Yiannis Laouris
Encyclopedia
Yiannis Laouris is a social and business entrepreneur
. He is a neurophysiologist and systems scientist trained in Germany and the US, who has also become known for his socially responsible work and scientific contributions in the fields of peace and development through the application of modern technology and the science of Structured dialogic design.
in 1958. Son of teacher Christodoulos Laouris, he lived and attended schools in various districts of Cyprus including The English School, Nicosia, the Pancyprian Gymnasium
and the Acropolis Gymnasium. In 1974 he became a refugee. He served in the Cypriot National Guard
as the first Cypriot senior cryptographer in the Headquarters after the 1974 Cypriot coup d'état of the Greek military junta and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus
in 1974.
(today known as University of Leipzig
, in Leipzig
, Germany
enjoying three parallel scholarships because of his top grades, and completed a PhD in Neurophysiology with summa cum laude with Prof. Peter Schwartze
at the Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology
in the years of the cold war. Laouris and his wife Joulietta were the first foreign students who completed a PhD in parallel with the medical studies in the history of East Germany, an achievement that received press coverage. He continued his research in neurophysiology at the Georg-August University Göttingen with cyberneticists and systems physiologists Professors Hans Diedrich Henatsch
and Uwe Windhorst
. He
joint the Robotics, Prosthetics, Motor Control Group at the University of Arizona
, where he collaborated with Douglas G. Stuart
. In the US, he also completed a Masters in Systems and Industrial Engineering
.
in time and frequency domains to single-unit recordings from experimental animals to study transmission properties and fatique of cat motor neurons, muscle afferents and Renshaw cells. He published with cyberneticians/systems physiologists Peter Schwartze
, Uwe Windhorst
, Roger M. Enoka
and Douglas G. Stuart
. Laouris has published more than 40 papers and chapters in journals such as the Experimental Brain Research, Neuroscience, Journal of Neurophysiology, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, World Futures and has presented more than 150 papers in conferences worldwide. In 1991, he founded the Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute
.
and the Technology for peace
initiative. His team envisioned, designed and implemented almost a dozen of peace projects in Cyprus with the most recent civil society dialogue
project aiming to re-engage peace builders from both communities following the negative outcome of the Annan Plan. Students from universities across the world conduct internships and complete Masters and PhD theses with his group in order to learn about the combined application of conflict resolution
, Structured dialogic design and information technologies in the service of peace and positive social transformation. His social entrepreneurial work has been recognized in 1998 with the prestigious award for creativity of the Employers and Industrialists Association, in 2008 with the awarding of the first prize for social cohesion of the Cyprus civil society awards
and in 2011 with the Euro-Med Award for the Dialogue between Cultures (Honorable Mention -second place) of the Anna Lindh Foundation
,. Laouris is currently chair of Future Worlds Center
, which implements about 20 projects at the interface of technology and social progress. Notable European-wide projects include: Cyberethics, Development Education, Teach Millennium Development Goals, and CARDIAC.
recognized his contributions in systems science
honoring him with The Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies Award in 2008, . He works closely with Aleco Christakis
father of the science and serves in the Board of the Institute for 21st Century Agoras.
Laouris has also published a book in which he invites readers into discovering and breaking of stereotypes in a society in conflict based on his 20-years of experiences in peace movements. He has also invented a board game in the eighties known as Glasnost The Game
, in which the winner is the player who manages to disarm. Ironically, this can only be achieved after one conquers most territories on the planet.
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
. He is a neurophysiologist and systems scientist trained in Germany and the US, who has also become known for his socially responsible work and scientific contributions in the fields of peace and development through the application of modern technology and the science of Structured dialogic design.
Biography
Laouris was born in Pafos, CyprusCyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
in 1958. Son of teacher Christodoulos Laouris, he lived and attended schools in various districts of Cyprus including The English School, Nicosia, the Pancyprian Gymnasium
Pancyprian Gymnasium
The Pancyprian Gymnasium was founded in 1812 by Archbishop Kyprianos at a time when Cyprus was still under Ottoman occupation. It was originally called the Hellenic School and is the oldest high school still in operation on the island...
and the Acropolis Gymnasium. In 1974 he became a refugee. He served in the Cypriot National Guard
Cypriot National Guard
The Cypriot National Guard , also known as the "Greek Cypriot National Guard" or simply as "National Guard", is the combined arms military force of the Republic of Cyprus...
as the first Cypriot senior cryptographer in the Headquarters after the 1974 Cypriot coup d'état of the Greek military junta and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus
Turkish invasion of Cyprus
The Turkish invasion of Cyprus, launched on 20 July 1974, was a Turkish military invasion in response to a Greek military junta backed coup in Cyprus...
in 1974.
Academic
He graduated the medical school of the Karl Marx UniversityKarl Marx University
Karl Marx University may refer to:* The University of Leipzig; between 1953 and 1991 the university was called the Karl Marx University* Corvinus University of Budapest; between 1953 and 1991 the university was known as the Karl Marx University of Economics* A proposed -- but never officially...
(today known as University of Leipzig
University of Leipzig
The University of Leipzig , located in Leipzig in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, is one of the oldest universities in the world and the second-oldest university in Germany...
, in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
enjoying three parallel scholarships because of his top grades, and completed a PhD in Neurophysiology with summa cum laude with Prof. Peter Schwartze
Peter Schwartze
Peter Schwartze is a neurophysiologist, systems scientist and cyberneticist well known in the ex- German Democratic Republic.Schwartze studied medicine and specialized in Neurophysiology. He studied and worked at the universities of Rostock, Greifswald and Leipzig...
at the Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology
Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology
The Carl Ludwig Institute of Physiology was established by Carl Ludwig in 1865. This Physiological Institute is part of the University of Leipzig and is designated today after him.- Heads and earlier teachers of physiology:...
in the years of the cold war. Laouris and his wife Joulietta were the first foreign students who completed a PhD in parallel with the medical studies in the history of East Germany, an achievement that received press coverage. He continued his research in neurophysiology at the Georg-August University Göttingen with cyberneticists and systems physiologists Professors Hans Diedrich Henatsch
Hans Diedrich Henatsch
Prof. Hans Diedrich Henatsch served as the Head of the Department of Neurophysiology of the Medical School of the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen from the early sixties to the mid nineties....
and Uwe Windhorst
Uwe Windhorst
Uwe Windhorst is a German neuroscientist, systems scientist and cyberneticist,who was born in Bremen, Germany in 1946...
. He
joint the Robotics, Prosthetics, Motor Control Group at the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
, where he collaborated with Douglas G. Stuart
Douglas G. Stuart
-Biography:Douglas G. Stuart is a Regents' professor emeritus of Physiology at the University of Arizona. He became a naturalized US Citizen in 1961...
. In the US, he also completed a Masters in Systems and Industrial Engineering
Systems engineering
Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering that focuses on how complex engineering projects should be designed and managed over the life cycle of the project. Issues such as logistics, the coordination of different teams, and automatic control of machinery become more...
.
Early contributions in neuroscience
In the late eighties and nineties, Laouris applied Digital signal processingDigital signal processing
Digital signal processing is concerned with the representation of discrete time signals by a sequence of numbers or symbols and the processing of these signals. Digital signal processing and analog signal processing are subfields of signal processing...
in time and frequency domains to single-unit recordings from experimental animals to study transmission properties and fatique of cat motor neurons, muscle afferents and Renshaw cells. He published with cyberneticians/systems physiologists Peter Schwartze
Peter Schwartze
Peter Schwartze is a neurophysiologist, systems scientist and cyberneticist well known in the ex- German Democratic Republic.Schwartze studied medicine and specialized in Neurophysiology. He studied and worked at the universities of Rostock, Greifswald and Leipzig...
, Uwe Windhorst
Uwe Windhorst
Uwe Windhorst is a German neuroscientist, systems scientist and cyberneticist,who was born in Bremen, Germany in 1946...
, Roger M. Enoka
Roger M. Enoka
Roger M. Enoka is professor and chair of the Department of Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He is also the director of the Neurophysiology of Movement Lab....
and Douglas G. Stuart
Douglas G. Stuart
-Biography:Douglas G. Stuart is a Regents' professor emeritus of Physiology at the University of Arizona. He became a naturalized US Citizen in 1961...
. Laouris has published more than 40 papers and chapters in journals such as the Experimental Brain Research, Neuroscience, Journal of Neurophysiology, Behavioral and Brain Sciences, World Futures and has presented more than 150 papers in conferences worldwide. In 1991, he founded the Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute
Cyprus Neuroscience and Technology Institute
The Cyprus Neuroscience & Technology Institute is a non-profit, non-Governmental independent organization active in programs with future orientation in areas related to human brain-modern technology-social transformation and the repercussions of relevant research for humanity.-Founding history:The...
.
Promoting peace, multi-culturalism and Millennium Development Goals
In the nineties, Laouris was a founding member of the Cyprus Conflict Resolution Trainers GroupCyprus Conflict Resolution Trainers Group
The Cyprus Conflict Resolution Trainers Group was founded in 1994 by about 30 Cypriot peace pioneers...
and the Technology for peace
Technology for peace
Technology for Peace is a Cyprus based peoples' initiative launched in 1995 to serve the needs of peace pioneers on the divided island.-History:The peace portal was born because it was deemed needed. What led to its birth was neither the availability of relevant technology nor the availability of...
initiative. His team envisioned, designed and implemented almost a dozen of peace projects in Cyprus with the most recent civil society dialogue
Civil Society Dialogue project in Cyprus
The Civil Society Dialogue Project in Cyprus follows the negative outcome of the referendum in Cyprus for the re-unification of the island , which took place on the 24th of April 2004. A number of Cypriot peace pioneers launched the Civil Society Dialogue Project aiming to provide opportunities for...
project aiming to re-engage peace builders from both communities following the negative outcome of the Annan Plan. Students from universities across the world conduct internships and complete Masters and PhD theses with his group in order to learn about the combined application of conflict resolution
Conflict resolution
Conflict resolution is conceptualized as the methods and processes involved in facilitating the peaceful ending of some social conflict. Often, committed group members attempt to resolve group conflicts by actively communicating information about their conflicting motives or ideologies to the rest...
, Structured dialogic design and information technologies in the service of peace and positive social transformation. His social entrepreneurial work has been recognized in 1998 with the prestigious award for creativity of the Employers and Industrialists Association, in 2008 with the awarding of the first prize for social cohesion of the Cyprus civil society awards
Cyprus civil society awards
The Cyprus civil society awards were established in 2008 as part of a United Nations funded project aiming to strengthen the role of civil society in Cyprus...
and in 2011 with the Euro-Med Award for the Dialogue between Cultures (Honorable Mention -second place) of the Anna Lindh Foundation
Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue Between Cultures
The Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean Foundation for the Dialogue Between Cultures is a network of civil society organisations dedicated to promoting intercultural dialogue in the Mediterranean region....
,. Laouris is currently chair of Future Worlds Center
Future Worlds Center
Future Worlds Center is a non-profit, non-Governmental independent organization active in programs with future orientation in areas related to positive social change, social entrepreneurship and transformation.-Founding history:...
, which implements about 20 projects at the interface of technology and social progress. Notable European-wide projects include: Cyberethics, Development Education, Teach Millennium Development Goals, and CARDIAC.
Pioneer in the refinement and promotion of structured dialogue
Laouris pioneered in the application of the science of Structured dialogic design in the Cyprus and Middle East peace movement and in many pan-European networks such as the COST219ter, COST 298, Insafe, UCYVROK and CARDIAC. He is credited for the discovery of the Law of Requisite Action as formulated in the context of the science of Structured dialogic design. The Hellenic Society for Systemic StudiesHellenic Society for Systemic Studies
The Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies The Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies The Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies ( is a scientific non-profit society that was established in 2003. It is a member of the International Society for the Systems Sciences and International Federation of...
recognized his contributions in systems science
Systems science
Systems science is an interdisciplinary field of science that studies the nature of complex systems in nature, society, and science. It aims to develop interdisciplinary foundations, which are applicable in a variety of areas, such as engineering, biology, medicine and social sciences.Systems...
honoring him with The Hellenic Society for Systemic Studies Award in 2008, . He works closely with Aleco Christakis
Alexander Christakis
Alexander Christakis is a Greek American social scientist, systems scientist and cyberneticist, former faculty member of several Universities, organizational consultant and member of the Club of Rome, known for his "study and design of social systems".- Biography :Christakis came to the United...
father of the science and serves in the Board of the Institute for 21st Century Agoras.
Laouris has also published a book in which he invites readers into discovering and breaking of stereotypes in a society in conflict based on his 20-years of experiences in peace movements. He has also invented a board game in the eighties known as Glasnost The Game
Glasnost The Game
Glasnost The Game is a strategic board game, produced by a company in Cyprus, YL Games. It was invented in 1989 by Cypriot Neuroscientist Yiannis Laouris, with help and inspiration from his daughter Romina and his friend George Vakanas in Tucson/Arizona. Glasnost The Game is a turn-based game for...
, in which the winner is the player who manages to disarm. Ironically, this can only be achieved after one conquers most territories on the planet.
Publications
- Laouris, Y., Kalli-Laouri, J., & Schwartze, P. (1990). The postnatal development of the air righting reflex of albino rats. Quantitative analysis of normal development and the effect of preventing neck-torso and torso-pelvis rotations. Behav. Brain Res., 37, 37-44.
- Laouris, Y., & Windhorst, U. (1989). The relationship between coherence and nonlinear characteristics in Renshaw cell responses to random motor axon stimulation. Neuroscience, 28, 652-634.
- Bevan, L., Laouris, Y., Reinking, R. M., & Stuart, D. G. (1991). The effect of the stimulation pattern on the fatigue of single motor units in adult cats. J. Physiol. (Lond. ) 449, 85-108.
- Enoka, R. M., Trayanova, N., Laouris, Y., Bevan, L., Reinking, R. M. and Stuart, D. G. (1992), Fatigue-related changes in motor unit action potentials of adult cats. Muscle & Nerve, 15: 138–150. doi: 10.1002/mus.880150204
- Spielmann, J.M, Laouris, Y., Nordstrom, M.A., Robinson, G.A., Reinking, R.M. and Stuart, D.G. (1993). Adaptation of cat motoneurons to sustained and intermittent extracellular activation. J Physiol 464, (1) 75-120.