Achilleas Tsiligeridis

Achilleas holds a Bachelor degree on Computer Science and two Master degrees in Information Systems and in Software Engineering and Telecommunication from University of Sheffield. After finishing his Bachelor degree, he started working in CERTH and he is engaged in project management activities. He is also the Portal Administrator of the Greek EURAXESS Portal. 

Barbara Chiucconi

Barbara Chiucconi is head of the Grant Office at the University of Macerata. She is an experienced project manager of 7FP and Horizon 2020 projects and she also has a remarkable expertise in EU project design. Since 2012 she has organized or held as teacher training activities for the benefit of PhDs and Post docs on transversal skills. She has been Management committee member representing Italy for the COST Targeted Network TN1203  “The voice of research administrators – building a network of administrative excellence (BESTPRAC)”. She is also assessor in the evaluation process of applications for the HR Excellence in Research logo award.

Dimitrios Sanopoulos

Chemical Engineer - Coordinator- is Head of the HPID unit of CERTH, where he coordinates several EC, national and international projects on horizontal activities related to Research Policy and ERA, mobility of researchers’ policy issues, awareness and promotional activities for more than 20 years. He is also the coordinator of the Greek EURAXESS Network and the National Contact Point in H2020 for Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions. He was also member of the Working Group on Promotion and Quality of the EURAXESS Services Network Member of the “Steering Group on Human Resources and Mobility” (HRM) in the European Research Area, Greek delegation.

Eduard Balbuena

Dr Eduard Balbuena. I-CERCA Strategy and International Programmes Manager. 

PhD in Chemistry by the University of Barcelona (2003), he is also Master in Organic Chemistry (1995) and Master in Biotechnology (1997) by the University of Barcelona, Master in Business Administration by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia (2000) and Postgraduate in Executive Management by IESE (2013). Since 2020, he is the Strategy and International Programmes Manager of the CERCA Institute, with a long professional experience of more than 30 years in public and private institutions as researcher, professor, manager and responsible of R&D&I policies, especialized in international projects, innovation and knowledge transfer, talent management, business strategy and economic development. Associate Professor in Business Organization and Human Resources of the Autonomous University of Barcelona since 2015, he participates in different working groups and he is technical advisor of different entities in connection with the European innovative and entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

Author of numerous publications and presentations to international conferences, he also has 15 years of experience as researcher in the area of Health Chemistry and Biomedicine, in entities such as the University of London, the Spanish Research Council, the Bellvitge Biomedical Centre and Harlan Laboratories, having also been lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Barcelona. Last 15 years, he has developed different positions in research management and public policies development, including positions as Project Manager of R&D&I programmes at University of Barcelona, Head of innovation in the Vall Hebron Hospital, Area Manager in the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation, and Responsible of Innovation and Knowledge Transfer in the Catalan Government, having also been Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business Administration of the Pompeu Fabra University. With experience from the third European framework programme, he has participated in more than 50 European projects, having been also evaluator of different national and international programmes.

Erica Feliziani

Erica Feliziani is research advisor at the Grant Office for International Research at the University of Macerata. She is collaborator in Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe funded projects, advisor for researchers for individual and collaborative projects in pre-award phase, experienced in grant writing and ethics in EU funded projects. Recently, she has held as teacher training activities concerning EU research policies for the benefit of UNIMC PhD students. In 2021, she has obtained the EARMA European Certificate in Research Management.

Foteini Ziogou

Foteini is a chemical engineer and holds a master’s degree in business administration (MBA). She has been working for the French multinational company AIR LIQUIDE HELLAS for eight years. Since 2006 she is working at The Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), involved in the proposals writing and implementation of European and national R&D projects in the field of energy and the last nine years in projects related to drivers and barriers affecting researchers’ mobility at global level and the career development of researchers in Europe as well as of European scientific Diasporas contributing thus, to brain circulation.

Ivona Peternel

Project coordinator, Ivona Peternel, Ph.D., Head of the Service for Integration, Projects, and Intercultural Programs

Ivona Peternel acts as Head of the Service for Integration, Projects, and Intercultural Programs at the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula. Her main responsibility is the university intercultural cooperation and development of international/EU programs and funded projects. She holds a Ph.D. in International Economic Relations giving special attention to economic diplomacy. Diverse professional experience from international corporations, the banking sector, and private consulting services is combined with contemporary theoretical observations and work in the public sector which brings additional value to the university's internationalization process.

LLuis Rovira

PhD in Biology by the University of Barcelona (1998) and Master in Diplomacy and External Action by IBEI-UPF (2015). Since 2011, he is Executive Director of the CERCA Institute. He has promoted, among other issues, the institutional evaluation and the Knowledge and Technology Transfer of CERCA centres by coordinating some of their actions addressed to develop their own policy, patent technologies, create spin-offs and disseminate their technological offer among investors and companies. Regarding this issue he created the Ginjol-CERCA Patents Fund and the Ginys-CERCA Technology Platfom. 

He has been worked on research management and evaluation since 1992 in the Government of Catalonia. He has been Evaluation Director and Deputy Director in the Catalan Agency for University and Research Grants and Deputy Director General of Research of the Government of Catalonia. He is also an experienced EU evaluator of the HRS4R recognition programme and the UK Concordat programme. His experience also includes the academic coordination of different executive and technical training programmes and the coordination of evaluation activities at national and international level.

Marilou Ramos-Pamplona

Marilou Ramos-Pamplona, PhD is research manager at the University of Liège since 2010. In her research manager role, she has taken on a broad range of responsibilities from project management of large-scale European consortium and Belgian network projects, support for pre- and post-award grant processes and career development of early stage researchers.

Mary Kate O'Regan

Mary Kate is the PI on the Horizon Europe funded project CARDEA. She leads the successful HR Excellence in Research programme for UCC and is a lead assessor for the commission in HR Excellence in Research. She created and delivers the innovative and successful Odyssey Programme. She is responsible for aligning University and HR strategy with researcher career objectives and assists both research staff and management in UCC's diverse and high performing research centres. As a result of Mary's positive impact on HR service provision she received the UCC Staff Recognition Award for Leadership.

Mihaela M. Albu

Mihaela M. Albu (M’96, SM’07) is from Craiova, Romania. She graduated from “Politehnica” University of Bucharest (UPB) in 1987 and holds the Ph.D. degree (1998) from the same university. Since 2002 she is a Professor of Electrical Engineering at UPB. Teaching activity presently counts: Advanced Topics in Instrumentation and Measurement (Master); Smart Distribution Grids (Master); Signal Processing (Bachelor) at the Dept. of El. Engineering of UPB; and "Elektrische Meßtechnik”; “Sensoren" at the German Department of UPB.

Her research interests include wide area measurement systems as well as synchronized measurements and evaluation of the associated uncertainty considered in the state estimation algorithms; smart energy grids including optimal use of renewables and real time control; smart metering technologies; DC grids as an innovative solution for future intelligent grids, for which a demonstration platform was realized in a fully equipped laboratory fed from a DC bus at 230 V rated voltage and a proposal of power quality assessment in DC grids; power quality and signal processing for power quality assessment, nonlinear phenomena in power systems; distributed and computer-controlled measurement systems, IEEE and IEC standards in power, power system protection, virtual and Internet-based laboratories. She is the founder of an interdisciplinary group MicroDERLab at UPB, and coordinates several research teams working on projects funded by national and international grants. Dr. Albu was spending a leave at Arizona State University as a Fulbright Fellow 2002 – 2003 and in 2010. Her work includes coordination of a monograph (on measurements in power systems ), 7 Book chapters; 21 Journal Publications; more than 70 papers published in International Conference Proceedings; 40 presentations, invited papers and other non-refereed publications; 13 Laboratory notes, and more than 50 Technical Reports (recently on smart grids topics);

Since 2009 she is Vice-Chair of the Intellicis -Working Group 2: Reliable management and control of electric power systems, 2009-2013. The professional service is highlighted by active membership in IEEE - IMS, CIGRE, VDE, and IRE (Romanian Power Engineers Society).
As an IEEE member, she volunteers for the Instrumentation and Measurement Society since 2009, while she became part of the AdCom. She is also involved in the IEEE local activities –as a vice-chair of the PES-Romania Chapter and contributes to the dialogue between the Romanian electrical engineering community and the IEEE. Distinguished Lecturer (2020 - 2022); Chapter Chair|| I&M AdCom (2013-2016, 2009-2012)|| VP Membership (2010-2011)|| VP Technical & Standards Activities (2012-2013)|| IEEE Region 8 Chapter Coordination Subcommittee (2011)|| Smart Grid Initiative (2015-2017)|| Education Committee/Faculty Course Development Award Selection Committee (2016-2017)|| Distinguished Lecturer (2016 - 2019)

Paolo Saporito

Dr Paolo Saporito is Senior Research Coordinator in the HR Research Team at University College Cork. He was previously Government of Ireland-IRC Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Film and Screen Media, UCC. He has a PhD in Italian Studies from McGill University and extensive experience in teaching and learning in higher education.

Radu PLĂMĂNESCU

Eng. Radu PLĂMĂNESCU MSc in Power Engineering from UPB (2018) is pursuing his PhD at UPB on synchronized measurements and high-reporting rate PQ equipment to develop new protection and control algorithms for microgrids. He is also an Assistant Professor at UPB and Research assistant at MicroDERLab Group at UPB. Radu also spent a leave in 2019 at Colorado State University as a Fulbright Visiting Scholar, with research focused on high-reporting rate voltage and current measurements.

Rozana Veselica Celić

Rozana Veselica Celić, PhD is an Assistant Professor and now works at the Office for Partnership and Projects as an Associate Expert for Partnership and Projects - at the Juraj Dobrila University of Pula, Croatia. She is involved with different aspects of the project implementation and is highly experienced in the implementation of the Erasmus+ program, Horizon 2020, and the EURAXESS programmes. Her field of interests and expertise is in innovation and strategic management.

Toni Bassaganyas Bars

Toni has a PhD in Translation and Language Sciences from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona), and has been a researcher and lecturer in Linguistics at Cardiff University and the University of Oxford. It was in Oxford that he decided to switch to the research facilitation field, so started working for the Research Services department of the University, supporting mainly the Medical Sciences Division. Toni has recently moved back to Barcelona and joined the CERCA Institute, from where he will be working to help make CARDEA a success.

Żaneta Świątkowska-Warkocka

Dr. hab. Żaneta Świątkowska-Warkocka works at Department of Magnetic Materials and Nanostructures at IFJ PAN. She has dedicated the last 12 years to researching the synthesis of composite materials and the investigation of their properties. She is a recognized researcher of laser processes and their applications in material science. Implementation of a number of scientific projects allowed her to gain extensive experience within the scope of collaboration with research managers and research staff.

Adrian Curaj

In 1983, Adrian Curaj graduated from the electronics and telecommunications faculty of the Politehnica University of Bucharest.[4] 

He holds a Ph.D. in Automatic Systems from the Politehnica University of Bucharest and a Master of Business Administration from ASEBUSS Bucharest and University of Washington in Seattle. He was granted a certificate in Business Administration - Global Management Program, from the Institute of Business and Public Administration of Bucharest, in partnership with Kennesaw State University.[8] 

He was the president of the National Authority for Scientific Research, with the rank of State Secretary, in 2009-2010. He was the advisor to Prime Minister Călin Popescu-Tăriceanu in the field of Science and Innovation, during 2007-2008.[9] 

Curaj has been working as a consultant with World Bank, UNESCO, UNIDO, ETF and EC for studies in Tertiary Education, Science and Innovation, and Foresight. He has been involved as project leader or expert in many research projects, most of them in research management, higher education management and foresight, areas where he also published scientific articles and books. Two of the inventions he is co-author received gold medals at the Geneva Invention Salon 2009 and 2013.[10] 

In 2000, Curaj was awarded the National Order of Merit as Officer for contributions to the development of science and innovation. In 2009 and 2013 he won gold medals at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva and in 2014 he was included by Foreign Policy Romania in the Top 100 people who move the country forward – the innovation section.[11] 

Conor O'Carroll Chair of the CARDEA Advisory Board

Conor O'Carroll is founder and director of SciPol Services Ltd. As an independent consultant on Research and Higher Education policy and funding, he focuses on researchers’ career development with special attention to doctoral education and career assessment. He is a lead assessor for HRS4R and is currently working on the revision of the European Researchers Charter and Code. He has led European policy initiatives on Open Science and doctoral training (e.g., the development of the European Innovative Doctoral Training Principles and the European Framework for Research Careers). He is an active researcher on national and European Research Policy, R&D, Higher Education and Researcher Mobility policy and is an accomplished commentator on R&D and higher education policy and funding.  In his recent book “Towards a Global Value System in Doctoral Education” he and colleagues reflect on the future of doctoral education.

Evaluator of research proposals on infrastructures, international cooperation, WIDERA, Western Balkans etc to the EU research Framework Programmes and Horizon for the last decades. Member of the advisory board of EURAXESS TOP IV, EU project – career and mobility of European researchers. Member of the expert groups of the EC on Assessing the Investment Potential of SMEs emerging from EU R&I programmes, on the analysis of the SME Instrument, on the impact of the state aid rules on research an innovation of the EU on the competitiveness of the European firms and the economy. Advisor of the EC for the cooperation with Montenegro, Morocco, new EU Member States (Poland etc). Peer reviewer of the S&T policy assessment of Cyprus. National correspondent of TrendChart and ERAWATCH for Greece, Egypt and Tunisia. 

Advisor to the General Secretary of Public Investment and NSRF/Partnership Agreement of Greece. Secretary at the Hellenic Quality Assurance Agency for Universities. Secretary General for Research and Technology, Ministry of economic Development; Special Secretary for the EU Programmes, Ministry of Education, Greece. President of the National Labour Institute, Greece. Head of various divisions at the General Secretariat for Research and Technology, Greece. 

Elected assistant professor at the Technical University of Crete, Department of Production and Management Engineering. Teaching on management, EU programmes, innovation and technological development in the University of Athens and the Athens University of Economics and Business. 

Assistant at the Ecole Polytechnique de Lausanne, Bureau de Prospective, and at the Union of the Rectors of Swiss Universities. 

Doctorate Degree at the University of Social Sciences of Grenoble, France, on the diffusion of technological innovations. Graduate of the Technical University of Athens, Department of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering.

Doris Alexander

BA, MSc – Associate Director of European Engagement, Trinity College Dublin

Doris established Trinity College’s Research Development Office in 1994 and together with previous researcher experience, has a history of interaction with national, European and International funders. Doris is an EU policy and strategy expert who drove the successful development and implementation of the University’s first in-depth Research Diversification Strategy. Doris took up post as the Associate Director of European Engagement in 2019 and is responsible for the development of strategies of engagement, working to get early insight on new EU initiatives so as to maximise the opportunity space for the University. She now works on the management team of the CHARM EU alliance and is Chair of the R&I subgroup of the FOREU1 network (the network of the 17 European Universities alliances funded through the first Erasmus+ pilot call). Doris served on the board and Policy and Representation Committee of the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators (EARMA) and was the inaugural vice chair of the COIMBRA Group Research Officers grouping. She is currently on the steering group of the European Research Projects Managers Group of the League of European Research Universities (LERU). Doris holds a BA (Hons) in Mathematical Science and an MSc in Computer Science (Health informatics) from Trinity College.

Twitter : @dorisalex_tweet

Eoin Sherwin

Dr Eoin Sherwin is an Associate Director Publications Strategy at Eli Lilly and Company. Prior to this role Eoin was a Post-Doctoral Scientist in the APC Microbiome Institute UCC Ireland.

Gabi Lombardo

Gabi Lombardo (PhD LSE), is the Director of the European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities, the largest advocacy and science policy organization for social sciences and humanities in Europe.  She is an expert in both higher education and global research policy, and has extensive high-level experience operating at the interface of strategy, science policy, research support and funding and member of the stakeholders group at the EU level for the European Research Area and the Higher Education Transformation Agenda. Gabi holds a senior level experience in strategic and ‘foresight’ planning in elite higher education institutions, international research funders and associations as she worked with the London School of Economics (LSE) the European Research Council (ERC) and Science Europe (SE).

As Director of EASSH, Gabi advocates advocates also for the need of a strong evidence-based approach to policy-making, and the inclusion of researchers in science policy development for strategic and broad-based research funding. She is an expert evaluator for SSH disciplines and research ethics for the EU Commission, World Bank, WISE and COST. In November 2018, Gabi received the Young Academy of Europe Annual Prize.

George Papamichail

Dr George Papamichail is the Director of the Science and Technology Park of Crete (STEP-C) of the Foundation for Research and Technology (FORTH) and the CEO of the Managing Company of STEP-C.

He holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh-ESRC scholarship holder (Science, Technology & Innovation Studies), and under- and post-graduate degrees in Business Administration and Technology & Innovation Management (Un. Open, Glasgow, Sussex, Science Policy Research Unit-SPRU).

George has participated, as a project a manger, in the implementation of more than 45 European, national and regional R&D projects related to academic entrepreneurship and spin-off creation, IPR exploitation, protection and management, technology transfer, business incubation etc. He has been a full member of the Hellenic Network of the National Contact Point (NCP) for the specific Program "PEOPLE" of the 7th Framework Program (FP7) and responsible for the information center of the scientific community for the program "PEOPLE" in the geographical area of Southern Greece. He is also a member of the Greek and European EURAXESS Network.

He is a speaker at national and international conferences and workshops, while he has participated as a central trainer in start-up entrepreneurship and innovation management seminars in Greece and abroad. He has publications in international scientific journals and conferences  He is also a mentor at the Scottish Graduate School of Social Science, UK and provides guidance to PhD and postdoctoral researchers (ESRC-funded) on their move to industry. 

Research interests:

• Academic entrepreneurship (spin-offs, start-ups)
• Design and development of research and innovation policies
• Innovation strategies and regional development

Gillian Bruton

Dr Bruton graduated from  University College Cork (UCC) in 1992 with a BSc degree in Chemistry and completed an MSc and PhD in Electrochemistry. Dr Bruton joined Intel in 1996 as a process engineer, where she held a range of senior positions, including long term assignments to sites in the US until 2007. Dr Bruton completed an M.Eng.Sc. in Sustainable Energy in 2008, and worked as a Research Fellow in SERG until 2013, where she secured and project-managed National and EU funding in Sustainable Infrastructure and Energy Optimisation. Dr Bruton successfully managed the Phase 1 MaREI Research Centre Proposal and currently serves as the MaREI Centre Manager.

Isabelle Halleux

Isabelle Halleux is Geological engineer and holds a PhD in Applied Sciences from the University of Liège (ULg), Belgium. She specialized later in IT Education and Training. She was Director of Research in Mining Estimation, then in Environmental Modelling at ISSeP, a Belgian Research Institute. She was strongly involved in European projects for 20 years. She returned to her ‘alma mater’ in 2002 where she is in charge of the R&D Administration.

She has created professional services for helping researchers to develop their research as well as their careers: support to the search for funding, project management, professional skills training, mobility programmes, PhDs management, etc.

Isabelle coordinates the Euraxess Services and Euraxess Rights initiativesat ULg. She is an expert in the evaluation of the HR Strategy for Researchers in Europe and participates in numerous committees and working groups. She coordinates or participates with her colleagues in several European projects dealing with researchers' mobility and careers : BeIPD Cofund for post-docs, Euraxess projects, Interreg cross-border programmes.

She is also very active in providing assistance to developing governance in research as well as training researchers in emerging and developing countries from West Africa and East Asia.

Joanne Uí Chrualaíoch

A chemist, project manager and psychologist, Joanne’s role is to prepare young professionals for the transition from university to the workplace, ensuring our graduates are meeting the requirements of the dynamic agri-food sector. Joanne has extensive experience in skills development, including graduate and professional development planning, training needs analysis, project management and professional leadership. Joanne is a lecturer and co-manager of the award winning Rejuvenate Programme. 

Loredana Marmora

Loredana holds a degree in Economics and International Trade and Stock Markets (University of Salerno -Italy) and a master’s degree in European Projects – Community Advisor and Project Consultant (University of Brussels – Belgium). Since 2014, she has been certified as a Project Management Professional (Project Management Institute, Pennsylvania).  

With ISINNOVA since 2008 (partner since 2009), Loredana has an extensive experience in executing complex research projects from conception to implementation. She coordinated several EU projects, among which STOP “Science and Technology in child- hood Obesity Policy” (H2020 – 30 partners – 10.5 M€), RARE2030 “Participatory Foresight in Rare Disease Policy” (DG SANTE – 8 partners – 1.3 M€), CIVITAS CATALIST “CIVITAS Transfer Action Leading to Innovation & Sustainable Transport” (FP6 – 24 partners – 4.3 M€); UrbaChina “Sustainable Urbanisation in China: Historical and Comparative Perspectives, Mega-trends towards 2050” (H2020 – 11 partners – 3.4 M€), I3U “Assessment of the Impact of the Innovation Union” (H2020 – 9 partners – 3 M€), PASHMINA “Paradigm Shift Modeling and Innovative Approaches” (FP7 – 11 partners – 3.3 M€). 

She has carried out trainer activities in foRMAtion – “Innovative and Smart module for potential Research Managers and Administrators in higher education” and in “Impact of R&I Projects: Beyond Lip Service”.

Loredana is a professional sommelier, and enjoys having a glass of wine with her friends and colleagues.

Speaks: Italian, English, French

Miguel Sierra Pereiro

Dr. Ing. Agr. Miguel Sierra Pereiro. INIA Innovation and Communication Manager (Uruguay).

He is a member of the Strategic Intelligence Committee of FONTAGRO and the Impact Assessment Advisory Panel of the CERCA (Catalonia). Ex President of the CONICYT of Uruguay.

Expert in agri-food innovation and evaluation in agri-food research institutes.

Olaf Svenningsen

Olaf Svenningsen was originally trained as a scientist with a Ph.D. in geology from Lund University (LU) in Sweden in 1993 and had appointments as an active researcher at LU, MIT and Columbia University in the United States, and Copenhagen University in Denmark. His career as a research manager began when he was employed at the US National Science Foundation (NSF) in 2000. Subsequently, he has worked as a research manager at Uppsala University in Sweden, the University of Southern Denmark (SDU) and the Region of Southern Denmark in Denmark, and at Lund University, providing a broad and international experience. In 2021, Olaf became an independent research advisor in his own company, Research Lighthouse. He is also EARMA’s Senior Project Liaison for RM-ROADMAP, an EU project coordinated by EARMA. From 2013 to 2018, Olaf was the Chair of DARMA in Denmark, and has also served on a.o. EARMA’s board, the INORMS Council, and as a global editor of the US NCURA Magazine.

Mary Twomey

Mary Twomey is responsible for EU and International Research and Innovation Policy at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. She manages Ireland’s participation in the European Research Area (ERA) actions and international research and innovation policy more broadly. She is the national delegate to the ERA Forum and related European research and innovation policy groups. Previously she worked in a range of policy roles in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and in Forfás, the former strategic advisory body on enterprise policy. Mary has a BA in Economics and French and an MA in Economics from UCC.