Magdalena Bem-Andrzejewska

Manager with extensive experience in public administration, specializing in science policy with a focus on international cooperation, communication, and PR. She has represented the Republic of Poland in numerous international bodies. At the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, she was responsible i.a. for implementing the reform of higher education and science, including its international dimension. Since 2020, she has served as Director of the National Contact Point at the National Centre for Research and Development, where she coordinates the national support system for Polish participation in the EU FP Horizon Europe, encompassing the NCPs network and six Horizontal Contact Points in the major academic centres of Poland.

Lidia Borrell-Damián 

Secretary General of Science Europe since 2019, the association representing national public organisations that fund and perform research in Europe. She holds overall responsibility for the organisation’s strategic development and implementation of action plans. Her areas of experience cover a wide range of Research and Innovation (R&I) priorities, including research policy and international collaboration. She holds a Doctorate in Chemistry (Chemical Engineering) from the University of Barcelona (1995). After many years in university, she worked at the European University Association (EUA) from 2006-2019, serving the last five years as the Director for R&I.

Magda De Carli 

Head of the Unit ‘‘ERA, Spreading Excellence & Research Careers’ and Deputy Director in DG R&I – European Commission. Earlier she headed the units in charge of ERA, Widening and SME Policy. She has a MScEcon and over 26years experience in R&I.

Stijn Delaure, PhD

Works in the Reforming European R&I and Research Infrastructures of the European Research Executive Agency. In 2024, he was seconded to the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU as attaché for research & innovation. Before, he worked as policy officer in DG RTD and DG EAC, where he developed policy for research careers and mobility, universities, and research management. Before he joined the European Commission in 2017, he worked over 10 years in research management in KU Leuven and was active member of LERU, EARMA and BESTPRAC. Stijn started his career as a researcher in biotechnology and worked both in business and academia.

Waldemar Dubaniowski

Polish government official and diplomat; he served as an ambassador of Poland to Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar (2017–2023) and to Singapore (2009–2013); as a member of the National Broadcasting Council; a Chief of the Cabinet of the President of Poland and Secretary of State in the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland.

Christine Durinx, PhD 

Managing Director of VIB, a leading life sciences research and innovation institute uniting 2000 researchers, located in Belgium. Before joining VIB, she served as Executive Director of the SIB Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics where she championed data-driven research, long-term sustainability of databases, and European partnerships. Previously, Christine has worked for several pharmaceutical multinationals. Christine holds a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of Antwerp, Belgium. She serves in several advisory boards and sit on numerous boards.

Danuta Mossakowska Earnshaw, PhD

Graduated from UCL, a Ph.D. at the University of Surrey and Postdocs at Imperial College London & Institute of Cancer Research. She then moved to GSK where she worked in research and held a number of positions of increasing responsibility. Her last job at GSK was seeking and leading academic/industry partnerships. Danuta was then selected as director of the Malopolska Centre of Biotechnology, Jagiellonian University,  which she has led since 2020.  She dedicated a small portion of her time as a Royal Society EiR  to the Babraham Institute between 2020 and 2023.

Łukasz Gołota, PhD

Deputy director of the National Academic Exchange Agency, doctor of social sciences, specialist in international relations, associated with the University of Warsaw, where he serves as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies. In his career, he has participated in international scientific projects and lectured at more than 40 universities around the world. His academic work focuses on building international academic networks and cooperation between universities. As an expert in international trade, political economy and the Asia-Pacific region, he led the project “Increase of EU's economic potential in relations with China” and participated in projects funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland. He is also an author and leader in the development of English-language programs at the UW.

Silvia Gómez Recio

First Secretary General of YERUN – Young European Research Universities Network -, a group of dynamic, research-oriented universities across Europe. Since the opening of the YERUN’s Brussels office in October 2016, she has led the network’s strategic direction, coordinated its activities, and overseen the implementation of its objectives. Under her leadership, YERUN has fostered collaboration among its members through a number of dedicated working groups focused on key areas such as EU policy, career development, research collaboration, open science, lifelong learning, and the Sustainable Development Goals. Prior to joining YERUN, Silvia Gomez Recio served as the representative of Coventry University in Brussels and worked as an EU Policy Adviser at the European Federation of Nurses.

Michał Goszczyński 

Deputy Director of the Department of Innovation and Development at Poland's Ministry of Science and Higher Education and a Member of the Board of Governors at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. He is a Member of the Pool of Experts at the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA), where he collaborates with other ENQA experts while reviewing agencies responsible for quality assurance in higher education. Additionally, he serves as Secretary of Review Teams at the Polish Accreditation Committee (PAC), supporting the work of the PAC Review Team during visits to higher education institutions in Poland.

Katarzyna Górak-Sosnowska, Prof.

Associate professor specializing in Islam in Europe at the SGH Warsaw School of Economics, where she heads the Middle East and Central Asia Unit. Katarzyna has made significant contributions to university management and administration, serving as president of the Dean’s Office Forum Association since 2018, which later became the Forum of Academic Administration (FAA). Through the Forum, she collaborates with key stakeholders in Polish higher education, including the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland. Katarzyna has also demonstrated her research management skills through successful grant acquisitions and her involvement in Polish and EU-funded projects. In recognition of her work, she received an award from the Minister of Science for significant scientific achievements in 2024.

Maria Górna, Prof.

Obtained her PhD (2010) at the University of Cambridge as a Marie Curie Early Stage Researcher, and next worked at the Centre for Molecular Medicine in Vienna. In 2015, she returned to Poland as a MSCA Individual Fellow and since then leads Structural Biology Group at the University of Warsaw. She received research funding from EMBO, NCN, NBCR and FNP, as well as fellowships from the Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Fulbright STEM Impact Award and L`Oreal UNESCO for Women and Science. Maria is a member of the Young Academy of Europe and MCAA Board 2018-2020.

Joël Groeneveld

Head of Institutional and International Affairs and Research Mobility. Joël is a senior expert on European and international research funding at the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique - FNRS, thriving in an environment of networking and building and maintaining partnerships. In 2022, Joël was appointed as Head of Institutional and International Affairs and Research Mobility at the F.R.S.-FNRS.  He joined the European and International Affairs Department at the F.R.S.-FNRS to work on International Cooperation (outside of Europe) and on European Research Area networks (ERANETs, Public to Public partnerships). He participated in the launch of the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 R&I Framework programme and was a National Contact Point (NCP) for the Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (2013-2017). He specializes in Bilateral international cooperation, overseas European networks (EU-Africa, EU-Latin America, EU-India, EU-South East Asia, EU-Korea) and worked in numerous networks across all scientific domains (Engineering, Health, Social and Human Sciences, Food and Agriculture, Climate and Biodiversity). Currently Joël exercises mandates on the Council of the European Gravitational Observatory (EGO) and the Board of Trustees of the Botanical Garden of Meise.

Manuel Heitor, Prof.

Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) the engineering school at the University of Lisbon. He served as Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education for the Government of Portugal in 2015-2022 and as Secretary of State from 2005 to 2011. In 2023 he was appointed by the European Commission to chair the Expert group for the interim evaluation of the Horizon Europe programme and to guide the evolution of the European Research and Innovation (R&I) Framework programme. He has coordinated the "CESAER Research Careers Survey 2024", published in December 2024

Jakob Just Madsen

Will be the vice-chair of the Research working party in the Council during the Danish presidency of the Council of the European Union. He has been the head of the EU Liaison office in Brussels of the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science since 2009. In this capacity he is representing Denmark in various fora on the implementation and development of the EU Framework Programmes for research and innovation, including in the strategic programme committee. Over the years he has served in all the different thematic programme committees as well. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the European Commission Joint Research Centre. He was part of the Danish delegation in the Council of the EU for the legislative negotiations of Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, and has been the chair of the Informal Group of Research Liaison Offices in Brussels. Prior to his engagement in the Ministry of Higher Education and Science he worked as a commercial attaché and acting head of mission at the Royal Danish Consulate General in Munich. His academic training comprises a Bachelor’s degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics for the University of York (UK) and a Master’s degree in Political Science/European Studies from the University of Bath (UK) and University of Washington in Seattle (USA).

Wojciech Karczewski, PhD

Director General of the National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA). Previously worked in management positions at SWPS University and the consulting firms PwC and EY, among others. He holds a PhD in Social Sciences in the field of Management and Quality Sciences, obtained from the Faculty of Management at the University of Warsaw. For 18 years he has been managing initiatives in the area of international cooperation, including large programs and projects (he has successfully implemented 50 such initiatives to date). He is an academic lecturer in subjects related to management and quantitative methods, including Organisational Management, Project Management, Organisational Behaviour, Leadership Competencies, and Statistical Methods.

Magdalena Kołodziejska - Deputy Director of the National Centre for Research and Development. Manager with over 20 years of experience in strategic financial management of large capital groups, as well as innovative projects and green transformation. She gained her professional experience in the broadly defined energy sector. She was responsible for the creation and implementation of strategies, restructuring, corporate governance, financial models, obtaining and accounting for EU grants and fundraising. She conducted M&A transaction of Polish Biogas Group by Total Energies, together with the post-acquisition integration process. In addition, she is a former member of the Management Board in the Polish Scientific Publishing House PWN.

Teodora Konach 

Head of Professional Development at EARMA (the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators), where she leads the team responsible for professional development, recognition initiatives, and EU-funded programmes. She has an academic background in legal and cultural studies. Since 2019, Teodora has collaborated as an external expert and evaluator with the European Commission’s Research Executive Agency (REA), the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), and the Council of Europe.  Currently, she is co-leading the EARMA-coordinated EU-funded projects RM Roadmap and RM Framework, which aim to advance a structured, community-driven approach to professionalising research management across Europe

Valentina Lepri

Historian of knowledge and European culture specializing in the early modern period. She has been a Fellow at the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies and a recipient of a Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant. Additionally, she held a Fernand Braudel Senior Fellowship at the European University Institute and a Józef Tischner Fellowship at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. She is currently the Director of the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, where she also leads the Center for the History of Renaissance Knowledge and serves as the Principal Investigator of an ERC Consolidator Grant.

Marcin Liana 

Graduate of the Jagiellonian University in Poland, where he obtained a degree in biology. He defended his doctoral dissertation with honors in 2004. Since 2005, he has been a postdoctoral fellow at the University of New Hampshire and Harvard University. In 2009, he began working at the Jagiellonian University and the Institute of Systematics and Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow. Since 2011, he has been working at the National Science Centre in Poland, initially as a scientific officer, and since November 2018 as deputy director.

Dr Katarzyna Maniszewska 

Polish scholar, expert in international relations with a focus on security threats and countering radicalization, member of the Scientific Council of Terrorism Research Center at Civitas University (CU). Lecturer at CU, at the University of Bialystok and guest lecturer at institutions in Poland and abroad (including West Virginia University, Philippine Public Safety College and other). Expert of the European initiative EU Knowledge Hub on Prevention of Radicalisation. Research scholarship holder of the Kościuszko Foundation (2024; George Washington University), director of the ""Security and Society in the Information Age"" program implemented in Poland for students from the USA. In 2025, she was elected president of the Board of the Alumni Association of the Kościuszko Foundation. As an expert on the internationalization of higher education (incl. the position of vice-rector for international relations at CU), she is a member of the National Team for the Development of the Strategy for the Internationalization of Polish Higher Education and Science (2025). Author of articles and analyses devoted to the issues of internationalization of higher education, as well as numerous scientific publications on threats to international security. Her previous professional experience includes work in non-governmental organisations, the media and European institutions.

Claire Morel 

Head of unit in charge of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions for the skills, career development and mobility of researchers at the European Commission. Before that she was the Head of the Unit for international cooperation at DG Education, Culture, Youth and Sport of the European Commission, with particular focus on the international dimension of the Erasmus+ programme and international policy dialogues in higher education and youth with various partners of the EU in the world.

Bartlomiej E. Nowak, PhD

Political scientist, he holds a PhD in Economics. Dr. Nowak teaches international relations at the Vistula University in Warsaw and is a member of the Forecast Committee at the Polish Academy of Sciences. He chairs the Council of the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange. Previously, he served as the President of the Vistula Group of Universities. He was a fellow at the EUI in Florence, the Transatlantic Academy in Washington, D.C. and worked in the European Parliament and the Convention on the Future of Europe.

Justyna Olko, Prof.

Professor at the University of Warsaw's Faculty of “Artes Liberales”, director of its Center for Research and Practice in Cultural Continuity, and a guest researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig. Her experience encompasses a number of multidisciplinary team projects as well as outreach-oriented enterprises in close collaboration with research institutions from Europe, the Americas and Africa, with main areas in Indigenous history and sociolinguistics, multilingualism, linguistic diversity, language reclamation and decolonial research practices. She received the ERC Starting and Consolidator Grants and the first woman and representative of the humanities and social sciences in Poland to be awarded the grant twice. She also coordinated the project "Engaged Humanities in Europe" (Twinning Program, Horizon 2020), officially recognized as "a success story" of the European Commission, and she coordinates the consortium project "Fostering Linguistic Capital"(HORIZON-CL2-2024-HERITAGE-01). In 2020 she became a winner of the Falling Walls Science Breakthrough of the Year for “Breaking the walls between Academy and local communities in favor of linguistic diversity”.

Marek Pawełczyk, Prof. 

Rector of the Silesian University of Technology, Chairman of the NCASP International Cooperation Committee. He has held management positions since 2006 at the institute, group, and department levels, and in particular served as Vice Rector for Science and Development for two terms. For 10 years, he was responsible for educational matters. He was highly engaged in the creation and improvement of study programmes, led teams for the accreditation of studies and the introduction of the National Qualifications Framework for three study programmes, worked in the commission for the educational quality assurance system, was responsible for doctoral studies in automatic control and robotics, developed the principles and introduced the PBL method and innovative forms of education, such as the interactive learning method.

Tomasz Poprawka, PhD

PhD in plant science from University of East Anglia / John Inne Centre in Norwich, UK. Worked in labs in Poland, Belgium, UK and Japan. In 2010 shifted his career into research program management and worked for Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) in Warsaw, where he was responsible for several initiatives supporting best individual researchers and building science capacities in Poland. In 2028 he joined Polish Academy and Sciences and moved to its liaison office in Brussels to work within European science policy dimension. Since 2020 heading the PolSCA PAS Office who’s mission is to promote and facilitate successful participation of Polish R&I stakeholders (incl. PAS researchers) in EU framework programme for research & innovation.

Krzysztof Pyrć, Prof.

President-elect of the Foundation for Polish Science, full professor at the Jagiellonian University. Founder and Leader of Virology in Krakow. Authored over 140 scientific publications in journals such as Nature, Nature Medicine, Science Translational Medicine, Nucleic Acids Research, and PNAS, cited more than 14,000 times. Inventor and entrepreneur. Currently, he serves as an advisor to the European Commission and the Ministry of Health. In the past, he has also provided guidance to local governments, the Ministry of Science, the Prime Minister, and the President of the Republic of Poland.

Raul Ranne

Works in international higher education policy and development. He is a Senior Advisor at the Academic Cooperation Association and leads EduEnable, a consultancy based in Estonia. With 18 years of experience in the sector, he has worked across public and private institutions, including national agencies, EU-funded programmes, and EdTech. His work has focused on internationalisation, student mobility, and marketing and communication in higher education. Raul also acts as a trainer in areas such as AI and digitalisation in education, and supports universities and national bodies in shaping their promotion strategies and strengthening their global positioning.

Agnieszka Ratajczak

Director, Department of International Cooperation, National Centre for Research And Development, Poland. Experienced public sector executive with established track record in international cooperation and building relations with partner institutions worldwide. Agnieszka is a graduate of The National School for Public Administration, Warsaw, holds a master’s degree from The Institute of International Relations at Warsaw University, and a bachelor’s degree from English Philology, University of Wrocław. Agnieszka has held senior managerial positions in institutions dealing with scientific policy and research funding. Agnieszka has been with NCBR since 2011 with the aim to develop international cooperation and enhance NCBR international visibility. Prior to NCBR, Agnieszka worked as Director of European Affairs and Deputy Director of International Cooperation at the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Agnieszka is an expert in the design of programmes focused on supporting innovative, research-based projects. A new area in her portfolio includes acceleration programmes for young technology-based companies seeking global expansion. A long-standing member of international committees and bodies dealing with both R&I policy and funding, Agnieszka also sits on the Committee for Internationalisation at the National Agency for Academic Exchange.

Henning Rickelt

Acts as Managing Director for “Zentrum für Wissenschaftsmanagement” (ZWM), a German non-profit organisation providing training, consulting and networking services in the field of science and research management. In this capacity, he has been co-representing Germany as a sponsor of ERA Action 17 under the ERA Policy Agenda 2022-2024. ZWM is also a consortium partner of RM FRAMEWORK, a HORIZON EUROPE project aiming at developing European standards for the qualification of research managers. Henning has been working as a senior science manager for more than 25 years and holds a double degree in economics from Germany and the United States.

Keith Sequeira

Heads the Unit in DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission responsible for European Innovation Council (EIC), including support to the EIC Board, preparing the EIC work programmes, and overseeing the EIC Fund. From 2015 to 2019, Keith was senior advisor to Carlos Moedas, European Commissioner for research and innovation, on open science and open innovation, including Horizon Europe, scientific advice to policy, and the European Research Council. He was previously in the Cabinet of the Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and has worked in the European Commission on innovation policy, development and implementation of Framework Programmes, and public procurement of innovation.  He has previous experience in the UK government and a private company advising and investing in public private partnerships and spin-outs. Keith studied physics at Cambridge University and has a doctoral degree in innovation studies from the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the Sussex University.

Michal Szczerba 

Member of the European Parliament. He serves on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Security and Defence, and is the EP's Standing Rapporteur for relations with the USA. He is also a former President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and Co-Chair of the Ukraine-NATO Interparliamentary Council. From 2007 to 2024, he was a Member of the Polish Parliament, representing the Capital City of Warsaw and the Polish diaspora abroad.  He chaired the Parliamentary Inquiry Committee on the Visa Scandal in the Polish Sejm. Michal Szczerba is also the co-author of the book ""The Great Harvest: How PiS Stole Poland."" He has been awarded the Georgian Order of Honor and the Medal of Merit by the Ukrainian Parliament.

Andrzej Szeptycki, Prof. 

Undersecretary of State in The Ministry of Science and Higher Education responsible for international cooperation. Political scientist, University professor at the Faculty of Political Science and International Studies of the University of Warsaw, expert of Institute Strategies 2050 think tank. He lectured, among others, in France, Ukraine and China. Research interests: foreign policies of Poland, Ukraine and Russia, post-colonial studies, politics of memory, national and ethnic minorities and immigration. Currently head of the research project „Wars of Russia: causes, determinants, course and consequences of military combat operations of the Russian Federation in the post-Cold War period” financed by the Polish National Science Centre.

Karen Vandevelde 

Head of HR at Antwerp University, after a career as researcher, lecturer and policy advisor. Supporting the careers of researchers has always been a priority in her work, in particular in the areas of recruitment & selection, career development, reward systems and academic leadership. She has been involved as expert in initiatives led by the Flemish Royal Academy of Science and the Arts, the OECD (Careers of Doctorate Holders), the European Commission (DG RTD), EUA, YERUN and in a number of consultancy-led projects related to research policy, HR and researchers’ careers.

Tomasz K. Wojdacz, Prof. 

Expert in clinical epigenetics and Professor at the Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin, where he leads the Independent Clinical Epigenetics Laboratory. He is co-founder and president of the International Society for Molecular and Clinical Epigenetics. Throughout his career, he has worked at leading research institutions, including Aarhus University, the Karolinska Institute, and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He is also CEO and co-founder of Polish and Danish companies, both established to commercialize intellectual property developed from his research.

Łukasz Zamęcki, PhD 

Ph.D. in Political Science, habilitation in Social Sciences; researcher and lecturer at the University of Warsaw. Chair of the Scientific Council for Political Science and Administration (2025-), Dean’s Plenipotentiary since 2020. Former Vice-Dean for Research and International Relations (2016–2020), Deputy Director of the Institute of European Studies (2012–2016). Associate of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Science and Higher Educatio, and State Examination Committee. Research: education policy, (de)democratization, contentious politics, East Asia.