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Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens
Facilitating the work of Australian academics and students
The institute is one of 18 foreign research facilities established in Athens that focus on Greek, and wider Mediterranean studies, with a heavy emphasis on archaeological fieldwork and research.
About us
The Institute’s mission is to promote Greek studies in Australia and to foster wider Australian involvement with Greek cultural output. While much of its focus has been on antiquity the Institute’s activities encompass all periods of Greek history. The Institute offers practical assistance to Australian students and scholars to further their research and to disseminate it both nationally and internationally.
Australian universities that have classics, ancient history and Greek studies programs (12 in total) are institutional members and Ohio State University is a foreign institutional member. We are proud that five high schools have also chosen to become institutional members, thus underlining the importance they place on the humanities.
In addition to our fieldwork projects, we provide a number of services to our members and friends. These include various events throughout the year, including our Visiting Professorship program and a range of fellowships, scholarships and bursaries across Australia including a contemporary creative residency program open to Australian literary and visual artists. We also publish Mediterranean Archaeology, a journal for archaeology in the Mediterranean world and organise tours to Greece and the Mediterranean.
Furthermore, we also support a number of publications, including periodicals and e-newsletters and house an extensive archaeological library at our Sydney offices.
Our people
Introducing the new AAIA Director, Professor Tamar Hodos
Theodora Gianniotis, Engagement and Outreach Officer , AAIA interviews incoming AAIA Director, Professor Tamar Hodos.
- Professor Tamar Hodos | Director
(Sydney & Athens) - Dr Stavros Paspalas | Deputy Director
(Sydney & Athens) - Theodora Gianniotis | Engagement and Outreach Officer
(Sydney) - Brett Myers | Finance Officer
(Sydney) - Dr Lita Tzortzopoulou-Gregory | Executive Officer
(Athens)
Professor Hodos has a wealth of research experience studying the ancient Mediterranean world, not least the important role Greek culture played within its development. She comes at an exciting time in the history of the Institute and with new ideas and initiatives into how we engage a range of audiences with the fascinating world of Hellenistic studies.
Stavros received his BA (Hons) and MA (Hons) degrees from the University of Sydney and his doctorate from the University of Oxford. He was appointed as Deputy Director of the AAIA in 1996, and Acting Director in March 2016. His research interests include the Greek world’s links with Lydia and the Achaemenid Empire, the archaeology of the northern Aegean during the Archaic and Classical periods, and the Early Iron Age Aegean. He is involved in a number of field projects, notably in the Zagora Archaeological Project which he co-directs with Professor Margaret Miller and Associate Professor Lesley Beaumont, both of the University of Sydney. He worked for many years on the excavations at Torone and on the Australian Paliochora Kythera Archaeological Survey. He has published on the cultural exchanges between Greece, especially Macedonia, and its eastern neighbours, ceramic studies, and matters related to the iconography of the ancient world.
Emeritus Professor Alexander Cambitoglou, AO
Commander of the Order of the Phoenix, DUniv h.c.
From his arrival in Australia the late Professor Alexander Cambitoglou worked tirelessly to promote Australian research in Greece, beginning in 1967 with the establishment of the first Australian excavation in Greece at the Early Iron Age settlement of Zagora on the Aegean island of Andros. This pioneering endeavour was a collaboration between the Archaeological Society at Athens and the University of Sydney.
He was appointed the Arthur and Renee George Professor of Classical Archaeology in 1978 and retired from his chair in 1989. Perhaps the greatest legacy Professor Cambitoglou provided Australian students and scholars of Greek and related studies was the establishment of the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens in 1980.
He continued as the Curator of the Nicholson Museum until December 2000 and retired from the position of the Institute’s Director in 2016.
Membership
We are not a government-funded organisation. Your support helps continue important archaeological and research work in Greece and to promote Australian involvement in Greek studies both in Greece and internationally.
To become a member, or to renew an existing membership, simply register online, or download and complete our postal membership form.
Please send completed postal forms to:
The Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens
Madsen Building (F09)
The University of Sydney, NSW 2006
Donations to the AAIA are gratefully received, and will help to support our research endeavours. All donations are tax deductible. Donations can be made online here.
Our Events
The Australian Archoaelogical Institute at Athens has a lively events calendar, exploring the archaeology and culture of Greece, and celebrating Australia's links with Greece, both past and present.
- Click here for the full calender of events, where you will also find events from across the School of Humanities.
- Click here to join our mailing list.
Fellowships, scholarships and bursaries
We provide a range of fellowships, scholarships
and bursaries across Australia. Many are offered through our Institutional
members such as universities or high schools while others are offered through
the Societies of Friends located in each state.
If you are interested in such scholarships please contact your local Friends
group or Institutional Member. The three scholarships offered via the Sydney
headquarters of the Institute are listed below.
This Fellowship supports travel to Greece for research purposes by Australian postgraduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and academics from Australian universities. Scholars from the fields of Prehistoric and Classical Archaeology, History and Literature, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies who need to spend time for their research in Greece are eligible to apply.
Applicants must be Australian or New Zealand citizens or permanent residents in Australia working/studying at an Australian university and must have a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honours or equivalent qualifications.
The value of the fellowship is A$15,000, plus a 20% discount on accommodation at the AAIA Hostel.
The Olwen Tudor Jones Scholarship for Archaeological Fieldwork in the Mediterranean was offered by the Society of Mediterranean Archaeology (SoMA) for the first time in 2001.
In January 2002 the Council of SoMA voted to rename the scholarship in memory of Olwen Tudor Jones. Subsequently, after generous donations were received from Olwen's family and friends, a capital preserved trust was set up. It is this trust, subsequently augmented by funds raised from SoMA events that finances the annual scholarship.
The scholarship is offered to a University of Sydney student of archaeology, or associated field, of high academic achievement for the purpose of partially funding that student's travel costs to participate in fieldwork in the Mediterranean region. Preference is given to a student who will be working on a University of Sydney project, and to a student who has not previously participated in an archaeological project in the Mediterranean.
Recent global conditions have unfortunately meant that the scholarship was not offered
From 2020, the global crisis related to the COVID-19 pandemic has limited travel and restricted fieldwork across the globe. Consequently, SoMA has postponed their next scholarship round until travel bans have been lifted and dig directors can start planning for their next field seasons. Follow the AAIA social media accounts and University of Sydney e-community notices for the call for applications in the future.
You are welcome to apply for the scholarship if participating in any excavation in the Mediterranean, especially as in some years there may be no active University of Sydney projects in the region. Please contact the AAIA if you would like advice on suitable field schools etc in your area of interest.
Olwen Tudor Jones Scholarship Honor Roll
- 2019 – Amir Zaribaf, Archaeological Water Histories of Oman (University of Sydney and John Hopkins University)
- 2018 – Vickie Tran, El Toll and Teixoneres Cave Complex, Spain (University Rovira)
- 2018 – Olivia Cashmere, Thorikos Field Project, Greece (Belgian School at Athens)
- 2017 – Sarah Gyngell, Nahal Ein Gev, Israel (The Hebrew University)
- 2016 – Ellen Campbell, Keros Field School, Greece (McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, Cambridge)
- 2015 – Sareeta Zaid, Pintia Necropolis Program, Spain (ArcheoSpain)
- 2014 – Hannah Morris, Zagora Archaeological Project, Greece (Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens and the University of Sydney)
- 2013 – Kate McAllan, Zagora Archaeological Project, Greece (Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens and the University of Sydney)
- 2012 – Lauren Morris, Paphos Theatre Archaeological Project, Cyprus (University of Sydney)
- 2011 – Elaine Lin, Tunzha Regional Archaeological Project, Bulgaria (University of NSW and University of Michigan)
- 2010 – Philipa Mott, Menorca Spain (Ecomuseum of Cape of Cavalleria)
- 2009 – Eleanor Clarie Pitt, Paphos Theatre Archaeological Project, Cyprus (University of Sydney)
- 2008 – Miriyan Kidson, Borders of Arabia Project, Jordan (University of Sydney)
- 2007 – Louisa di Bartolomeo, Pompei Archaeological Research Program: Porta Stabia, Italy (Stanford University – University of Michigan)
- 2007 – Kristen Mann, Paphos Theatre Archaeological Project, Cyprus (University of Sydney) and Southern Euoboean Exploration Project, Greece (Canadian Institute in Greece)
- 2005 – Lily Withercombe-Taperel, Pompei Archaeological Research Program: Porta Stabia, Italy (Stanford University – University of Michigan)
- 2004 – Alexandra Vaughn, Geece (Greek Ministry of Culture)
- 2003 – Nicholas Vlachos
- 2002 – Keryn Paul, Italy (University of Geneva)
- 2001 – Cathy Hammond, Paphos Theatre Archaeological Project, Cyprus (University of Sydney)
This programme is temporarily suspended as we plan for a more sustainable suite of activities.
This scholarship, generously funded by Mr Nikolaos Galatis of Adelaide, is open to students enrolled full-time in a Masters by Research or PhD degree at any Australian university which is an institutional member of the Institute. The area of research extends to all fields of Greek Studies up to 1453 CE and the scholarship supports travel either to Greece or a neighbouring country where there is relevant material/archives to the applicant’s research.
Please visit the University of Sydney Scholarship page for further information about this opportunity.
Our friends
Since 1982, our Institute has relied upon support from an Australia-wide network of Friends groups. Our Friends make significant contributions to the Institute in terms of its finances and also promote archaeology and Hellenic studies through their diverse activities.
President
Mr Angelo Hatsatouris OAM
c/- PO Box 320
Maroubra Junction
Sydney NSW 2035
Mr Brian Cleary
c/- AAIA Athens Office
Zacharitsa 17, Koukaki
Athens 11741 Greece
P +30 (210) 924 3256
Follow on Facebook here.
President
Prof. Elizabeth Minchin. FAHA
The Canberra (ANU)
Friends of the AAIA
c./ Prof. Elizabeth Minchin, FAHA
School of Literature, Languages & Linguistics,
College of Arts & the Social Sciences
AD Hope Building (14)
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 0200 Australia
President
Mr Chris Griffiths
PO Box 5047
Mt Gravatt East 4122
Contact details
