
Researcher Emeritus & Professor Emeritus at the National Centre for Social Research (EKKE) and Harokopio University. Director of the Institute of Urban and Rural Sociology (EKKE) (2001-2012) and Professor, University of Thessaly (1991-2009). Secretary General for Research & Technology of Greece (2015-2016). Visiting professor at the Institut d’études politiques in Paris (2006 & 2014) and invited for lectures at many universities in Europe, North and South America, East Asia and Australia. His published work is related to changing urban social structuresin metropolitan areas, segregation, gentrification and housing regimes, and his empirical investigations mainly focused on Athens.