Amanda Crowfoot joined EUA as Secretary General in January 2020. She is responsible for co-developing and implementing the Association’s strategic plan and is an ambassador for all members, presenting a collective vision of strong universities in Europe and leading a team of 40 staff members in offices in Brussels and Geneva.

Amanda previously served as Director of Science Europe, the association representing major public research funding and performing organisations in Europe. As Science Europe’s first Director, she was responsible for establishing its office in Brussels in 2012, as well as developing and implementing its policy agenda.

From 2001 to 2012, Amanda worked at the UK Research Office (UKRO) – the Brussels office of the UK research councils – first as a European Advisor, and then as Director of the Office. In these roles she worked closely with universities in the UK and beyond, assisting them in accessing EU funding and defining their strategies for European engagement.

With a background in linguistics, prior to joining UKRO, Amanda Crowfoot taught and researched at several UK universities, and was Projects Manager at the Centre for Research and Policy in Disability at Coventry University.

Monika has been Deputy Secretary General of EUA since October 2021. In this role, she shares strategic oversight of different elements of EUA’s work and contributes to the Association’s organisational development, including the implementation of a new membership strategy. She also deputises for the Secretary General when necessary and leads EUA’s activities on academic freedom and university values.

Monika has been with EUA since 2010, initially in the Governance, Autonomy and Funding unit where she implemented EUA’s flagship Autonomy Scorecard project. In 2012, she moved to the Secretary General’s office to support EUA leadership in overall policy development and association management.

Prior to working at EUA, Monika gained experience in European education and research programmes at the Liaison Office of German Research Organisations (KoWi) and at the European Centre for Strategic Management of Universities (ESMU) in Brussels.

Monika holds a PhD from University College London, an MSc from the London School of Economics, and a BA from the University of York.

Thomas Ekman Jørgensen is Director of Policy Co-ordination at EUA. His responsibilities include ensuring coherent policies for universities as well as overall policy development and managing cross-cutting issues with policy relevance.

Dr Jørgensen worked with EUA as Head of the Council for Doctoral Education for a number of years. He studied History and German Studies at the University of Copenhagen and the Free University Berlin. He received his PhD in History and Civilisation from the European University Institute in Florence in 2004 and worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Copenhagen and at the Université libre de Bruxelles before coming to EUA. As a historian, he has worked on students and left-wing movements around 1968. He has also published on youth movements during World War I.

Clare joined EUA in September 2019. She supports the Secretary General’s Office in the coordination and delivery of key project activities as well as in the preparation of statutory meetings. 

Before moving to Brussels, Clare was institutional coordinator for the Erasmus+ programme at the National College of Art & Design in Dublin, where she also contributed to the college’s programme for internationalisation. Clare holds a degree in European Studies from Trinity College Dublin. She has also studied at the Universidad de Sevilla and at Dublin’s National College of Art & Design.

Liliya joined EUA as a Project & Policy Officer in the Policy Coordination & Foresight unit, where she had previously worked as a trainee.

Before that, she was a trainee at the European University Institute (EUI) within the EIB Climate Chair project of the School of Transnational Governance in Florence. Earlier in her career, she lectured in Italian for students and tutored German for refugees at the University of Passau. She also gained experience as a marketing & project trainee at the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Berlin and as a cultural mediator for the Italian Ministry of Health.

Liliya holds a trilingual joint Master’s degree in European Studies and Project Management from the University of Passau and the University of Strasbourg, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Mediation and Intercultural Communication from the University of Milan. She also studied at the University of Heidelberg and the University of Freiburg.

Areti joined EUA in March 2022. She provides organisational and administrative support to key EUA members, meetings and events of the Secretary General’s office and its Policy Coordination Unit. Prior to this role, Areti worked in the Office of the Dean of Research at Trinity College Dublin as research funding officer. In this role, she coordinated the grant application administration process of Trinity research funding schemes. She also worked in Trinity as a Lecturer of Modern Greek in 2018-2019. 

Areti has collaborated with educational technology startups as product owner designing apps for educational purposes and has taught English to adult institutes in Ireland and Greece since 2015. She holds a Master’s in English language teaching from Trinity College Dublin, a Bachelor’s in English language and literature from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and professional diplomas in Business Management and Product Management.

Maria Kelo is the director of the Institutional Development Unit, which focuses on issues related to higher education learning and teaching, recognition and quality assurance.

Before joining EUA in January 2022, Maria was for over a decade the Director of ENQA, the European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education as well as member of the EQAR Executive Board in 2013-2020. She took part in European policy making processes within the Bologna Process and through cooperation with the European Commission. Prior to joining ENQA, Maria worked for nine years in the field of international higher education in different European organisations and as a private consultant and has gained significant experiences on issues such as quality assurance, international higher education, and higher education reform.

Maria is a graduate of University College London and the London School of Economics.

Helene Peterbauer joined EUA in 2018. She is Deputy Director of the Institutional Development Unit, with a particular focus on learning and teaching as well as academic recognition. Prior to joining EUA, Helene worked as pre-doc assistant and lecturer at the University of Vienna. In Vienna, Helene was primarily involved with doctoral research and teaching, as well as event management and the Erasmus+ programme. 

Helene holds master’s degrees in German Studies and Scandinavian Studies as well as a doctoral degree in Scandinavian Studies, all from the University of Vienna.

Cecilia Biaggi joined EUA in May 2022 as a Project & Policy Officer in the Institutional Development Unit. In particular, she works on the Institutional Evaluation Programme focusing on quality assurance projects and events.

Before joining EUA, Cecilia conducted doctoral and postdoctoral research at the University of Oxford and at Erasmus University Rotterdam; she also worked for educational charities, including the European Association of History Educators, and organised policy conferences on higher education in the UK.

Cecilia holds a doctorate in Irish history from the University of Oxford and previously studied at Trinity College Dublin and at the universities of Siena and Bologna.

Tania is the Administrative Officer in the Institutional Development Unit. She joined EUA in April 2022.

Before joining EUA Tania worked as Office Administrator (Research Support & Events) at the University of Kent's Brussels School of International Studies. Prior to that role, she spent about 17 years in London. She worked in the botany area at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Natural History Museum before changing career and moving to University of Roehampton, leading the Digitisation & Document Delivery services at the Library.

Tania holds a Forestry Engineer Diploma from the Universidad Nacional Agraria La Molina, Peru.

Vinciane is Director for Research and Innovation at EUA, leading the implementation of the Association’s Agendas for R&I, Innovation, and Open Science. These agendas take a comprehensive approach to the R&I continuum, covering basic research, applied research, and innovation. Developed by universities for universities, they are implemented with the support of the EUA R&I unit.

A strong advocate for the role of university R&I in shaping the European Research Area, Vinciane works towards a well-designed and sustainable R&I system, supported by a favourable regulatory environment and sufficient and sustainable funding.

Before joining EUA in 2019, Vinciane spent over 15 years as a researcher and research manager in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. She holds a PhD in Psychology from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium.

Kamila Kozirog is Deputy Director of Research and Innovation at EUA. She joined the Association in 2016. Her areas of expertise cover EU research and innovation policies and funding programmes, competitiveness, innovation ecosystems, regional development, and equality, diversity and inclusion in research and innovation.

At EUA, she coordinates the work of the EUA Research and Innovation Strategy Group, oversees the implementation of the EUA Research and Innovation Agenda, and leads the Association’s work on Horizon Europe and the development of the next EU Research and Innovation Framework Programme.

Prior to joining EUA, she worked at the Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU and at the European Commission where she was involved in various research and innovation activities, such as the European Innovation Scoreboard, the Business Innovation Observatory and the Social Innovation Platform.

She holds Master’s degrees in Economics and European Studies from the University of Wroclaw, Wroclaw University of Economics and the Université Libre de Bruxelles. During her studies she specialised in the field of EU innovation and regional policies.

Simon Marti is the Head of the EUA Council for Doctoral Education (EUA-CDE), the largest European forum in this field, representing more than 280 universities in 39 countries. He joined EUA in July 2024 after heading SwissCore, the Swiss Contact Office for European Research, Innovation and Education in Brussels, for the past five years.

Previously, Simon was the Head of the Office of Science, Technology and Higher Education at the Embassy of Switzerland in the United States. Before that, he worked as a Project Manager in Education Management and Research with the Swiss State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation in Bern. Simon is a political scientist and holds an MA from the University of Bern. He completed his doctorate in Swiss-EU relations at the University of Basel and then conducted postdoctoral research as a visiting scholar at Columbia University in New York.

Ana-Maria Peneoasu is the Policy & Project Officer for the EUA Council for Doctoral Education (EUA-CDE), the largest European forum in this field, representing more than 250 universities in 36 countries. She joined the Association in September 2017 as an Administrative Assistant.

Before joining EUA, she worked as a stagiaire in the law practice Vecchi & Ribola in the translation unit and she supported the activities of the project “The right to life: life imprisonment from an European perspective”, co-founded by the European Union at the University of Milan.

Ana-Maria holds a Master’s degree in European studies from the Catholic University of Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium). She also holds a Master degree in Political Sciences from the Université libre de Bruxelles, as well as a Bachelor’s degree in International studies and European integration from the University of Milan (Italy). She spent one year at the University of Konstanz (Germany) as an Erasmus student.

Sergiu joined the Research & Innovation unit in July 2019 and is responsible for policy monitoring in relation to Horizon Europe, as well as for dossiers on innovation ecosystems and university-business cooperation.

Before starting at the EUA, he worked for a Vice-Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee at the European Parliament and did a traineeship in strategic planning at the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from Jacobs University Bremen (Germany), a Master’s in Political Theory from Cardiff University (UK), and a Master’s in Social Science Research from Humboldt University of Berlin (Germany).

Eléonore joined the EUA in July 2024 as project and policy assistant. She provides support to the Research & Innovation team.

Prior to joining the EUA, she undertook a traineeship at the Council of European Municipalities and Regions and studied at the University of Manchester. She also completed a traineeship at the representation of the Pays de la Loire Region in Brussels where she worked on R&I topics, as part of her Master’s degree in European Affairs at Sciences Po Toulouse, France.

Lenka Kuzelova joined EUA in February 2020 as the Administrative Officer to the Research & Innovation Unit. Lenka provides administrative support to all activities of the unit and coordinates the logistics of workshops and meetings. Lenka studied tourism and hospitality at the School of Hotel Management in Prague. Before moving to Brussels from the Czech Republic, she worked as a Business Support Administrator for Expedia Group in Prague.

Thomas Estermann is Director for Governance, Funding and Public Policy Development with responsibilities for EUA’s work aimed at strengthening universities’ autonomy, governance, management and financial sustainability.

Before joining EUA in 2007, Thomas was Deputy Head of Strategic Development and Deputy University Director at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Vienna, a member of the universities' senate and involved in the last two reforms in higher education in Austria. Before entering the university sector in 1997, he pursued a career as a lawyer.

Thomas is member of several European and national committees, expert groups, editorial boards, advisory groups and contributes on a regular basis to higher education management programmes and national higher education reform processes. He has published on the topic of university funding, governance and management.

He holds a Master’s degree in law from the University of Vienna.

Enora Bennetot Pruvot is Deputy Director for Governance, Funding and Public Policy Development. She has published on the topic of university financial sustainability (2011), higher education funding (2013) and university mergers (2015), and also acts as the editor for EUA’s University Funding Articles series. She is responsible for the organisation of EUA’s biannual Funding Forum and for EUA’s annual Public Funding Observatory, which monitors the evolution of public funding to higher education institutions throughout Europe.

At European level, EUA’s unit for Governance, Funding and Public Policy Development has been contributing to the preparation of the Horizon 2020 programme. The unit is also monitoring the impact of the implementation of the programme on participating higher education institutions.

Before joining EUA in 2008, Enora gained experience in the field of European research and development policy. Enora holds Master degrees in Political Science and European Public Affairs, and in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium.

Nino Popkhadze is a Policy and Project Officer in the EUA Governance, Funding, and Public Policy Development Unit. She has diverse working experience in the field of higher education. Nino served as an institutional evaluation specialist at the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement (Georgia). In addition, she worked as Law program coordinator at Free University of Tbilisi. Before joining EUA in December 2021, Nino worked for WPZ Research GmbH (Austria) as a project assistant for the BeyondScale project. 

Nino holds several academic degrees, she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Tbilisi State University (Georgia) in 2012. Later in 2018, she obtained a Master’s degree with Honours in Education Administration from the Ilia State University (Georgia). Nino recently received Joint Master’s degree (MARIHE) in Administrative Sciences from Tampere University (Finland) and Donau University Krems (Austria).

Isabel Silva Ballesteros joined EUA in December 2012 and is the Administrative Officer to the Governance, Funding and Public Policy Development unit.

She is a graduate of ISTI, Institut Supérieur de Traducteurs et Interprètes in Brussels. Before joining EUA, she worked as a French-Spanish teacher and translator in the LWFC (Language Workshop for Children) in New York.

Furthermore, Isabel worked on European funded Projects at the European Commission, the European Science Foundation/COST Office and Eurocontrol.

Michael Gaebel is the director of the Higher Education Policy Unit, which focuses on issues related to higher education learning and teaching, including the Bologna Process, lifelong learning, e-learning and MOOCs, internationalisation and global dialogue.

When he first joined the organisation in 2006, he was in charge of developing EUA’s international strategy and global exchange and cooperation.

Before joining EUA, Michael worked for more than a decade in higher education cooperation and development in the Middle East, the former Soviet Union and Asia. From 2002 to 2006, he was the European Co-Director of the ASEAN-EU University Network Programme (AUNP) in Bangkok.

Michael graduated with a Masters in Middle Eastern Studies and German Literature and Linguistics from the Freie University Berlin, Germany.

Thérèse Zhang is the Deputy Director for Higher Education Policy at EUA. She works on topics related to higher education learning and teaching, including developments in the Bologna process, lifelong learning, digitalisation and internationalisation.

Thérèse has experience in higher education policy/management and, more generally, project management in education and culture. When she first joined EUA in 2008, she worked in the field of quality assurance and institutional development. She was also the Programme Manager for the Institutional Evaluation Programme, and was involved in the development phase of EUA’s Council for Doctoral Education. More recently, she held the position of Project Manager at the Belgian French-speaking quality assurance agency, AEQES. Her earlier experience includes serving as a French teacher for several years.

Thérèse holds a PhD in Romance Philology from the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium, as well as a Master in European Studies from the same university. She completed part of her education at the University of Bologna, Italy, and as Visiting Researcher at Brown University, United States.

Henriette Stoeber is a Senior Policy Analyst for Higher Education Policy at EUA.

Prior to joining EUA, she worked as a research assistant at the Hungarian Rectors’ Conference and spent several years at the German Academic Exchange Service’s (DAAD) National Agency for Higher Education Cooperation, initially as intern/research assistant and later as programme manager for the projects “Development of the European Higher Education Area” and “Promoting Bologna in Germany”. Henriette has also worked in the private sector in the United Kingdom.

Henriette holds a Joint Master degree in European Public Policy with distinction from the University of York (UK) and Central European University (Hungary), where she specialised in the field of higher education policy.

Gohar Hovhannisyan has served as Project & Policy Officer in the EUA Higher Education Policy Unit since early 2021.

Prior to this, she was the President of the European Students' Union where she closely followed the developments of European higher education policymaking. Gohar has also served as a student expert for multiple Quality Assurance accreditations and reviews in different European countries. As a student representative, she spent almost seven years advocating for quality education at the institutional, national and European levels.

Gohar holds a Master’s in Economics with an emphasis in insurance markets from the Armenian State University of Economics.

Oumy Dramé is a Project & Policy Officer in the Higher Education Policy Unit since October 2024. She has diverse working experiences in the field of Higher Education. Prior joining EUA, Oumy worked for Circle U. European University as a project manager. She also did in 2023 a Bluebook traineeship in the Higher Education unit of DG Education and Culture of the European Commission. And more recently, she worked as a junior consultant for UNESCO IESALC policy hub team.

Oumy holds several academic degrees, she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Translation and Intercultural Mediation from the University of Poitiers in 2016. Later in 2019 she obtained a Master’s degree in Intercultural Management from the University of Limoges and finally received a second Master’s degree in EU policies and project management from the University of CY Cergy-Paris in 2021.

Raphaèle Fischer-Angoulvent is the Administrative Assistant in the Higher Education Policy Unit. They joined EUA in March 2023.

Before joining EUA, they spent almost a decade working in the entertainment and event industry in France, first as a Production Assistant, then as a Music Manager and finally as an Event and Logistics Officer before deciding to change career and to dedicate their skills to the higher education sector.

They studied Law and Business Management at the CNAM in Paris, France.

Laura joined EUA in August 2022 as Director of Communications, having acquired over ten years of experience in Brussels across a range of communication roles. Her most recent position was at global consultancy APCO Worldwide, where as a Senior Associate Director she led the digital advocacy practice in Brussels in addition to working with international clients across a range of sectors on digital and social media strategy, creative concept development and executing campaigns of both a public affairs and corporate nature.

Laura previously worked as a Manager of Digital Influence and Corporate Communications at Weber Shandwick for two years and as a Trade & Investment Advisor and Communications Coordinator at the British Embassy in Brussels for almost four years. Her early experience also includes working within the communications teams at both FoodDrinkEurope and AmCham Belgium. Laura holds a transatlantic Master’s degree in International Communications and Public Relations, and a Bachelor’s degree in History and Sociology.

Aurélie Clenet joined EUA in January 2013. As Events Officer in the Communications, Membership and Public Affairs unit, she is fully involved in all the steps of the organisation of events: pre, during, and post-conference.

Aurélie holds a Bachelor’s degree in international business in foreign languages from the University of Nantes, France, and a Master's degree in marketing, management and projects’ development from the University of Clermont Ferrand, France. Aurélie has worked and lived in Casablanca and in Barcelona where she completed two internships in the field of, respectively, communication and public relations.

Before joining EUA she worked as marketing assistant at easyFairs, an internationally active organiser of trade fairs.

Katerina supervises the organisation's digital communications in all its aspects (websites, social media, content). She devises dissemination plans for events and campaigns, and analyses EUA digital communications in comparison to trends in order to innovate new strategies and approaches.

Katerina also has marketing experience in the private sector and non-profit organisations alike. She holds a Master's degree in Media and Communications Science from the Technical University of Ilmenau in Germany, and a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece.

Kevin joined EUA as Press and Communications Officer in April 2022. In this role he coordinates EUA press relations, serves as our main internal editor and works alongside colleagues in the Communications, Public Affairs and Membership unit to advance our wider communications strategy.

Prior to joining EUA, he previously worked as a researcher in the Press and Public Diplomacy section of the Mission of Japan to the EU. While in other roles in Brussels-based European associations and most recently in a management consultancy, he gained additional experience in advocacy, policy monitoring and project management.

Kevin holds a BA in Applied Languages from the University of Limerick as well as an MSc in International Public Policy and Diplomacy from University College Cork.

Inès joined EUA in January 2019 as Junior Digital Media officer. She supports EUA online activities, designs its digital publications and ensures the production of videos. She has gained experience in managing communications campaigns and is truly passionate about all type of media. Before joining EUA, she worked as a marketing intern among Hats and Ladders, a non-profit organisation based in New York. She oversaw their communications, especially online to help them promote their mobile platform, aimed to reimagine career education.

Inès has obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Applied Communications at IHECS, a Brussels-based college. She also has a Master’s degree in Public Relations, from both IHECS and ULB, another Brussels-based college.

Gemma has been Events Officer at EUA since January 2023. As Events Officer in the Communications, Membership and Public Affairs unit, she is involved in all the steps of the organisation of events: pre, during, and post-conference. Gemma has been with EUA since February 2011, initially joining as Administration Officer for the Higher Education Policy Unit. 

Before joining EUA, she worked as a Treasury Administrator and Personal Assistant for an international paper company based in Brussels. She has a Bachelor of Business Studies and a Certificate in People Management.

Julia joined EUA in August 2022 as events assistant. She provides support to the events team in the organisation of online and onsite EUA events.

Before joining EUA in Brussels, she lived in Malta where she worked as a librarian and cultural assistant at the Alliance Française Malte-Méditerranée.

Julia holds a Master's degree in English Language, Culture and Translation from the University of Franche-Comté, France. She also studied at the University of Gothenburg and at the Transilvanian University of Brasov, Romania.

Alice joined EUA in May 2014 as Office and Database assistant. She provides administrative support to the Communication, Membership and Public Affairs unit. Alice is also responsible for the reception desk and at the same time ensuring the smooth running of the office.

Before joining EUA, she worked as an office assistant for the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers and also did an internship with Fedasil (Agence Federal pour les demandeurs d’Asile).

Alice completed a diploma programme in Management and Communication at Cours Melius, Brussels. She has a Bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from the University of Yaounde, Cameroon.

Julien Georis is responsible for the financial and administrative management of the association.

He first joined the organisation in 2004 as Financial Officer involved in a number of accounting duties and assisting the Head of Finance in the management of the organisation.

Before joining EUA, he worked as an accountant for several years for various non-profit organisations in Brussels.

He holds an Executive Master in tax management from the Solvay Brussels School of Economics & Management, Belgium and a degree in accountancy (EPHEManager, Finance and Administration

Lior joined EUA in July 2017. He is the administrative officer of EUA’s Geneva office and operates within the Administration and Finance Unit.

He holds a Bachelor’s degree in law from UNIGE (Université de Genève) in Geneva.

Before joining EUA Lior has occupied various positions. He worked for a hotel and a courier delivery company, as well as for an accounting firm.

Caroline joined EUA in April 2012. She is an Accountant in the Administration & Finance Unit.

She has a Bachelor’s degree in accountancy from EPHEC (Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes Commerciales) in Brussels.

Before joining EUA Caroline worked as an Accountant for an international advertising company. She has also worked in a trust company.

Sabrina joined EUA in September 2017. She is responsible for the financial management of EUA projects. She provides finance and budgeting support to the Project Units and ensures compliance with contractual obligations, legal requirements and the EUA’s policy.

Previously she worked as Financial and Project Officer at EBN, a non-profit international association based in Brussels and as Project Officer at Piedmont Agency for Investments, Export and Tourism, based in Turin. She gained experience in financial project management, project proposals and bids preparation, organisation of events and trainings in the field of entrepreneurship, social innovation, SMEs internationalisation and start up incubation. She is familiar with the regulatory framework of EU Programmes such as Erasmus+, Europeaid, Horizon2020 and Interreg.

Sabrina holds a bachelor’s degree in Science of Communication and a Master’s degree in Business and Institutional Communication from the University of Turin, Italy. After few years she attended a post-graduated specialisation and obtained the qualification of “Expert in Design and Management of EU Projects”.

Géraldine started at EUA in December 2022 as HR Officer. She started her career as a Recruiter, and then worked in France for 1,5 years as HR generalist and Training Manager for Club Med. After the Covid-19 pandemic, she decided to move back to Brussels and to recruit for an EU Research Consultants company. Géraldine holds a Bachelor’s degree in Human Resources and a Master’s degree in European Labour Science.

Andrée Sursock, PhD, is Senior Adviser at the European University Association (EUA). She is involved in a range of projects on the topic of quality assurance in higher education and recently completed the EUA’s Trends 2015 report, focusing on learning and teaching developments in Europe. She serves on a number of boards of universities and quality assurance agencies and advises governments on quality assurance procedures.

As Deputy Secretary General at EUA (2001 and 2009), she was responsible for developing EUA’s quality assurance policy positions and activities. She holds a first degree in philosophy from the University Panthéon Sorbonne (France) and a PhD in social-cultural anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley (USA). Before joining EUA, she was Director of Development at the Centre for Higher Education Research and Information of the Open University, (UK), taught at a variety of institutions in the USA, and held an administrative post at Stanford University.

Hanne Smidt is a senior advisor at European University Association (EUA) and runs her own consultancy: Hanne Smidt Consulting in Sweden. She has over the years worked in higher education at all levels (institutional, national and European) and has in particular followed the implementation of the Bologna Process and the EHEA. She has actively participated in promoting of widening participation and lifelong learning (LLL)and researched and written extensively on the implementation of the Bologna Process and the European Higher Education Area.

Recently she has started to use her longstanding knowledge and engagement in European higher education to support one element of LLL, the further development of validation (RPL) and integration of students and academics with foreign credentials with a special view to the current refugee situation. She is currently involved in the development of the institutional practice on validation and recognition of prior learning in Swedish higher education institutions, and is the project manager for a Swedish national initiative on how to engage institutional leadership and academics in recognition of prior learning.

Howard Davies has been a regular collaborator in the Trends overview of the implementation of the Bologna Process and has participated in a number of EUA projects in the field of European higher education policy. These have addressed issues of mobility, qualifications frameworks, and the recognition of academic and professional qualifications. He currently sits on the steering committee of the Institutional Evaluation Programme.

As an independent consultant based in UK, he has undertaken assignments for the European Commission (DGs Education and Culture, Enlargement, Enterprise and Industry, Health and Consumer Affairs), as well as for British Council, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauch Dienst, and various national rectors conferences. He is a member of the European Coordinating Group of Universities UK and of the Europe Forum of the UK Nursing and Midwifery Council.

Howard Davies was previously Head of European Development at London Metropolitan University and was responsible for its Brussels office from 2002 until 2007. During this period he was also a UK Bologna Promoter. He has a PhD from University College London, as well as numerous publications in the field of French literature and philosophy.

Dr John Smith is Senior Adviser to EUA, where he worked from 2004 to 2013 as Deputy Secretary General with responsibility for activities in the fields of research and innovation.

After completing his PhD in political science (University of Kent, Canterbury, UK) he took up a career in the field of science administration and policy at the Economic and Social Research Council, London, UK (1976-84), and the European Science Foundation, Strasbourg, France (1985-2000).

Based in Vienna from 2000 to 2003, he was Executive Director of the Institute for Human Sciences until December 2001 and then worked as a Research Consultant on several commissioned studies, including those for the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Culture; the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research; and the European Commission Directorate-General for Research. From October 2003 to September 2004, he was based in Lisbon, Portugal, as a Gulbenkian Foundation Visiting Professor in European Science Policy at the Instituto Superior De Ciencias Do Trabalho E Da Empresa (ISCTE) of the University of Lisbon.

Since January 2025, Anna-Lena is a Senior Adviser for Policy Coordination and Foresight at EUA. She collaborates on horizon scanning, EU policy monitoring and advocacy as well as strategic projects. Beyond that she is also involved in the EUA Leadership Development Programme as facilitator of the futures thinking and strategic foresight module.

Prior to that, Anna-Lena has been working for EUA in different positions for almost 14 years, from 2011-2024. She started with project management and policy analysis in the governance, funding and public policy development unit (2011-2016). In 2017, she moved to policy coordination, where she held the position of Deputy Director for Policy Coordination and Foresight from 2022-2024. She represented EUA in various working groups with the European Commission and member states and was responsible for leading and coordinating EUA’s work on the European Universities Initiative and the alliances (2017-2024) as well as strategic initiatives such as the development of “Universities without walls” EUA’s vision for Europe’s universities in 2030 (2020-2021), the futures thinking exercise “Universities and the Future of Europe” (UnIFE) (2023-2024) and cross-cutting activities on diversity, equity and inclusion (2017-2019).

Prior to joining EUA, Anna-Lena worked at the European Commission’s Directorate General for Education & Culture in the Unit for Higher Education and the Erasmus Programme (2010-2011).

Anna-Lena holds a Master’s degree in European Political and Administrative Studies from the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium as well as a Magister degree in Communication Science, Political Science and Philosophy from the University of Münster, Germany and a certification in systemic coaching and change management from the University of Cologne, Germany. During her studies she also spent one year at the Institute of Political Sciences of Bordeaux/France.

Beyond her work as Senior Adviser for EUA, Anna-Lena is a (self-)leadership coach supporting, especially women to step into their true power professionally and diverse teams to foster collaboration and well-being in purpose-driven organisations.

Rita Morais is adviser for Research and Innovation at EUA. She joined the Association in 2013. Rita’s main areas of activity cover research assessment, academic careers and Open Science. In the past, her portfolio also included innovation and university-business collaboration.

Prior to joining EUA, Rita worked at the Academic Cooperation Association, where she became familiar with higher education policy. Prior to that, she worked for the Directorate-General for Education and Culture of the European Commission, dealing with school education policies.

Rita holds a PhD in Social Psychology from ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon. She graduated in Social and Organisational Psychology from the same institution.

Elizabeth Colucci is an adviser and project expert for EUA, focusing primarily on higher education policy, internationalisation and higher education in development cooperation. Between 2008 and 2014 she was a programme manager in the Higher Education Policy Unit of EUA, working on a range of higher education reform issues, and overseeing EUA’s external relations with non-European countries. Elizabeth has developed and managed a range of European Commission-funded international projects for EUA, and also contributed to the Bologna Process working group (‘BFUG’) on the official strategy for the European Higher Education Area in a Global Setting. She has helped to develop policy positions and input regarding cooperation with a variety of regions, including Africa, Latin America, Asia and North America. She currently supports EUA’s dialogue with Arab universities and managers projects involving higher education reform and harmonisation in Southeast Asia, the European Neighborhood countries, Latin America and Africa.

Prior to EUA, Elizabeth served as a senior officer at the Academic Cooperation Association (Brussels), and has also worked for the Fulbright Commission to Belgium and Luxembourg and for the Directorate for Education and Culture (EAC) of the European Commission. She holds a Master of Science in European politics and governance from the London School of Economics and completed her Bachelor degree in comparative international studies and French at Duke University (USA).

Maria Blanco is an adviser for Governance, Funding and Public Policy Development Unit where she collaborates in the development of an EUA's Leadership Development initiatives. Within the Unit, she also provides support on stakeholder engagement, on project management in the areas of funding, governance, and leadership or on policy monitoring.

Before joining EUA in March 2024, Maria served as Head of International Engagement at the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) where she was responsible for developing the association's internationalisation strategy and of coordinating international institutional relations and initiatives across university missions. At CRUE, she also coordinated the Learning & Teaching sectorial commission, with focus on quality assurance, recognition, innovation or digitalisation, among other. 

She holds a PhD in Politics from the University of Exeter (UK) with a focus on organisational structures, political strategy, and leadership. Furthermore, she received a postgraduate Master degree in Contemporary Middle Eastern Studies from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (Spain) and an Bachelor’s degree in Translation and Interpretation (English and Arabic) from the same institution.

She is currently Board Member of the Research Committee "International Studies, Area Studies and Globalisation" of the Federación Española de Sociología and, since 2010, Sworn Translator (EN-ES) appointed by the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.