Monday 21 September

These sessions are reserved to EUA members. If you wish to view the recordings, please contact events@eua.eu 

10.30-11.30     Plenary session: “Leading university transformation”

Featuring three university leaders from different parts of Europe, this session will address the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on the transformation of university operations and management. What can we learn from the past months to lead successful, long-lasting transformation? How will this experience shape university governance, leadership and decision-making? Fast-forwarding to the next few years, what will be the major pressures and challenges for university funding? What leadership approaches will be most useful in such a context? The guest speakers will reflect on their experiences and share their vision in a direct exchange with the participants.

• Ivanka Popović, Rector of the University of Belgrade, Serbia
• Sascha Spoun, President of Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany
• Kerstin Tham, Vice-Chancellor of Malmö University, Sweden

• Moderator: Thomas Estermann, Director Governance, Funding and Public Policy Development, EUA

14.00-15.15     Breakout sessions: “Preparing for new realities in university funding and management: learning and teaching, research and the campus”

Given the magnitude and the depth of the crisis, universities will have to review their long-term strategies and development plans. This series of breakout sessions will focus on the long-term financial implications and new management needs. The discussions will explore the new realities of research, teaching and campus infrastructure.

Breakout session 1: Partnerships in learning and teaching
The switch to online learning and teaching has been exceptional during the crisis and new forms of blended learning are emerging based on the experience gained during the pandemic. What are the new efficient and effective ways to organise learning and teaching? How can costs, workloads and best practices be efficiently shared? What digital capacities do we need to support this process organisationally and financially? This session will explore several institutional responses as to how to adapt learning and teaching as well as institutional partnerships based on the lessons learnt.

• Tuula Heide, Head of Teaching and Learning Services, University of Eastern Finland
• James Smith, Vice Principal International, The University of Edinburgh
• Marta Žuvić, Vice-Rector for Students, Studies and Quality Assurance, University of Rijeka

•  Moderator: Tim McIntyre-Bhatty, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Bournemouth

Breakout session 2: Effective research strategies
The importance of research and innovation in mitigating the impact of the crisis has been widely recognised by policy makers, funders and other stakeholders across Europe. In this context, the question of how to adapt institutional research visions, enhance strategic profiling and foster partnerships is highly important. In this session, several institutions will share their visions and approaches to effective research strategies and partnerships that could be applied in the post-crisis period.

• Verdiana Bandini, Head of Research and Competitive Funding, University of Bologna
• Roswitha Wiedenhofer, authorized officer FH JOANNEUM, Head of Division Research Organisation and Services
• Artūrs Zeps, Vice-Rector for Strategic Development, Riga Technical University

• Moderator: Jean Van Sinderen-Law, Associate Vice-President, University College Cork

Breakout session 3: Sustainable campus development
With a rapid shift to online learning and teaching and other services and operations, overseeing physical infrastructure on campus has been a less visible, but challenging exercise. From handling common spaces to coordinating multi-campus sites across cities or countries, universities must come up with new creative solutions and approaches to campus management. Featuring three unique case studies, this session will invite the participants to discuss strategies and investment needs to sustain campus development after the crisis.

• Jón Atli Benediktsson, Rector, University of Iceland
• Frank Bournois, Executive President & Dean, ESCP Business School
• Chris Cobb, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Operations) and Deputy Chief Executive, University of London

• Moderator: Josep Maria Garrell, Rector, Universitat Ramon Llull

15.15-15.30     Plenary session: Conclusions from the day and introduction to the next day’s sessions

• Thomas Estermann, Director of Governance, Funding and Public Policy Development, EUA

Tuesday 22 September

View recordings of the second day 

10.30-12.00     Plenary session: Funding university transformation in times of crisis

The crisis is affecting and will affect university finances differently depending on the income structure, according to the latest EUA report. Negative economic fallout will put pressure on public finances and the need for greater efficiencies may push public authorities to seek alternative forms of restructuring. Where do policymakers see potential for transformation and efficiency in the sector? What are possible ways in which the “funding mix” may evolve? Is there a greater role for competitive funding? How can funder organisations work together to generate synergies? The panellists will share their perspectives on the future collaboration with the university sector. The session will stimulate a dialogue between representatives of public authorities and other partner organisations with the university sector around the topics of funding and governance.

• Abigail Ruth Freeman, Director of Science for Society at Science Foundation Ireland
• Anita Lehikoinen, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland
• Javier Roglá, Global Director Santander Universities, CEO Universia Holding, Spain

• Moderator: Pedro Teixeira, Director, CIPES – Centre of Research on Higher Education Policies, Portugal

14.00-15.30     Plenary session: The future of EU funding for education and research

This session focuses on the next generation of EU funding for universities and offers multiple perspectives on this topic. Participants will hear from European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, the Commission’s plans for universities in the post-crisis period. MEP Christian, Ehler, Rapporteur for Horizon 2020, now Horizon Europe, in the European Parliament, will offer his views on the next generation of EU funding programmes. Taking the university perspective, Pieter Duisenberg, President of the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) will share concerns and expectations. EUA President Michael Murphy will share his reflections on behalf of the sector. This high-level dialogue will offer an opportunity to engage in the conversation around the next Multiannual Financial Framework, Horizon Europe, Erasmus+ and the European University Initiative and discuss experiences and visions for future EU policies in the area of higher education and research.

• Pieter Duisenberg, President of the Association of Universities in the Netherlands
• Christian Ehler, MEP, European Parliament
• Mariya Gabriel, EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
• Michael Murphy, President of the European University Association

• Moderator: Liviu Matei, Provost and Professor of Higher Ed Policy, Central European University

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  Verdiana Bandini

  Verdiana Bandini is Head of Research and competitive funding at the University of Bologna, where her responsibilities range from internal research policies to access to funding opportunities. In particular, she supports the university’s governance in the development of research strategies, working towards the enhancement of multidisciplinary approaches, facilitating internal and external networking and the establishment of strategic partnerships for R&I from the local to the international level. She coordinates a team of research developers and managers, promoting participation in national and international funding opportunities and organising services that accompany the whole project cycle. Her responsibilities also include departmental strategic development projects, as well as initiatives aimed at boosting R&I infrastructures. Previously, Verdiana Bandini contributed to establishing the university policy on industrial strategic partnerships. Before joining the university, she worked in the Emilia-Romagna agency for innovation, where she gained experience in regional development policies, technology uptake, industry-academia collaboration and start-ups.

• 

  Jón Atli Benediktsson

  Jón Atli Benediktsson has served as the Rector of the University of Iceland since July 2015. From 2009-2015, he was Pro Rector of Science and Academic Affairs and since 1991 he has been Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Iceland. He received a degree in science from the University of Iceland and Master’s and PhD degrees from Purdue University in the United States, all in electrical engineering. His research interests are in remote sensing and digital image analysis. Jón Atli Benediktsson is a highly cited researcher and has received many awards. He was the 2011-2012 President of the IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society and the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing from 2003-2008. Jón Atli Benediktsson is co-founder of the biomedical company Oxymap. He is a Fellow of IEEE and of SPIE. He is also on the Board of the Aurora University Network.

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  Frank Bournois

  Frank Bournois is the Executive President and Dean of the ESCP Business School’s six campuses. He is the Chairman of the Programmes Committee of the French Conférence des Grandes Ecoles and Board member of the European Foundation for Management Development.
  He was previously a Full Professor and Chair of General Management at Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas University and a Visiting Professor at Cranfield School of Management (UK) and in several other European universities. He served as Deputy to the Human Resources Director at Rhône-Poulenc Fibers & Polymers (1987-1991). Then he joined academia at the University of Lyon III (1992-1996). He was appointed by then French Prime Minister Alain Juppé as a member of the Institute of Higher Studies for National Defence where he became Head of Studies and involved in competitive intelligence of France’s largest companies (1997-2001). He was Professor at ESCP in Paris (1998-2008), where he held the Research Chair on Executive Governance and ran related executive development programmes. He currently is the non-Executive Director at Mazars.
  Frank Bournois has widely published in Comparative European Management and he is the author of books and many articles in French and English on human resources management.
  He is an Officer in the Legion of Honour, Officer in the National Order of Merit and Commander in the National Order of Arts and Letters.

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  Chris Cobb

  Chris Cobb is Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of London and has previously held senior positions at Roehampton University and the London School of Economics. He has sat on a number of national working groups examining a range of subjects such as shared services, efficiency, financial sustainability and student data collection. In 2020, he led a national report of enquiry on digital assessment and has recently spoken on the opportunities that these technologies offer. Chris Cobb is a regular speaker at conferences and webinars. He is a judge for the Times Higher Education Awards and sits on the Boards of Advance HE, Goodenough College and Cass & Claredale Housing Trust. He is also a member of the Emerge HE advisory group and Oracle’s EMEA HE Advisory Group, as well as the Deputy
  Chair of the HUMANE Executive Committee responsible for international strategy. In 2016, Chris Cobb was made a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Information Technologists and the City of London. He also became an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2008.

• 

  Pieter Duisenberg

  Pieter Duisenberg (1967) is President of the Association of Universities in the Netherlands (VSNU) since October 2017. Pieter Duisenberg aims to organize the Universities of the Netherlands around shared ambitions and give a strong voice to the university sector. Main issues the VSNU has worked on are open science, internationalisation, rewards and recognition in academic careers, funding and education innovation. Before joining the VSNU, Pieter Duisenberg was a member of the Dutch Parliament (for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy, VVD), where his portfolio was Higher Education and Science. Prior to his political career, Pieter worked for more than twenty years in the private sector, holding positions in Shell, McKinsey & Company and Eneco. Pieter is currently a guest lecturer at the VU Amsterdam and the University of Groningen.

• 

  Christian Ehler

  Christian Ehler has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2004 and has been a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) for more than a decade. He has been one of the leading figures in the design and implementation of the EU research and innovation programmes, both as Rapporteur for Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe. He is the initiator of a dedicated ITRE working group that allows for a closer parliamentary scrutiny of the EU R&I programmes and he is Vice-Chair of the European Parliament’s think thank STOA. One of Christian Ehler’s main priorities is to ensure Europe’s excellence in science, technology and innovation in all sectors, including health, digital and climate.
  As Rapporteur for Horizon Europe, he has put forward a number of instruments to reduce the administrative burden for researchers and SMEs, as well as to boost public-private partnerships contributing to achieving EU climate and digital goals. Christian Ehler plays an instrumental role within the European People‘s Party as the group’s Coordinator for the ITRE Committee.

• 

  Thomas Estermann

  Thomas Estermann is leading EUA’s work on university autonomy, governance, management and financial sustainability. Before joining EUA in 2007, he was Deputy University Director at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, a member of the university‘s senate and involved in several reforms in higher education in Austria. Before that he pursued a career as a lawyer. He is member of several European and national committees, expert groups, editorial boards, advisory groups and contributes regularly to higher education management programmes and higher education reform processes. He has published extensively on the topic of university funding, governance and management.

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  Abigail Ruth Freeman

  Abigail Ruth Freeman is Director for Society at Science Foundation Ireland. Following a department restructure in 2018, she became Director for Science. Prior to her current appointment, she held a series of positions at Science Foundation Ireland, including Director of Innovation, Communications & Education and Director of Programmes, Enterprise and International Affairs, with responsibility for overseeing all Science Foundation Ireland research funding programmes and management of funded awards, as well as the Foundation’s activities in conjunction with industry and international partners. Abigail Ruth Freeman joined Science Foundation Ireland as a Scientific Programme
  Manager in November 2006. Prior to joining the Foundation, she worked as a researcher at Trinity College Dublin (TCD). She holds PhD and Bachelor degrees in Genetics from TCD, where she was awarded a Trinity scholarship, the Eli Lilly Chemistry Prize and the Roberts Prize for Biology. Ruth’s PhD research, on population genetics in hybrid zones, was funded by a prestigious studentship from the Wellcome Trust and was carried out at TCD and International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Nairobi.

• 

  Mariya Gabriel

  Mariya Gabriel is the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education, Youth and Sport. Under her leadership, the new Horizon Europe programme (2021-2027) will be defined and implemented, with a strong focus on reducing the innovation gap between the 27 member states. She is also supervising the quick growth of the world renowned Erasmus+ programme. From 2017 to 2019, she was European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society. She proposed the new Digital Europe programme, worked on EU Strategy on AI, and launched the new European supercomputer plan.
  She was elected as Member of the European Parliament in 2009, 2014 and 2019.
  Mariya Gabriel is First Vice-President of the European People's Party (EPP), and since 2012 Vice-President of EPP Women.
  The leading European cybersecurity magazine SC Media UK ranked her amongst the 50 most influential women in Europe in the field of cybersecurity in 2019.
  The Commissioner is known for her involvement in the fight for gender equality. She earned the “Women of Influence 2018” award in the category “Talent in Politics”, and the prestigious Italian prize “Golden Apple” for highest achievements for women. The USA-Central European Women in Business Summit presented her with the 2019 award for her initiatives in favour of greater participation and recognition of women in the digital sector.

• 

  Josep Garrell

  Josep M. Garrell holds a computer engineering degree and a PhD in Electronic Engineering (1995). As a faculty member and researcher at Ramon Llull University (URL), he is specialised in the areas of artificial intelligence and machine learning. At Ramon Llull University, he has held several positions in university policy and management: Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation (2002-2010), Secretary General (2006-2012) and Vice-Rector for University Policy (2010-2012). During his mandate as Secretary General, he led the project Aristos Campus Mundus 2015 (ACM) awarded with the Campus of International Excellence by the Spanish Ministry of Education. ACM is a strategic partnership between three social initiative universities, Deusto University (Bilbao), Comillas Pontifical University (Madrid) and Ramon Llull University. In 2012, Josep M. Garrell was appointed Rector of Ramon Llull University and his mandate was renewed for a third four-year period in July 2020. Since 2016, he is a member of the Spanish Rectors’ Conference (CRUE) board. In April 2019, Josep M. Garrell was appointed member of the EUA Board for a period of four years.

• 

  Tuula Heide

  Tuula Heide is Head of Learning and Teaching Services at the University of Eastern Finland and Project Officer of DigiCampus (funded by the Ministry of Education, Finland). She received a Vocational Qualification in Computers in 1993 (Commercial College of Espoonlahti, Finland), a Master's degree in Education in 1996 (University of Joensuu, Finland) and a Doctoral degree in Philosophy in Education in 2000 (University of Idaho, USA). At the University of Eastern Finland, she is currently responsible for providing pedagogical and ICT training for university teachers, as well as pedagogical and ICT support for teachers and students. In the DigiCampus project, she oversees several sub-projects including in 17 universities and including a digital learning environment and its support services, learning landscape, development of electronic examination and inclusiveness of especially digital education and services. 

• 

  Anita Lehikoinen

  Anita Lehikoinen was appointed Permanent Secretary of the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture in 2013. She directs the activities of the Ministry together with the ministers. The duties of the Permanent Secretary include monitoring the preparation of matters and attending to the internal activities of the Ministry. Anita Lehikoinen has been employed by the Finnish Ministry of Education since 1989. Prior to her current position, she served as Director General in the Ministry, in charge of higher education and science policy development. She has also worked in the field of higher education and was responsible for the implementation of the Bologna Process in Finland and the internationalisation strategy for higher education. She has also been involved in work to reform the steering system of Finnish universities. Anita Lehikoinen holds a Master of Arts from the University of Helsinki (1987).

• 

  Liviu Matei

  Liviu Matei is Provost of the Central European University in Budapest (CEU) and Professor of Higher Education Policy. He also serves as Director of the Yehuda Elkana Centre for Higher Education at CEU, which specialises in applied research in higher education policy. He taught at universities in the United States, Romania and Hungary, and consulted for UNESCO, the Council of Europe, the World Bank, the Commission of the European Union, other international inter-governmental and non-governmental organisations with activities in higher education, as well as governments in Europe and Asia. He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of the European Higher Education Area.

• 

  Tim McIntyre-Bhatty

  Tim McIntyre-Bhatty joined Bournemouth University (BU) as Deputy Vice-Chancellor in 2011. He has held senior positions in universities for more than fifteen years and has served as assistant vice-chancellor and dean. Tim McIntyre-Bhatty leads the annual strategic planning processes and his portfolio includes responsibility for the academic faculties, the Bournemouth University International College, alongside quality assurance, academic services and admissions, programme management, strategic risk and business intelligence. He recently completed six years of service as a member of the Board of the UK Quality Assurance Agency and for the Advisory Committee for Degree Awarding Powers.
  He is a Fellow of the Strategic Planning Society and a member of the British Computer Society. Tim McIntyre-Bhatty served as regional editor for the journal Chinese Management Studies and has previously been closely engaged in research concerning the match of graduate skills and employer needs in regional labour markets. His track record extends to successful collaborations at both national and international levels with partners across Europe and in Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong.

• 

  Michael Murphy

  Michael Murphy is President of European University Association (EUA). He graduated in Medicine from University College Cork (UCC) in 1973. After his postgraduate training in Dublin and at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School in London, he received his doctorate from the National University of Ireland in 1984. During the next eight years, he held faculty positions in Pharmacology and Medicine at The University of Chicago before returning to Cork as Professor of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics in 1992. An expert in drug therapy for cardiovascular disease, he has led several large international clinical trials of interventions to reduce cardiovascular mortality. Michael Murphy has held a variety of leadership roles including President of UCC for a decade, Vice-Chancellor of the National University of Ireland, Chair of the Health Research Board of Ireland, Chair of the Irish Universities Association, Chair of the Permanent Working Group of European Hospital Doctors. A past member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the US National Dairy Council, he has been active in many academic organisations in Europe and the United States.

• 

  Ivanka Popović

  Ivanka Popović is Rector of the University of Belgrade in Serbia. She is also President of the Danube Rectors’ Conference, the Rectors’ Forum of Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans and the Conference of Serbian Universities. She studied at the University of Maryland in the United States and in the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy (FTM) at the University of Belgrade. She obtained all of her degrees in chemical engineering at the FTM. She became a member of the FTM staff in 1983, rose through the academic ranks to the position of Full Professor and served as the first female Dean of the Faculty from 2006-012. She was the first female President of the Serbian Chemical Society (2009–2013). She has been involved in several TEMPUS, ERASMUS and two FP7 projects. Ivanka Popović is currently engaged in the Horizon 2020 project “TAking a Reflexive approach to Gender Equality for institutional Transformation” (TARGET, 2017-2021).

• 

  Javier Roglá Puig

  Javier Roglá Puig is the Global Director of Santander Universities, where he is responsible for the largest corporate-sponsored higher education support program in the world. He is also CEO of Universia Holding, where he oversees a network of over 1000+ universities. Before joining Santander, Javier Roglá Puig served as CEO of Empieza por Educar (Teach
  First Spain) and was also a member of the Network Advisory Committee of Teach For All. He has also worked as a Principal with the Boston Consulting Group, where he worked in corporate strategy and strategic organisation-related projects and was active in recruiting, selection and in Corporate Social Responsibility. Before that, Javier Roglá Puig worked in Endesa as part of the international development and corporate development teams. He is a Board Director in multiple foundations related to education – including Teach For All and the Vice-Chair of Universia Foundation. Javier Roglá Puig graduated with an MSc in Mechanical Engineering and holds an MBA with honors from INSEAD –which he attended with a full scholarship.

• 

  Jean van Sinderen-Law

  Jean van Sinderen-Law graduated from University College Cork (UCC) with a Bachelor of Science and a PhD in Microbiology. In 2018, she assumed the role of Associate Vice-President/Director of European Relations and Public Affairs. Formerly she served UCC as EU Projects Officer, Research Support Officer, Director of Development and Alumni Relations, Associate Vice-President/Director of Principal Gifts. Prior to her commencement on staff at University College Cork, Jean held an EU-funded Marie Curie post-doctoral research fellowship at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. As Director of European Relations and Public Affairs, Jean is responsible for establishing key partnerships for the University with the European Institutions, universities, governments and agencies to advance UCC’s education, research and public engagement missions. Jean served as Governor of UCC and also was elected as a member of the Senate of the National University of Ireland. She is a founding member of the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators (EARMA) and the European Commission Marie Curie Fellowship Association. She is on the European Regional Council of CASE (Council for the Advancement and Support of Education).

• 

  James Smith

  James Smith has been Vice-Principal International at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland since 2014, having held the Chair of African and Development Studies since 2010. He holds visiting professorships in development policy and practice at the Open University and in the Department of Geography, Environmental Management and Energy Studies at the University of Johannesburg. He is a member of the Council of the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council. His research focuses on the role of science, innovation and infrastructure on Africa’s development and is currently writing a book on African health research and innovation networks and neglected tropical diseases. James Smith has experience working with donors, development agencies and NGOs including DfID, IDRC, CIDA, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, the World Bank, the Food and Agriculture Organisation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Oxfam and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development.

• 

  Sascha Spoun

  Sascha Spoun has served as President of Leuphana University of Lüneburg in Germany and Visiting Professor at the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland since 2006. From 1999 to 2006, he was Assistant Professor at St. Gallen for business administration and co-responsible for the introduction of the Bachelor and Master programmes. From 2004 to 2010, he taught at the Faculty of Economics at the University of Zurich. Sascha Spoun is also engaged with foundations, including Stifterverband and the non-profit Hertie Foundation. He has also served on the Board of Trustees of the Haniel Foundation (2008-2018). For Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, he worked for the “Future of German science system” (2018) and is a member of the German McCloy Commission. Currently, he is participating as an expert in the development of the French scientific system organised by Institut Montaigne Paris. Sascha Spoun studied economics and political science in Germany, France (HEC Paris), Switzerland and the USA (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Ross Business School).

• 

  Pedro Teixeira

  Pedro Teixeira is the Director of CIPES, the Centre for Research in Higher Education Policies in Portugal. He holds an MA in Higher Education from the University of Twente and a PhD in Economics from the University of Exeter. He is currently Associate Professor of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Porto. He has served as an adviser on higher education and science to the President of Portugal since April 2016. He was Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs at the University of Porto (2014-2018) and was also a member of Portugal’s National Council of Education (2014-2018). He has been member of the Board of the BIAL Foundation since 2015 and a member of the Education Advisory Board of the Foundation Francisco Manuel dos Santos since 2013. He has also served on the evaluation panels for the European University Association (EUA) and the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education (ENQA). Pedro Teixeira has published widely on higher education policy in a broad range of topics, namely funding, governance, regulation, and transition of graduates to the labour market, and is also the Editor-in-Chief (with Jung Sheol Chin) of The International Encyclopedia of Higher Education (Springer, 2020). He is a member of the editorial boards of several journals, a member of the Board of Governors and Secretary General of the Consortium of Higher Education Researchers (CHER), a Research Fellow at the Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), and a member of the Scientific Committee of the Réseau d'Etudes sur l'Enseignement Supérieur (RESUP) and of the European Network of Higher Education Doctoral Students (EURODOCS).

• 

  Kerstin Tham

  Kerstin Tham has served as Vice-Chancellor of Malmö University since November 2015. In this role, she is the Head of Malmö University and responsible for the strategic development of the university. She chairs the university management group and has overarching responsibility for research questions.
  She is a Professor in occupational therapy with a research focus on aspects of rehabilitation after stroke. Kerstin Tham is the former Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Karolinska Institutet, a medical university in Stockholm. In this role, she was responsible for collaboration with the Karolinska university hospital and health care system in Stockholm, as well as for strengthening the quality and research base in higher education.
  Kerstin Tham has had several leadership positions at Karolinska Institutet and parallel to her leadership positions she has been active as a researcher and teacher and has been the supervisor of 17 doctoral candidates in the field of neurological rehabilitation. She has conducted a series of phenomenological studies, longitudinal studies and a full scale RCT evaluating the effect of a complex intervention aiming to enable agency and participation in everyday life after stroke.

• 

  Roswitha Wiedenhofer

  Roswitha Wiedenhofer holds a degree in geophysics (1992) from the University of Graz and a doctorate with highest honours (2010) from the Vienna University of Technology. From 1992-2004 she worked at first as a scientist and project manager in the field of geophysics and later in different research management positions at Joanneum Research in Graz. As Head of Division, Research Organisation and Services, and Authorised Officer at the FH Joanneum University of Applied Sciences in Graz, she is responsible for the corporate strategic planning and operative management issues of R&D activities, as well as the implementation of measures. She represents the university in several national and international working groups in relation to R&D and innovation and also works as manager of organisational development projects in quality and strategic management within and beyond the university. Since December 2019, Roswitha Wiedenhofer is also General Manager of AIRlabs Austria Gmbh, the first research daughter company of FH Joanneum,
  an innovation lab with 25 partner companies dealing with testing and validating unmanned aerial systems.

• 

  Artūrs Zeps

  Artūrs Zeps is the Vice-Rector for Strategic Development of Riga Technical University (RTU) in Latvia. He is in charge of strategic planning and implementation of major development projects. He oversees the construction of the RTU Ķīpsala campus, the implementation of major EU funding projects and the quality management process at the university. He is also responsible for external communications and university branding. His task is to keep the university in line with economic growth and modern business trends. He also manages relations with the university's key external partners and industry associations. He focuses on current issues in higher education, science, and innovation education policy and promotes the university's interests. Artūrs Zeps holds the position of Executive Director of the Association of Latvian Universities. He is a member of the Board of the RTU Engineering High School and a member of the Council of Higher Education.

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  Marta Žuvić

  Marta Žuvić is a Vice-Rector for Students, Studies and Quality Assurance at the University of Rijeka in Croatia. She received her PhD in the field of biophysics in 2002 from the University of Zagreb in Croatia. She worked as a researcher and academic teacher in the Medical Faculty, Faculty of Engineering and Department of Biotechnology at the University of Rijeka and established the University IT Academy and E-learning Centre. She published 41 original scientific papers, participated in 12 scientific research projects and authored two university textbooks. Her professional training includes a one-year Managerial- Entrepreneurial Skills Development for Researchers Programme, a one-year professional study for E-learning managers, project management training in MS Framework and Quality Management in Higher Education. Since 2020, Marta Žuvić has served as a member of the EUA Learning & Teaching Steering Committee.