The Rammal Award, created in memory of the great Lebanese physicist Rammal Rammal (1951-91) is awarded each year to an outstanding personality of strong scientific stature from one of the Mediterranean countries, who, through his life and activity (whether in fundamental or applied research, teaching, or the integration of knowledge), has given a new and modern form to the flow of scientific exchange in this part of the world.
Active scientists from any disciplinary background, including exact sciences, social sciences and humanities, are eligible as candidates. Organisations supporting similar objectives can also apply.

On June 6, 2003, President Jean-Patrick Connerade announced that Professor Gerassimos Papadopoulos, a distinguished seismologist of Greek origin, became the recipient of the Rammal Award for 2002.

Besides his important publications on seismicity and on the possibility of earthquake prediction (particularly in the inner Aegean seismic zone), Gerassimos Papadopoulos has led several international groups of seismologists and was responsible for establishing successful collaborations between groups of Greek and Turkish researchers. He is also leader of the Greek group that is involved in a large collaborative project, sponsored by the European Union DGXII programme, together with research institutes from France, Italy, Greece and Spain.

Professor Papadopoulos, who is 52, is currently Research Director at the Institute of Geodynamics, National Observatory of Athens, Greece. Specializing in seismology and geodynamics, he obtained his Ph D degree at the University of Thessaloniki, and trained as a post-doctoral scientist at the Massachussets Institute of Technology, the Institute of Theoretical Physics (NITP) in Trieste and at the National Institute for Earth Sciences and Disaster Prevention (NIED) in Tsukuban, Japan.