Who is who

Professor Åse Gornitzka holds a PhD in Political Science and a Doctoral degree from the Faculty of Public Administration at the University of Twente, in the Netherlands. Since 2021 to this day, she has served as Pro-Rector at the University of Oslo, Norway. From fall 2025, she will return to her position as Professor at the Department of Political Science at the University of Oslo.

Before assuming the presidency of the COST Association, Professor Gornitzka has served in several governing bodies and committees in research and higher education policy arenas, both at national and European levels.  She has also been a Board Member of SCANCOR—the Scandinavian Consortium for Organisational Research—at Stanford University and the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University.

Prior to her current position, she has held academic positions at Arena- Centre for European Studies at UiO, as a senior researcher in an independent research institute in Oslo, and as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Bergen.

Professor Gornitzka has published over 120 journal articles and book chapters. Her research focuses on reform and transformation in higher education and research, as well as policymaking in the knowledge sector at both national and European levels, and the governance and organisation of universities. She has also contributed to research on the nexus between scientific expertise and policy making, especially at the European level.

Read Professor Åse Gornitzka’s biography here.

Prof. Popovski holds a PhD in Bioengineering from the University of St. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, where he works as a full professor at the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Food.

During his academic career, Prof. Popovski was a visiting professor / researcher at Lund University, Ohio State University, Tuscia University, Novosibirsk University, Sarajevo University, among others.

Prof. Popovski is the first Macedonian scientist in the Academy of Europe. He served as the State Secretary for Education and Science in North Macedonia for one term, and as a member of the COST Executive Board for two terms.

Prof Sarah McCormack is Professor in Sustainable Energy and Head of Dept of Civil, Structural and Environmental Engineering at Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin. Her research focuses on solar energy systems, including building-integrated photovoltaics, luminescent solar concentrators, and the integration of renewable energy into the built environment. Her work spans experimental, modelling, and systems-level analysis, with applications in sustainable buildings, urban energy systems, and climate-responsive design.

She has extensive experience in interdisciplinary and international research collaborations and has been actively involved in several COST Actions (CA21103, CA16235, TU1205 and Chairing TU0802), contributing to knowledge exchange and network development across Europe.

Her contribution to the COST Scientific Committee is informed by her experience in energy systems, sustainable infrastructure, and collaborative research networks, with a focus on supporting high-quality, impactful, and interdisciplinary research aligned with European priorities.

Prof. Jana Chihai is currently Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation at the State University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Nicolae Testemitanu” in Moldova, where she also heads the Department of Mental Health, Medical Psychology, and Psychotherapy. She has served as a national consultant for WHO and senior mental health adviser for the MENSANA Project (Trimbos Moldova), as well as consultant for UNFPA in Central Asia.

Her research focuses on mental health policy, integration of mental health into primary care, development of community-based services, and evaluation of psychosocial interventions in emergency settings. She has led over 40 national and international projects and contributed to the reform of mental health legislation, national standards, and professional training systems. She also coordinated studies on the social stigma of mental illness and the socioeconomic impact of mental health services.

Prof. Chihai holds a Doctor Habilitate in Medical Sciences and a Master’s in Mental Health Policy and Services from Universidade NOVA de Lisboa. She authored or co-authored over 60 scientific publications, including WHO country profiles, clinical guidelines, and strategic documents.

As President of the Moldovan Society of Psychiatrists, Psychotherapists, and Clinical Psychologists, and member of the Psychiatric Profile Commission at the Ministry of Health, she actively contributes to shaping health policy. Her competencies in interdisciplinary collaboration, science-based policy formulation, and evidence evaluation are directly aligned with the role of the COST Scientific Committee in ensuring strategic quality and public value in research actions.

Prof. Dr. Seit SHALLARI is the Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Environment(FAE) and Professor at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. He graduated in Agricultural Sciences at the Agricultural University of Tirana (AUT), (1985-1990), and later obtained a PhD in Agriculture and Environmental Sciences from the National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine (INPL), Nancy, France (1994–1997), graduating with distinction. From 2000 to 2007, he served in the Albanian civil service as Secretary General at the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. Between 2016 -2024, he led the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and was elected Dean of the FAE in 2024. Prof. Shallari teaches courses such as “Environmental Impact Assessment”, “Environmental Risk Evaluation and Management”, and “Environmental Policy and Standards”. His research focuses on soil and water pollution, the mobility and bioavailability of heavy metals in the soil–plant–food chain system, environmental risk evaluation, and soil remediation techniques. Over the years, he has participated in numerous research and development projects and has developed expertise in collaboration with international institutions such as the EU, World Bank, UNDP, GIZ, and other public or private organizations (e.g., Trans Adriatic Pipeline, Brunel Energy, etc.). He has published over 100 scientific papers and book chapters. Prof. Shallari also serves as a reviewer for scientific journals, academic and research projects in the area of agriculture and environmental sciences. He is also member of the Senate of the AUT and of the Board of the National Food Authority in Albanias.

Dr. Katalin Solymosi is an Associate Professor at the Department of Plant Anatomy, Institute of Biology, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University (Budapest, Hungary), where she has taught since 2001. She has previously held positions as Assistant Lecturer and Assistant Professor, and served as an invited lecturer at the University of Burgundy (France) and Semmelweis University (Hungary).

She specializes in plant sciences, particularly plastid biology, abiotic stress responses, and sustainable agriculture, in the wider context of climate change. Her expertise spans cell biology, biophysics, and botany. She has led and contributed to numerous national and international research projects on photosynthesis, tree physiology, as well as salt and drought stress tolerance of crops.

With over 65 peer-reviewed publications—including several as corresponding or last author—and a total number of 162 conference participations, her work is widely recognized. Her awards include the L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Hungarian Scholarship, the Hungarian Electron Microscopy Award, the 1^st Prize with excellence of the Young Biophysicist Award, and the Women in Science Excellence Award (2023). She has experience evaluating national and international research proposals (Hungarian OTKA, DFG, NCN, CELSA), and a deep understanding of research assessment and funding systems.

She has been involved in science communication, policy advice, and has been deeply engaged in initiatives for early- and mid-career researchers and gender equity in science as founding member and co-chair of the Hungarian Young Academy, and as member and currently outgoing chair of the Young Academy of Europe.

Peter Mörtenböck is Professor and Founding Chair of the Department of Visual Culture at the TU Wien, Co-Director of the Centre for Global Architecture and Research Fellow at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He has held several professorships and visiting professorships in fine art, architecture, cultural and media studies. His research has changed the discourse on urban data practices and developed new topics (data publics, platform urbanism) that have impacted policy-making and public perception. His current work is focused on the architecture of the political community, urban infrastructures, informal marketplaces and the economisation of the city.

Peter has received numerous national and international research grants and awards. Tracking the powers, interests and actors driving urban informality, recent projects have focused on the contested spaces at the bottom of the world economy and the new frontiers of speculative urban investment. Peter has published extensively in these areas and his work has been shown in exhibitions worldwide. Together with Helge Mooshammer, he curated the Austrian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2021, which explored the fundamental transformation of urban space through platform technologies.

He is a longstanding reviewer for more than a dozen leading academic journals and publishing houses and a regular reviewer for numerous national and international research councils. He is also an advisor and jury member of prestigious art and architecture prizes, including the John Ruskin Award “Writing About Architecture”, held every two years in conjunction with the Venice Architecture Biennale.

Inger Sundström Poromaa, MD, PhD, is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Uppsala University, Sweden since 2006. She received her medical degree from the University of Umeå, Sweden, and followed this up with a post-doc at Downstate Medical Center, State University of New York. She has been visiting professor at the Center for Neuroendocrinology, University of Otago, New Zealand, and at the National University of Singapore.

Professor Sundström Poromaa is a clinical scientist with extensive experience of conducting randomized controlled trials, often combined with neuroimaging or neurophysiology measures. Her PhD and post doc training in neurophysiology and molecular biology has ensured a continued translational approach in her research and a broad understanding of basic medicine.

Professor Sundström Poromaa has authored or co-authored more than 340 peer-reviewed original articles and reviews and has contributed to numerous books on topics such as menopause, menstrual cycle-related disorders, polycystic ovary syndrome, antenatal and postpartum depression, and ovarian steroid effects on the central nervous system.

She has a long list of commissions of trust, but of relevance for the COST SC, she has been member of the board of Medicine and Health at the Swedish Research Council and has more than 20 years of experience of reviewing grant proposals for Swedish and international funding agencies. She is currently on the board of the Nordic Federation of societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology (NFOG).

Dr. Eva Klemenčič Mirazchiyski is a research councillor and head of the Centre for Applied Epistemology at the Educational Research Institute in Slovenia. She is national research coordinator for several international large-scale student assessments (PIRLS, ICCS, ICILS) and national projects, and from 2024, also Deputy Chair of the Institute’s Scientific Council. She is an associate professor at two Slovenian universities (habilitated in sociology and educational sciences), teaching and supervising at MA and PhD levels in sociology, (educational) evaluation, knowledge management, and epistemology. She is currently serving her second term as a Senate member.

Her research focuses on educational sciences from interdisciplinary perspectives. She has led or contributed to over 40 national and international projects and received national awards for outstanding achievements in social sciences (2024, 2019).

Dr. Klemenčič Mirazchiyski has extensive experience as an evaluator for EU programmes (MSCA, Jean Monnet, CERV), the CEEPUS programme, and serves on several expert and editorial boards. She has been a General Assembly member of the IEA since 2013 and served on its Standing Committee (2017–2020). She has contributed to national and EU-level foresight work, including the European Commission’s Education and Training Expert Panel (2018–2019), and prepared the Interim national report on the implementation and impact of Erasmus+ in education and training (2016–2017).

Her strong competencies in research management, (system) evaluation, and strategic planning make her well-suited to contribute to the COST Scientific Committee, particularly in the areas of evaluation procedures, impact analysis, and the improvement of practices and policies.

Anu Toots is Distinguished Professor of Social Policy at School of Governance, Law and Society in Tallinn University, Estonia.

Her research interests are related to macro-level changes of the welfare state such as impact of the de-industrialization, social investment turn, transformation of the welfare state in the era of political discontent and fiscal readjustment, and life course transitions in welfare state framework.  In 2018-2022 prof. Toots chaired the COST Action ‘Transdisciplinary solutions to cross sectoral disadvantage in youth’, in 2023-2024 she participated as a MC member in COST Action ‘Participatory Approaches with older Adults’. In 2021 she has been was selected as one of the 11 experts to the High-Level Group on the Future of Social Protection and of the Welfare State in the EU. Currently she is working on welfare regimes’ and growth regimes’ nexus in Central Eastern Europe.

Anu Toots has (co)authored more than 100 research articles, chapters and reports, her works have been published by Routledge, Sage, Springer, Palgrave Macmillan and Oxford University Press. She is nominated by the Estonian Research Council to the European Database of Outstanding Women Academics.

Anu Toots has extensive expertise in policy evaluation and consultancy; she has worked as an expert with European Commission and Bertelsmann foundation. She has been involved in international evaluation of study programs, study areas and HEIs in Lithuania, Hungary and Estonia, and served as a SSH review panel member of the Research Council for Culture and Society of the Academy of Finland.

Dr. Mirjana Pešić is a Full Professor at the Institute of Food Technology and Biochemistry at the University of Belgrade, Faculty of Agriculture. She earned BSc in Food Technology (1996) and an MSc (2003) in Biochemistry in Food Technology at the Faculty of Agriculture, University of Belgrade, and a PhD in Biochemistry (2011), Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade.

The scientific research focuses on food constituents, biochemical transformation during food processing, bioactive compounds of food, functional and techno-functional properties of food, food digestion, and knowledge transfer to the food industry. She is the author and co-author of more than 340 scientific papers in total (123 peer-reviewed articles and 7 chapters), two technical solutions, 3 university textbooks, 3 student handbooks and 2 Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda. Her articles have been cited more than 2600 times, the h-index is 28 (Scopus database, December 2024). She has been a reviewer for more than 15 top scientific journals. She has been evaluator of technical solutions for the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the RS and project proposals in HORIZON-MSCA-2022-SE-01 (Chemistry Panel).

She participated in 12 national and 12 international projects concerning food science and innovation in the food sector. She is president of the Scientific Committee of the UNIFood Conference. She is a founder and member of the Serbian Association of Food Technologists (SAFT), a member of executive board of Serbian Nutrition Society, a member of the Serbian Chemical Society, COLOSS, the Commission for standards and related documents KS E275, Food analysis – Horizontal methods of the Republic of Serbia (RS), the international organization for standards for bee products ISO/TC 34/SC 19 and the member of Food Working Group Smart Specialization of RS. She is a GHI Ambassador for Serbia.

Dr. Emilio Cano is Senior Scientist at the National Center for Metallurgical Research (CENIM) of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). He leads the research group ‘Atmospheric Corrosion and Conservation of Cultural Heritage’ (CAPAC), specializing in the corrosion and preservation of metallic cultural heritage, atmospheric corrosion, and electrochemical techniques for studying and conserving heritage metals. He has contributed to over 40 national and European research projects, published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, and presented over 130 conference papers in these areas.

Actively involved in shaping scientific policies for cultural heritage research, Dr. Cano served as Spain’s representative on the Executive Board of JPI-Cultural Heritage (2011-2017) and has contributed to the development and review of the National Plan for Research in Conservation of Cultural Heritage by the Spanish Ministry of Culture since 2010. Served as Assistant Coordinator of ICOM-CC’s Metals Working Group (2012-2020) and is a Fellow of the International Institute for Conservation (IIC). Dr. Cano has played a key role in building networks within the Spanish Heritage Science community, coordinating the Spanish Network for Science and Technology for the Conservation of Cultural Heritage (TechnoHeritage) from 2015 to 2022, and participating in establishing the CSIC Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform ‘Open Heritage: Research and Society’ (PTI-PAIS), on the coordination team since 2019 and as coordinator in 2022-23. He currently serves as the National Coordinator for the Spanish Node of the European Research Infrastructure for Heritage Science (E-RIHS).

K. Arzum Erdem Gürsan received Bachelor in Pharmacy (1993) from Ege University, master (1996) and PhD degree (2000) in the Department of Analytical Chemistry at the same university in Izmir, Türkiye. She has been working at the same department as a Full Professor since 2009.

She is the Project investigator of 2 national projects and completed as of 11 national/international joint projects (The Royal Society of Chemistry, TÜBİTAK-The Academy of Science in Czech Republic, TÜBİTAK-British Council supported under the Newton Katip Celebi Funding Programme) from 2002 up to now. She has 8 national patents and more than 210 papers in refereed SCI-exp. journals andconference proceedings,15 book chapters and review papers, 20 invited talks in international meetings. She has received 7500 citations with h-index: 45 according to WoS records in March 2024.

K. Arzum Erdem Gürsan awarded by the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) as the one of highly skilled young Turkish scientists under the TÜBA-GEBİP fellowship programme in 2001. She received “Junior Science Award” (2006), and “Science Award” (2015) given by TÜBİTAK. She was elected as the Associate member of TÜBA (2007) and the Principal Member of TÜBA (2016). For the term of 2000-2003, she was elected as the council member in the general assembly meeting of TÜBA, and then re-elected for the term of 2023-2026.

K. Arzum Erdem Gürsan was elected as the fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) in December, 2017. She was elected as the Special Committee member of Association of Academies and Societies of Sciences in Asia (AASSA)- Women In Science and Engineering (WISE) for the period of 2017-2019, 2019-2021 and 2021-2023.

K. Arzum Erdem Gürsan has initiated many national and international collaborative research on development and applications of electrochemical (bio)sensors based on drug, enzyme and nucleic acids. Her recent research is centred on the development of novel transducers and chemical and biological recognition systems by using nanomaterials (graphenes, magnetic nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes, metalic nanoparticles, dendrimers, quantum dots, nanowires, etc.) designed for
electrochemical sensing of nucleic acid (DNA, miRNA) hybridization, and also the specific interactions between drug and DNA, or protein and DNA, aptamer-protein and also the development of integrated analytical systems for environmental monitoring, food safety, industry and biomedical monitoring.

Prof. Dr. Alena Kačmárová has been involved in the Humanities, namely Applied Linguistics and Translation Studies. She is a co-founder of the Institute of Translation and Interpreting Studies at the Faculty of Arts, the University of Prešov (Slovakia) and the Director and co-Creator of study programs in Translation and Interpreting Studies (1st, 2nd, and 3rd cycles) at this institution. Between 2019 and 2023 she was Vice-dean for development and international relations (the duties of Erasmus and ECTS coordinator, academic writing and research proposal broker, chair of board for annual KEGA project assessment – internal viva voce, international cooperation coordinator).

Her current research focuses on academic writing studies, academic literacy brokering, research writing, and writing for publication (ORCID iD: 0000-0002-5524-4569). She has published the outputs of research (in reversed chronological order) in academic writing, translator studies, intercultural pragmatics, discourse analysis, morphosyntax, both nationally and internationally (Albania, Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Japan, Montenegro, Poland, Russia, Ukraine, USA).

She participated in COST Action 15221 WeReLaTe: Advancing effective institutional models towards cohesive teaching, learning, research and writing development (2018 – 2020). Within this Action, she organized a meeting, also co-edited and peer reviewed its final publication output. She has been involved in the implementation of national research scheme projects (KEGA, VEGA) since 1999 as a research team member, deputy principal investigator, and principal investigator.

She has been evaluating national research scheme KEGA/VEGA project proposals. She has been continuously, on a long-term basis, peer-reviewing for SCOPUS, WoS, and Current Contents Humanities journals, both national and international.

Professor Ella Been is Head of the academic promotion committee and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Health Professions of the Ono Academic College in Israel. She is also Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of Tel Aviv University and Board member, with an advisor role for kinesiology and biomechanics of exercises at the TropX, a startup, a company developing wearable technology for sport and rehabilitation.

Prof. Been has experiences as evaluator for M.R.C. Medical Research Council, UK, the Leakey Foundation, the FWF Austrian Science Fund, the Israeli Scientific Foundation, the national institute for psychobiology in Israel. Also, she is ad hoc reviewer for scientific journals such as PNAS, European spine journal, Scientific reports, Journal of Anatomy, PLoS ONE, Journal of Human Evolution, Journal of Biological Anthropology, Theoretical Biology and Medical Modeling.

Barbara Klajnert-Maculewicz is a full professor at the University of Lodz (Faculty of Biology and Environmental Protection). From 2014 to 2020, she served as an external scientific member at the Leibniz-Institut für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Germany. She completed her Ph.D. in biophysics in 2002 from the University of Lodz and pursued postdoctoral studies at McMaster University, Ontario, Canada (2004-2005).

She is a co-author of 2 books and 162 articles published in international journals (e.g., Progress in Polymer Science, Chemical Society Reviews, Nano Research, Biomacromolecules, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology Biology Medicine, Journal of Controlled Release).

From 2009 to 2012, she served as the Management Committee Chair of the COST Action TD0802 ‘Dendrimers in Biomedical Applications’. Later, she coordinated the COST Action CA17140 ‘Cancer Nanomedicine – From Bench to Bedside’ for two years. She has also coordinated several scientific projects (e.g., TEAM supported by the Foundation for Polish Science, two OPUS, and two HARMONIA grants funded by the National Science Centre Poland). She was awarded the L’Oréal Fellowship for Women in Science (2008) and the Gold Cross of Merit for scientific and didactic achievements (2011). She served as a member of the Scientific Policy Committee – an advisory body of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (2016- 2020).

Currently, she is a member of the Council of the National Science Centre, a government agency supporting basic research in Poland. Her research interests are focused on nanomedicine, especially the biological properties and biomedical applications of different nanosystems.

He graduated in Biological Sciences at the University of Bari, Italy, and obtained a Doctorate in Crop Productivity at the University of Basilicata, Italy. From 2000 to 2001, he was a Researcher at the National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Italy. As Postdoctoral Training, in 2002, he worked at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Heraklion, Greece, within a Marie Curie Fellowship. He trained as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Basilicata, where he also worked as Assistant Professor in Agricultural Chemistry. In 2015, he was awarded a Fulbright Research Scholar grant to spend at the University of California, Davis. In 2017, he received a fellowship award from the OECD Co-operative Research Programme at the University of Waikato, New Zealand. In 2019, he was a visiting professor at Kindai University, Nara, Japan, within a JSPS Research Scholar Grant. In 2021, he benefited from a DAAD Research Stay at the University of Bremen, Germany. In 2022, he was awarded a Visiting Faculty Program Fellowship at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. In 2023, he was a visiting professor at the University of California, Davis. Since 2022, he has been a member of the EGU’s Biodiversity Task Force. He has been National Geographic Explorer since 2023. Currently, he is Associate Professor of Agricultural Chemistry at the University of Basilicata. He is actively working on the following topics: a) response of plants to abiotic stresses; b) response of plants and fungi to soil pollutants; c) soil quality and fertility in sustainable agro-ecosystems. He is the author of over 150 papers published in peer-reviewed journals and books, editor of peer-reviewed scientific journals, and coordinator of numerous international and national research projects. He has experience on evaluation procedures of national, European and international research programs. He participated in the Management Committee of several COST Actions.

• 2021- current 12 Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture – Vice-rector on science and innovative development
• 2017-2021 Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture – Vice-director of scientific research institute for binders and materials
• 2010-2017 Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture – Senior researcher
• 1998-2008 Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture – Junior researcher

A total of 31 Publications in Scopus and WoS Core collection databases

Other expert experience and personal achievements includes: Evaluator of national funding programmes: Expert of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (expertize of the budget founded S&R projects for the Young scientists); Expert in Czech Science foundation (evaluation of the project application); Member of Rilem Committy of Standartization ( Technical Committee 247-DTA); and Full Member of the Academy of Construction of Ukraine.

Dr. Sopio Uchaneishvili is a senior researcher and deputy director at the Ivane Beritashvili Center of Experimental Biomedicine in Tbilisi, Georgia. She is also a university professor, teaching science management, biostatistics, and biomedical research. With a Ph.D. in Cell Biology, Dr. Sopio’s scientific research is focused on Biophysics and Molecular Biology. She is a member of the editorial board for the scientific journal “Radiobiology and Radiation Safety” and has been involved in Radiobiological Research.

Dr. Sopio has extensive experience in science management and education. She previously held positions as Deputy Director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biophysics and later Deputy Director of the Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia. From 2011 to 2017, she served as an accreditation expert for higher education programs at the Georgian National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement.

Dr. Sopio has also been actively involved in national and international initiatives related to research and education. In 2021, she was nominated as the National Contact Point in Georgia for Horizon Europe, specifically for Research Infrastructures. She was also the official representative of Georgia nominated to the HORIZON EUROPE Research Infrastructure Programme Committee from 2021 to 2022. Additionally, she serves as a member of the advisory board at the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia, where she is working on the “Clusterization model.” Dr. Sopio also participated in the elaboration of the ‘Unified Education and Science’ 2022-2030 strategic document, which was led by the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia from 2021 to 2022.

Bénédicte Charrier is an expert in the development of marine macroalgae. She holds a permanent academic position of research director at CNRS, and since 2004 is group leader of the team “Morphogenesis of Macroalgae” at the Station Biologique, Roscoff, France. In 2015, she chaired the COST Action FA1406 for advancing the biological, societal and economic development of seaweeds in Europe. In 2019, she coordinated the “algal” module of the ERASMUS⁺ e-learning project “Digital Marine”. In 2022, she was awarded an ERC-Advanced grant for the proposal ALTER e-GROW aimed to study the formation of tri-dimensional tissue in brown algae.

Before being appointed at CNRS in 2000, she studied epigenetics in Tobacco and Arabidopsis plants at the University of Leeds, U-K. In 1996, she obtained a PhD in Molecular and cellular plant biology at University Orsay (Paris-Saclay) about the role of secondary metabolites in plant nitrogen-fixing symbiosis. She was awarded the prize of the French Society of Plant Biology in 2000.

She has published 49 articles in academic journals, 8 book chapters and edited 3 books, one of which is a white paper on the regulation of macro-algae aquaculture in Europe presented to the European parliament in 2019.

She has been an editor of books and academic journals. She has been a reviewer for many international academic journals and has been appointed as an expert for several European national funding agencies. She has been a member of the scientific advisory committees of aquaculture projects for the COST country Norway.

Prof Martin Reinhart is director of the Robert K. Merton Center for Science Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and professor for science studies at the School of Library and Information Science. He received his doctorate from the University of Basel specializing in the sociology of science. His research interests center around issues of (e)valuation in science, the relationship between science and society, and the transfer of scientific knowledge. Current research projects address the diversity of peer review practices in science, replication initiatives as a social movement, and the translation of biomedical knowledge.

His contributions to the COST Scientific Committee draw from his background in science studies and research evaluation, which is predicated on combining research on evaluation procedures with active participation and inclusion of stakeholders. As such, he has advised science policy and funding organizations and is currently serving as a Steering Committee member for the first alliance of universities under the German Excellence Strategy, the Berlin University Alliance.

Prof. Frédéric Pichelin is head of the institute for materials and wood technology and Professor for adhesives technology and bio-based materials at the Bern University of applied sciences. Prof Pichelin is graduated from the French school of engineering ENSTIB. In 1999 he obtained a PhD in wood technology at the university of Hamburg in Germany. After 5 years in the private industry, he moved to Switzerland and developed a research institute dedicated to materials and wood technologies.

Between 2002 and 2014, Prof. Pichelin has served as Swiss member of the COST Domain committee FPS, Forestry, their products and Services.

His research focuses on 3 topics:

1. the extraction and valorization of natural polyphenols from wood and wood bark as adhesive to produce bio-based products.
2. the modification of wood and the development of wood-based products
3. the development of bonding technologies for a circular use of wood.

He has conducted several national and international projects in these fields and one of these projects has also led to the development of a spin-off.

He received several international awards in the field of innovation and material technology. Since 2019 he is fellow of the International Academy of Wood Science. Prof. Pichelin is co-author of 64 scientific publications and 8 patent applications.

Prof Pichelin has a long experience in the field of research management and research assessment. He is expert at the Swiss Innovation Agency and member of the research commission of the Bern University of applied sciences. He has also served as expert in several evaluation panels in Switzerland and at the international level. As a former member of the COST Domain committed FPS, he is very familiar with the COST instrument.

Prof. Dr. Vladimir Drekalović is a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Montenegro. He finished basic studies in philosophy and mathematics (University of Sarajevo and University of Montenegro) at the same time. He completed his master’s and doctoral studies at the University of Belgrade, dealing with problems in the fields of philosophy of science, philosophy of mathematics, logic and theory of knowledge. He has published numerous papers regarding the topics of mathematical knowledge, mathematical explanation, Platonism in mathematics, the enhanced indispensability argument, and the problem of relational identities.

Prof. Drekalović is a member of the Council for Scientific Research of Montenegro (President of the Council 2021-2022), member of the Ethics Committee of Montenegro, expert in the field of quality of higher education, national consultant of the Council of Europe, president of the national working group for the development of the Strategy for Scientific Research (2023-2027).

As a visiting professor, he gave lectures at numerous European universities.

Prof. Karlis Agris Gross conducts science and engineering research on materials that interact with the human body, as well as materials at subzero temperatures.

Activities at Riga Technical University in Latvia are directed at the scientific methods of measurement that enable deeper probing into the study of materials, allowing the design the materials with more functionality. A research history from Australia, Germany, USA, Finland, France and Latvia give interdisciplinary insights into challenges of materials. The collective works have led to the most cited scientist in Latvia.

The application of research has traditionally been focused on biomaterials for orthopaedics, but have also addressed sliding on ice to give more inclusive methods for measuring the resistance to sliding, and more advanced methods for measuring surfaces that slide on ice. Sliding on ice has a common theme with lubication of ice containing foods in the mouth, that opens inroads into the materials science study of ice laden foods, such as ice-cream and gelato. The scope of studies shows the diversity of materials research topics that depend  on the development of new test methods for greater understanding of the behaviour of materials and the optimization of materials surfaces for the best interaction with the human body.

Prof. Gross was awarded the national scientist of Latvia in 2018, actively participates in furthering science as a researcher, assessor, consultant and a guide on science issue for the Latvian government.

Dr Gea Guerriero, Senior Research and Technology Associate at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology.

Dr Guerriero holds a PhD degree in Applied Biology from the University of Naples “Federico II”, Italy and a Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR) from the University of Limoges, France. She is also habilitated in Italy as Full Professor in Botany. Dr Guerriero is currently Senior Research and Technology Associate at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology and she teaches Plant Physiology as adjunct staff member for the Bachelor in Life Sciences-Biology at the University of Luxembourg. Her scientific activities are centred on the valorisation of plants as sources of renewable raw material and of plant cell cultures as phytofactories for the production of added-value compounds. She is particularly interested in the study of the richness and complexity of plant specialised metabolites and their exploitation for industrial applications. Her research also aims at elucidating the molecular events regulating bast fibres’ formation and using biotechnological strategies for the modification of their physico-chemical properties, with the goal of ameliorating their industrial use. She has co-authored 111 publications with a total of 2556 citations and an h-index=27 (source: Scopus, June 2021). She is evaluator of proposals for four international agencies. Dr Guerriero is Associate Editor of Plant Molecular Biology Reporter and Frontiers in Plant Science (Plant Metabolism and Chemodiversity). She has co-edited special issues for Frontiers in Plant Science, Journal of Biotechnology, Frontiers in Genetics, Journal of Hazardous Materials, International Journal of Molecular Sciences and is reviewer for e.g. Nature Biotechnology, New Phytologist, Plant Cell and Environment, Frontiers in Plant Science.

Prof. Lynda Hardman is a Principal Researcher & Strategist and a member of the Human-Centered Data Analytics research group at Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI) the Dutch national research centre for Mathematics and Computer Science. She is full professor, part-time, of Multimedia Discourse Interaction at Utrecht University. Her research interests are in how visualisations can be used to improve the way domain experts interpret and interact with (linked) data.

She is active in numerous national and international advisory and governance roles. Hardman currently chairs the SURF Scientific Technical Council (2025–2027) and serves on the Scientific Directorate of Schloss Dagstuhl and the Scientific Advisory Board of the Mannheim Center for Data Science. She is also involved in promoting equality, diversity and inclusion through the ICT-Research Platform Netherlands  and is a member of the steering committee of the Digital Humanism Initiative. Hardman is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and an ACM Distinguished Scientist. She has served on the COST Scientific Committee since 2021 and was appointed Chair in 2025.

Previously, Prof. Hardman was Director of Amsterdam Data Science (2018-2023), a partner organization whose mission is to strengthen the Data Science and AI ecosystem that spans academia, industry and society in the Amsterdam region. She served as the European director of LIAMA (2018-2022), a research collaboration between INRIA (France), CWI and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. She was also the president of Informatics Europe (2016-2017), a European association of computer science departments to foster the development of quality research and teaching in computer science within Europe where she founded the IE working group Women in Informatics Research and Education.

Dainius Haroldas Pauža was born on July 8, 1962. He graduated from Vilnius University, Faculty of Natural Sciences as master in Zoology. In 1992, he obtained the PhD in Kaunas University of Medicine (currently- The Lithuanian University of Health Sciences).  From 2002, he officiated as a full Professor at the Institute of Anatomy in Kaunas University of Medicine.  In period of 2008-2018, he served as the member and the chairman of the Research Council of Lithuania. Prof. Dainius H. Pauža is the member of the Lithuanian, European and American Societies of Morphologists and Anatomists. His scientific interest and research areas are Autonomic Neuroscience, Cardiac and Vascular Biology, Neuroanatomy and Neurobiology.

Prof. Vlatko Ilieski is Head of the Animal Welfare Center at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje—an institution officially designated by the competent authorities to support animal welfare research and equipped with the capacity to implement international standards.

His research focuses primarily on functional morphology, with a particular emphasis on the protection and welfare of animals. This expertise has been developed through participation in numerous international projects under FP7, Horizon, COST, SEE-ERA-NETs, and the HERAS, programs, particularly in the development and application of animal-based welfare indicators.

As an EBVS® European Veterinary Specialist in Animal Welfare Science, Ethics and Law (European College of Animal Welfare and Behavioral Medicine), Prof. Ilieski has conducted extensive work in advancing animal welfare and ethical principles in the veterinary field. He has been subcontracted by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and engaged by the European Agency for Reconstruction to conduct risk assessments of animal husbandry systems.

Prof. Ilieski was also a recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship awarded by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, during which he was hosted by the Livestock Behavior Research Unit of the USDA Agricultural Research Service at Purdue University.

Additionally, he has served as an appointed evaluator for various national and international research agencies and has been a member of multiple PhD committees. His international teaching experience includes engagements through Erasmus+, TAIEX, and CEEPUS programs at several European universities.

Over the past two decades, COST has played a significant role in his academic journey. He has actively contributed to its success by fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, supporting early-career researchers, and advancing the implementation of COST Actions. He has served on the COST Scientific Committee since 2021 and was appointed Vice-Chair in 2025.

Prof. Min Reuchamps is Professor of Political Science at the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium, and international expert for designing democratic innovations.

He is currently Academic Chair for the Think and Do Tank on the Future of Higher Education of Circle U., an alliance of nine leading European universities. In Belgium and abroad, he is serving on several committees evaluating international and national research projects. Member of the editorial board of the journals Politics of the Low Countries, Fédéralisme Régionalisme, Participations, Mots. Les langages du politique, he is the co-director of the book series “Méthodes participatives appliquées/Participatory applied methods” by Peter Lang and is a frequent reviewer for journals, publishers, foundations and research funding agencies. Besides, he is regularly invited to observe and assess democratic processes as well as to appear in the media and in the public debate. He is the academic convenor of two inter-university advanced executive certificates: in participatory democracy and in foresight.

Graduate from the Université de Liège, Belgium, and from Boston University, USA, his teaching and research interests include federalism and multi-level governance, democracy and its transformations and innovations, participatory and deliberative methods, as well as relations between language(s) and politics and in particular the role of metaphors in political discourse. He has published over twenty books and edited volumes on these topics, and led several European research projects, including the COST Action Constitution-making and deliberative democracy which, with members from over 40 countries, is one of the largest Actions.

Volker Straub is the Director of the John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre and Deputy Dean of the Translational and Clinical Research Institute at Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. In his role as deputy dean for the largest of the three research institutes at Newcastle University’s faculty of medical sciences, he supports the translation of fundamental disease mechanisms from the laboratory into patients through clinical observational studies and interventional trials. Volker is a member of the faculty’s Global Strategy Committee, the Centre for In Vivo Imaging, and the Regional Network for Innovation in Advanced Therapies. He supports the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Newcastle Biomedical Research Centre as the Co-Lead for the neuromuscular and rare disease theme and is a NIHR Senior Investigator.

His own clinical and academic interests focus on translational research in genetic neuromuscular disease. His research Centre delivers care and diagnosis whilst being at the forefront of clinical and basic research directed to therapy delivery for patients with genetic neuromuscular conditions and supported by internationally directed networking, tools and resources. His current research involves the application of muscle imaging, the use of zebrafish and mouse models, next generation sequencing and other –omics technologies for the characterization of genetic neuromuscular disorders. He is an investigator for several natural history studies and interventional trials. He is currently the president of the World Muscle Society and an author on >500 peer-reviewed publications.

Volker has been involved in the coordination and work plans of many EU-funded research projects and networks. He was the grant holder, founder and co-coordinator of TREAT-NMD, a network of excellence for genetic neuromuscular diseases funded by the EU with €10 Million (FP6). The network has now become a global alliance for translational research and provides services for industry, clinicians and scientists to bring novel therapeutic approaches into the clinic. In 2019, he established TREAT-NMD Services Ltd., the business arm of the alliance, and is one of the directors of the enterprise. He also coordinated the COST Action “Applications of MR imaging and spectroscopy techniques in neuromuscular disease: collaboration on outcome measures and pattern recognition for diagnostics and therapy development” (MYO-MRI, BM1304).

Prof. Bodil Marie Stavning Thomsen is an expert in Film and Digital Media Theory.

She is a professor of Culture and Media, Department of Communication and Culture, Aarhus University. She is a research partner of ReNEW: Reimagining Norden in an Evolving World (2018-2023); was a PI of the research project Affects, Interfaces, Events (2015-2021); was a research fellow in the Canadian project Immediations: Art, Media, Event (2013-2020); was senior researcher in The Aesthetics of Interface Culture (2004-07); and PI of Realism, Reality, the Real in Visual Arts (1999-2002).

Her research focuses on the impact of media technologies on audiovisual culture including aesthetics, philosophy, and learning. Her PhD on how the silent film star and melodrama transformed to talkies included perspectives on fashion and film technical issues. This interdisciplinary cross-fertilization continued in research publications and projects on Video Art, Film (especially Von Trier’s films) and Interfaces.

She is author of 3 monographs and author or co-author of more than 130 articles or book chapters and has co-edited 9 books and 2 special issues in journals. She was editor-in-chief (2018-19) and co-editor of Journal of Aesthetics and Culture (2016-18). She received a Fulbright grant in 2005 as professor at University of Washington, Seattle.

She is a board member of the Social Sciences and Humanities at the Swedish Research Council (2018-22); in Novo Nordic committee for art research (2005-2011), and a member of the EURIAS-committee for European IAS-centers (2017). She has acted as a review panel member in National Research Councils and in assessment committees in Norway, Canada, UK, Australia, France, and Sweden.

Pedro Viana is Advisor to the Dean and Vice-Deans at ISEG Lisbon School of Economics and Management from the University of Lisbon and a Foresight and Strategy Consultant at ALVA Research & Consulting, a boutique firm focused on Foresight, Scenarios, Innovation, Strategy and Sustainability. Frequently, he is also Academic Reviewer in evaluation panels for the international accreditation of business schools. Simultaneously, he is working on his PhD in Management thesis, after having concluded the coursework of the programme.

Within the academia, Pedro was Executive Coordinator of Iscte Business School and Invited Professor at Methodist University of Angola, teaching Corporate Finance in the BSc in Business Management and Administration. He was a Member of the Board of Directors (Non-Executive) at Building Global Innovators, a technology accelerator for startups and scaleups born within a partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

In the private sector, Pedro was Senior Management Consultant in strategy and finance at Accenture, after working as Business Analyst at Deloitte and Treasury Analyst at Philip Morris International. His career path started in the media as a journalist in the two best-known Portuguese economic newspapers – Jornal de Negócios and Diário Económico (currently Jornal Económico).

Pedro Viana holds a Degree in Economics from Iscte Business School and an Executive Master in Financial Markets and Asset Management from Iscte Executive Education. He concluded an Executive Development Programme in Management Skills and a short programme in Responsible Business at Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics, as well an executive programme in Corporate Governance and another in Scenarios and Strategic Foresight at Nova School of Business and Economics.

Prof. Dr Antonín Vlček is a professor of inorganic chemistry at Queen Mary University of London and a research scientist at the J. Heyrovský Institute of Physical Chemistry of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague. He has received his PhD in 1984 from the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute of Technology. His main scientific interests lie in the general field of physical-inorganic chemistry, namely photophysics and photochemistry of transition-metal complexes and metalloproteins. His research strives to understand properties and reactivity of electronic excited state using ultrafast time-resolved spectroscopic techniques. Most of his current research activities are oriented toward photoinduced electron transfer and charge separation, especially in relation to photocatalysis and photochemical solar energy harvesting (artificial photosynthesis). He is an author of 150 scientific publications. His research activities involve international collaborations, mostly between Czech Republic, USA, UK, and Switzerland.

Prof. Vlček has been involved in COST since mid-1990s, later as a chair of Actions D14 (Functional Molecular Materials) and D35 (From Molecules to Molecular Devices), management committee member of Action CM1202 (Supramolecular Photocatalytic Water   Splitting) and, from 2006 until 2014, as a member of the CMST Domain Committee where he evaluated chemistry COST Action proposals. He is also involved in the various European initiatives related to conversion of solar energy to chemical fuels, namely the SUNRISE and, currently, SUNERGY consortia, as well as in the European Energy Research Association as a steering committee member of the AMPEA joint programme.

Professor Dinka Čorkalo Biruški, Ph. D. has been full professor in social psychology at the Department of Psychology, University of Zagreb, Croatia since 2010.

Her research interests include intergroup relation in war and peace, specifically processes of social reconstruction in post-war communities. A special area of interest is minority education and its role in social integration and development of multiple identities of minority children. She recently has developed a research program on studying processes of social recovery after coronavirus pandemic. Her teaching is in the area of social psychology, prejudice and discrimination and ethics in research and professional conduct.

She received Ph.D. in psychology from University of Zagreb in 1997, was Fulbright Visiting Scholar at University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a visiting research fellow at the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies, University of Notre Dame. She was principal investigator in numerous national and international research projects, and a collaborator in FP6 and FP7 programs.

She has published over 70 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters and (co)authored or (co)edited 11 books and research monographs. She serves as a reviewer for a number of international professional journals and sits on editorial boards of Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology and Journal of Social and Political Psychology. She has served as a reviewer of research projects funded by major agencies including Croatian Science Foundation, European Science Foundation and Israel Science Foundation. She was awarded few major national awards, including National Scientific Award (2005); Ramiro Bujas Award of Croatian Psychological Association (2009) and Fiat Psychologia Award of Croatian Psychological Association for Contribution to Applied Psychology (2012).

Prof. Dr. Mari-Ann Einarsrud is Professor in Inorganic Chemistry (Ceramic materials) at Department of Materials Science and Engineering at NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Her research topics are focused on ceramic, nanostructured, hybrid and inorganic materials for applications as dielectrics, ferroelectrics, thermoelectrics and ionic conductors. Her focus is on development of an environmental-friendly chemistry-based platform for the synthesis of the materials and the use of novel approaches to time-resolved in situ studies of growth mechanisms during the aqueous synthesis.

She is author or co-author of more than 245 papers, 2 book-chapters, 2 patents and has participated with numerous presentations at international scientific conferences. She was selected as one of 100 successful women in ceramics and glass science worldwide profiled in the book by L.D. Madsen published by Wiley (2016).

She is a Member of board for Natural Science and Technology, Research Council of Norway and has previously been a member of board for Materials Science and Process Industry. She has served on review board for ERC Starting Grants and been a review panel member of various National Research Councils. She has played a key role in several “white papers” in chemistry, materials science and nanotechnology from the Research Council of Norway as well as facilitated strategic international collaboration. She has been a member of the executive board of NTNU for two periods. She is elected member of The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

Prof. Nihad Fejzic is an animal health and veterinary epidemiology specialist with particular experience in zoonoses, terrestrial and aquatic disease surveillance and control, sanitary and phytosanitary measures and management of veterinary services.

Prof. Fejzic studied veterinary medicine at the University of Sarajevo (1986 – 1991) and has got a PhD in animal health economics from the same University.

He worked as an assistant of minister for agriculture in cantonal government (1996), deputy director of State Veterinary Office under the Ministry of foreign trade end economics relations of BiH (2003 – 2007), director of the Agency for development of higher education and quality assurance of BiH under Council of Minister of BiH (2008-2011) and dean of Veterinary faculty Sarajevo (2012 – 2020). Prof. Fejzic was a national coordinator and international consultant for several FAO, OIA, IAEA, and EU projects focusing on capacity building, animal health, food safety, and professional development.

Currently, besides lecturing at Veterinary faculty Sarajevo, he works as FAO international consultant on epidemiology and surveillance in Asia and Africa and leads Center of interdisciplinary studies of the University of Sarajevo. At the international level, he is President of the Association of Veterinary Faculties in the Mediterranean region (REEV-MED), formed under the umbrella of the International organization for Animal Health (OIE) and alternate member for Europe of Council of International Veterinary Medical Education of AAVMC.

D.Sc.(Tech.) Riitta L. Keiski is holding the positions of Professor in Mass and Heat Transfer (2001-), Docent in Chemical Process Engineering, especially in Heterogeneous Catalysis and Environmental Engineering (1997-), and Dean of the Faculty of Technology (2015-). She was the Vice-Rector in Education of the University of Oulu in 2007-2009. She has been an Acting Professor in Bioprocess Engineering (in 1998-2000) and in Chemical Process Engineering (in 1994). During her early researcher career, she has been holding positions financed by the Academy of Finland (AF) for 10 years.

Prof. Keiski is an expert in chemical and environmental engineering, especially in catalysis, nanomaterials, sustainable production, separation processes, clean technologies, sustainability assessment, and research ethics. Besides, she holds Doctor Honoris Causa title at one national and two international universities, is the Chair of the Finnish National Board on Research Integrity TENK, and a member of the National IPCC Working group.

Prof. Keiski has supervised 30 doctoral theses, has totally over 260 publications (H-index 38, 5448 citations, 242 publications; Scopus 23.5.2021). She has directed tens of research projects (>60) and has acted as an active evaluator of, e.g. status and quality of research, researchers, research institutes, research applications in national and international forums. She has been a member of boards/advisory boards of research institutes and funding organizations, e.g. the Board of the AF, 10 years; Chair of a Research Council of Natural Sciences and Engineering at AF, 6 years), MIKES (Board of MIKES, 6 years), VTT (Scientific Advisory group, 3 years), and Foundations.

Coordinator of the Technological and Business Incubator INMA-ITA within INMA – National Institute of Research-Development for Machines and Installations designed to Agriculture and Food Industry, Romania

Conelia Muraru-Ionel is Coordinator of the Technological and Business Incubator INMA-ITA within INMA – National Institute of Research-Development for Machines and Installations designed to Agriculture and Food Industry, Romania, cluster manager of IND-AGRO-POL innovative cluster and vice-president of the Romanian Clusters Association – CLUSTERO.

She is graduated on Agricultural Mechanics at the Politehnica University of Bucharest and she is Doctor of Engineering in Agricultural Engineering from Transylvania University of Brasov.

Since 2001 she is involved as evaluator of over 100 national RDI projects.

She has experience on evaluation procedures and national research programs as member of the Advisory Council for Research, Development and Innovation of the Ministry of National Education and Scientific Research (2014 -2015) and as member of “Stimulating Inventions Application – INVENT” Romanian RDI Programme management team (2001 – 2006).

Since 2015 she is senior expert within Enterprise Europe Network – EEN and innovation auditor by using Improve methodology.

Cornelia collaborated as expert of Ministry of Education and Research to the elaboration of the new Romanian Innovation Policy (2019 – 2020) and of the Application Guide of the rules regarding the deductions for the research-development expenses for the calculation of the fiscal result (2016 – 2017). As expert of Ministry of Economy, she collaborated to the elaboration of the New Romanian Industrial Policy (2014 – 2016).

Cornelia is author and co-author of over 100 scientific publications.

Prof. Dr Ragnheidur I. Thorarinsdottir is Rector of the Agricultural University of Iceland. She is Adjunct Professor at the University of Iceland since 2018 and Adjunct Associate Professor 2011-2018.

She was Deputy Director of the National Energy Agency (NEA) in Iceland 2005-2009, Department Manager at NEA 2004-2005, Department Manager at the Icelandic Building Research Institute 1999-2004 and Project Manager at the Icelandic Technological Institute 1994-1999. She has been owner and manager of a few startup companies.

Dr Thorarinsdottir received MBA from the University of Iceland in 2002, PhD from the Technical University of Denmark in 2000 (Chemical Engineering – Material Science and Corrosion) and MSc from the Technical University of Denmark in 1993 (Chemical Engineering – Biochemistry and Nutrition).

The Fields of S&T and research experience cover a broad area, engineering and technology, energy sciences and agricultural sciences with focus on material sciences, corrosion, renewable energy, geothermal resources, circular food production, aquaculture and aquaponics.

Dr Thorarinsdottir has experience from administration, research and innovation, business management and strategic work. She has worked closely with the ministries in Iceland on several occasions, has been board member of companies and institutes and has participated in several EU-funded, Nordic and national research and innovation and network projects and has often been the coordinator of the projects.

She has published several peer-reviewed articles in her fields of work, book chapters, technical reports and conference papers. She has been reviewer of articles for several journals as e.g. the MDPI journals Sustainability, Water, Energies and Agriculture. She has been evaluator of proposals in H2020, COST, Nordic and national funds.