The Google Alphafoldan innovative tool artificial intelligence which has revolutionized the prediction of the 3D protein structure will soon be available in research and academic community of Greece. Alphafold is already used worldwide in many areas, from biology and chemistry to pharmaceuticals and medicine, with applications such as disposable plastics, the development of malaria vaccines, the protection of bees and the analysis of genes associated with diseases such as osteoporosis.

According to a statement from the Region of Central Macedonia and the National Technology and Research Infrastructure Network (EYE – GRNET SA), with the support of Google and the Ministry of Digital Governance and Artificial Intelligence, the Alphafold tool will be available to all universities and research centers of the country, expanding the field of modern research in Greece.

New possibilities for Greek research

Katerina Tzuvara, a Google engineer and specialized in Alphafold’s use, said that “Through the Google Cloud there is Alphafold available, one can download the code and run on various machines but this is quite complicated. And that’s why he took the initiative to make it much easier and accessible to the research community to get rid of technical difficulties. “allowing scientists to focus on the essence of research.

The President of the ESPA, Stefanos Kollias, announced that the operation of the service is expected to be completed by mid -2026, while Deputy President Dimitris Katsianis added that a draft has already been prepared for the process of submitting requests by researchers. Once the request is approved, the body will be able to use Alphafold by May 2026.

Nikos Tzollas, Vice -Mayor of Digital Governance, emphasized the importance of Alphafold’s innovation for the discovery of new molecular structures and the development of the research community in Greece. He highlighted the opportunity to train students and researchers, and the first projects to be implemented are expected to be featured in early 2025 to highlight the country’s scientific potential.

How Alphafold works – The Revolution of Artificial Intelligence

Alphafold, according to Mrs Tzuvara, is a landmark tool for life sciences. It is Google Deepmind technology that utilizes neural networks to accurately predict the 3D protein structure, weekly the top scientific awards. “In 2024 David Baker, Demis Hassabis and John Jaber were honored with the Nobel Prize in Chemistry thanks to the prediction of the AI ​​protein structure”he noted.

Proteins have a decisive role in life, as their shape is directly related to their function. Although the mapping of about 150,000 proteins took decades of working thousand researchers, Alphafold has allowed more than 200 million proteins to be predicted in a much shorter period, offering new tools and prospects for drug design and understanding of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

The process of approval and support

Dimitris Katsianis explained that the application process would be fully digital and simplified. Each researcher or group will complete a brief description of the project, the Foundation’s details and the duration of use, while applications approved will receive a validity of up to EUR 200,000. An important advantage is Grnet and Google technical support in all stages of the project, as well as the provision for a special technical manager per institution.

In addition, a single application platform is being prepared, which will be available nationwide by the beginning of November. At the same time, researchers will receive instructions and tips on the optimal utilization of computing resources.

AI Agent: Innovative Digital Assistant for Researchers

As part of the initiative, a sophisticated AI Agent – a digital assistant – will be underway that will guide the researcher at every step of the application and use of Alphafold. Konstantinos Kechagias, a graduate of the Department of Informatics of the University of Thessaloniki, said that “The digital assistant we develop is unique in the world and will simplify Alphafold’s access and use, gathering all the information required for the Greek community.”. The Google Cloud Agent and Agent Space will be available from the second half of November 2025 and free of charge for registered researchers through GRnet.

Prospects and strategic upgrading of survey

During the event, the Deputy Minister of Higher Education, Nikos Papaioannou, underlined the importance of the initiative to link technology, research and innovation. He expressed the support of the leadership of the Ministry of Education in the effort, with the aim of making the benefits to be widely used by the academic and research community.

The president of the Hellenic Chemical Union, Athanasios Papadopoulos, described Alphafold as the future of interdisciplinary research, while EYDY President Stefanos Kollias also announced the implementation of the national supercomputer to be allocated in 2026, as well as the first Greek factory.

Victoria Kalfakis from Google added that the importance of the initiative will be in practice in the coming years, reinforcing the country’s role in digital innovation and offering new opportunities to researchers and academics.

P. Giultsi