Dr. Michalis Katharakis, Vice-President of the Regional Council for Research and Innovation of Crete, has profound experience in managing funded European programs for leading institutions such as the Foundation for Technology and Research and the University of Crete.
He is the Director of the Technical Schools of the Heraklion Chamber of Commerce, focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship. In the past, he served as the head of the European network, Enterprise Europe Network for Heraklion Chamber.
He also holds the position of manager at the Mediterranean Agrofood Competence Center (MACC) and was a member of the eleven-member council of the Technological Educational Institute of Crete, responsible for approving the institution’s budgets and shaping innovative development policies.
Furthermore, he was a director in the management of European programs for the Chamber of Commerce.
Dr. Katharakis holds a degree in Physics from the University of Crete, specialized in atomic and molecular physics, a Ph.D. from the National Technical University of Athens in the field of Lasers, and a second doctoral degree from the Technical University of Crete in innovation management and Business clusters. He has co-authored books and articles on entrepreneurship and innovation and serves as an evaluator for European innovation programs.
