Emerita Professor in Transport and the Environment

Professor Bell’s research has been mainly in the field of traffic and environment monitoring, modelling management and control. Early research related to traffic signal control developing methods to manage congestion in urban networks. By the end of the 1990’s research emphasis moved to develop with stakeholders on-street air pollution monitoring, analytical methods to predict roadside pollution levels based on real-time traffic. Instrumental in setting up the instrumented City Facility in 1992 which supported over 300 research projects over two decades. Pioneered research into systems architecture, database management developing mathematical and predictive models to understand causes of air pollution and develop intervention measures working closely with Local Authorities and the commercial Sector. EPSRC funded research outputs in the Sustainable Urban Environment programme led to the conclusion that engineering solutions are relatively straightforward and success in delivery clean air and meet carbon targets requires radical changes in public behaviour and real cultural changes in all aspects of transport provision (collaborative working practices, co-operation with sharing data etc). Emphasis moved to understand travel behaviour and develop database platforms to inform sustainable transport policies. These include, carbon foot printing of households, trips to school and workplace; demographics of potential users of shared e-mobility (electric cars, e-bikes, e-scooters, e-Cargo bikes) in Europe estimating the impact of e-mobility on carbon and air pollutant emissions; travel behaviour of Metro users; understanding the complex interactions between traffic sources and meteorology within the built environment to ensure that policies that promote carbon reduction do not exacerbate air quality and health problems; measures for Green Light Optimal Speed Advisory system integrated with demand responsive control systems and evaluating roadside pollution (air and noise) in the vicinity of motorways operating Automatic Traffic Management.

Management and Professional

Bell has secured UK Research Council (EPSRC, NERC) and EU funding for almost 50 years and has experience managing large multidisciplinary teams across universities and faculties, LANTERN (generated over £10m over 10 years) and SECURE project (£2.5m). Bell has supervised 45+ PhDs; Externally examined almost 50 PhDs; Honorary Fellow of IHE and ICE, FIHT and CMILT and Honorary Editor Chief of the IET ITS. She was founder in 2000 and Chair of the ITSUK Smart Environment Forum until 2021.

Appointments

• Currently the Independent Chairperson of the Bus Service Improvement Plan Enhanced Partnership Board.
• Founder Member and Chair of the ITSUK Smart Environment Forum (2000-2021)
• Honorary Editor in Chief IET-ITS Journal (2016-present)
• Visiting Professor of Transport and Environment of the University of Enna, Sicily (2011-2016)

Memberships

1. Member of Built Environment Programme College, Member/Chaired Prioritisation Panel (1995-present)
2. SRC, SERC and EPSRC, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, Peer Review Transport (1989-1995)
3. Reviewer for ESRC, MRC, British Council, Hong Kong, Canada, (2005-present)
4. Expert and mentor for the IdeaLab sandpit 'Cities for the future: services & solutions'(2019)
5. NCBR, National Centre for Research and Development, Poland (2019 to present)

Ph.D. Associate Professor of Computer Design Systems Department at the Lviv Polytechnic National University, since 2017.

My research expertise is in organizing, providing and running complex CAD/CAE projects, collaborative research, international meetings and conferences.

The experience includes FEM modeling and simulation of complex Multiphysics processes and devices in the COMSOL Multiphysics. In general, such Multiphysics effects like multiphase fluid flow, acoustofluidics, thermal, mechanical, optical and electrochemical processes in various MEMS.

Besides, simulating and optimizing in COMSOL the design parameters of the microfluidic lab-chip devices dedicated for detecting various impurities in water samples

I have experience in international grants and have been collaborative project applications that have been prepared in engineering, educational, and social domains. I’m also one of the co-authors of the project 101082696-ERASMUS-EDU-2022-CBHE-STRAND-2 “Promoting professional education and students engagement through comprehensive mentoring and tutoring system at HEIs” (PROMENT, No 101082696).

The achievements includes:

• Teaching Staff Mobility in the framework of Erasmus+ KA107 program, Bialystok University of Technology (Poland), 31/01/2022, 10 hours;
• Scientific Internship in the framework of NAWA APM program, Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (Poland), Ref. no. PPI/APM/2018/1/00031. (2019–2022), 4 ECTS credits;
• International Conferences Committee Member of International Conference on Perspective Technologies and methods in MEMS design (MEMSTECH) – http://memstech.ieee.org.ua/committe/
• International Conferences Committee Member of International Conference on The Experience of Designing and Application of CAD Systems (CADSM) – http://cadsm.ieee.org.ua/committee/
• Co-author of the education program “Design and programming of intelligent systems and devices” for BSc students in Computer Science;
• Co-author of the syllabuses for “Basics of automated design of complex objects and systems” and “Business communication”;
• Training course “Working with Memory Culture Issues in Non-formal Citizenship Education” in the frames of long-term project “Europe of Youth through the Mirror of Memories”, Berlin, Germany, 2022.

I enjoy travel exploring new places and cultures.

Lisa Cowey completed a PhD in physics from the University of Oxford before moving to commercialise her research through a series of start-up and large high-tech companies in the UK, USA and Germany.

Since 2007 Lisa has been involved in University Technology Transfer and enterprise innovation with a particular focus on transitional economies. She has worked intensively in the newer EU Member states and the Western Balkans and Eastern Partnership counties. She is specialised in intellectual property rights and grant scheme design and evaluation.

Iryna Degtyarova, PhD, SGH Warsaw School of Economics. Since 2022 Iryna is currently a Rector’s Representative for the cooperation with Ukrainian higher education institutions and coordinator of the project „SGH&CIVICA for the European Future of Ukraine”, funded by NAWA within the program „Solidarity with Ukraine – European Universities”. As a researcher Iryna specializes in higher education governance and public policy, research integrity, career development, internationalisation, and specifically Polish-Ukrainian academic cooperation. She is also a Senior Researcher at the Polish Rectors Foundation and contributed to the activities of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland on the national level.

Special Adviser, Research Council of Norway

Tor Ivar Eikaas is Special Adviser at department of International Cooperation of the Research Council of Norway, currently focusing on partnerships, missions and energy. He is also member of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan) Steering Group and Norwegian delegate to Horizon Europe Cluster 5 Programme Committee.

Over the previous years, he has been acting Counsellor for Research at the Mission of Norway to the EU, and head of office for the Research Council of Norway liaison office in Brussels. He has many years of experience towards the EU R&I programmes, both as national contact point, project manager, researcher, proposal evaluation expert and project officer in the European Commission.

Dr. Robert Grabeł is the Deputy Director of the National Contact Point Department at NCBR since February 2022. He has worked in public administration for several years, also in managerial positions, including at Ministry of Regional Development, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Science and Higher Education as well as Ministry of Education and Science. At that time he was responsible mostly for EU cohesion funds and international cooperation, especially within the EU and the OECD. He has a PhD in economics (2011) and is a graduate from Warsaw School of Economics.

Dr. Katarzyna Gawlińska–Nęcek is a specialist in materials engineering, focusing on advanced materials for next-generation solar cells, particularly in perovskite-based and thin-film heterojunction photovoltaic technologies. She earned her Ph.D. in 2019 and has since been an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Science of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

Throughout her career, Dr. Katarzyna Gawlińska – Nęcek has pursued several short-term research internships in SINTEF (Norway), CNRS (France), and at BTU (Germany) where she significantly broadened her expertise. A unique facet of her career was her work at Saule Technologies, a pioneering company in perovskite photovoltaic cells, where she contributed as a technologist during her doctoral studies. This experience solidified her proficiency in industrial-scale applications and refined her approach to developing adaptable materials for high-performance, cost-effective photovoltaics. Dr. Katarzyna Gawlińska – Nęcek has participated in over 10 research projects funded by the NCN and NCBR, serving as the principal investigator on the Small Grant Scheme project funded by Norway Grants. Her work focuses on integrating doped metal oxide layers to enhance energy conversion, a key approach for reducing material costs while maintaining efficiency and environmental sustainability in photovoltaics. Dr. Katarzyna Gawlińska – Nęcek has co-authored over 30 high-impact publications and continues to contribute both fundamental and applied research insights.

Project: DMOPV – Doping of metal oxides with particular emphasis on copper oxide, by spray coating method to reduce its resistivity for use in a thin-film heterojunction and perovskite solar cells

https://dmopv.pl/

Hanne Cecilie Geirbo is an associate professor at the Department of Computer Science, Oslo Metropolitan University. She has an interdisciplinary background in social anthropology and information systems and a professional background in the telecom industry. The intersection between urban space and digital space and how this can be utilized to promote sustainable transitions is one of her main research interests.

Projects:
CoAdapt – Communities for Climate Change Action

https://coadapt.pl/en/

GC – Greencoin

http://greencoin.pl/index.php/en/__trashed/

Is a Senior Research Scientist in Earth Observation in the Climate & Environment Division at NORCE – Norwegian Research Centre AS in Tromsø, Norway. His more than 25 years of international research experience in satellite remote sensing for environmental and climate monitoring has taken him from Polar research and the North Pole to forests in the Tropics. He is particularly interested in the terrestrial application of satellite radar remote sensing and international cooperation with a strong interest in sustainable development. He has been lucky to be able to work with partners from all continents and has been living in Germany, France, Norway, Poland, the US and Australia. He is also a member of the European Space Agency Mission Advisory Group for the upcoming L-band SAR satellite Copernicus Sentinel Expansion missions “ROSE-L”.

Under this Norway grants research program, he has partnered with the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Science, UNEP-Grid Warszawa, and the Centre of Migration Research at the University of Warszawa to use earth observation to analyze environmental impacts of IDP and refugee camps.

Project: ARICA – A multi-directional analysis of refugee/IDP camp areas based on HR/VHR satellite data
https://arica.gridw.pl/pl/

Deputy Director of the Department of International Cooperation, National Centre for Research and Development

He has over twelve years of professional experience in the international research and innovation funding environment.

Since 2012, Maciej has been involved in the implementation of the Research Programs of the EEA and Norway Grants, as well as a number of other bilateral and multilateral initiatives financed from national funds, European Union framework programs and Swiss Contribution.

Earlier professional experience included supervising the implementation of infrastructure projects.

Ásdís Jónsdóttir is a sector officer for research at the Financial Mechanism Office (FMO). Before joining the FMO, she was a member of the Icelandic Science and Technology Policy Council and served at the Prime Minister’s Office and Ministry of Science, Education and Culture in Iceland as an expert on research and higher education policy.

Dorota Juszczyk holds a PhD in health psychology from University of Bath (UK). She is skilled in bridging behavioural change theory with practical application and implementation and has experience in designing and implementing interventions at the public health level. In the past, she was responsible for leading and executing several projects within the UK National Health Service (NHS), aimed at improving the quality of life of patients. Currently she serves as a Programme Evaluation and Analysis Coordinator at the Foundation for Polish Science (FNP) trying to improve the impact of research conducted by FNP beneficiaries. Outside of work: busy mum of three and a keen cyclist.

Katarzyna Kaczmarek-Majer is an Associate Professor at the Systems Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences. She holds dual M.Sc. degrees in Mathematics and Computer Science from the University of Poznań and earned her Ph.D. with distinction in Computer Science in 2015 from the Systems Research Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences in Warsaw.

From 2022 to 2023, Katarzyna served as the Principal Investigator for the „Bipolar Disorder Prediction with Sensor-Based Semi-Supervised Learning” project (BIPOLAR), funded by EEA and Norway Grants. Currently, she leads the „Explainable Artificial Intelligence for Monitoring Acoustic Features Extracted from Speech” project (ExplainMe), funded by the European Regional Development Fund. Additionally, she contributes to the „Research of Excellence on Digital Technologies and Wellbeing” project at the Institute for Research and Applications of Fuzzy Modeling, University of Ostrava, Czech Republic.

Katarzyna’s expertise includes computational intelligence, explainable and trustworthy AI, granular computing, and data stream analysis, with a particular focus on applications in medicine and healthcare. She has co-authored over 50 scientific publications, some of which have been recognized with prestigious awards, such as the Best Paper Award at FUZZ-IEEE 2022 in Padova, Italy, for her work titled „Confidence Path Regularization for Handling Label Uncertainty in Semi-Supervised Learning: A Use Case in Bipolar Disorder Monitoring.” She serves on the scientific committees of numerous conferences and is a reviewer for several academic journals and international conferences.

Katarzyna also is the President of the eHealth Section of the Polish Information Processing Society.

Project: BIPOLAR – Bipolar disorder prediction with sensor-based semi-supervised learning

http://bipolar.ibspan.waw.pl/

Raphaela Kaisler is an Assistant Professor and Head of the Psychology Program at Bertha von Suttner Private University in St. Poelten, Austria. With a diverse background in molecular biology, science communication, psychology, and psychotherapy, she currently focuses on researching and teaching quantitative and mixed-methods research in psychology and psychotherapy. Her research interests encompass outcome and process research in both individual and group psychotherapy. As a trained Gestalt therapist, she works with adults, adolescents, and children facing mental health challenges in her private practice. Additionally, she has extensive experience in participatory research and public and patient involvement in research, collaborating with patients and community members across various projects.

Dr. eng. Justyna Krzak is a researcher and lecturer at the Department of Mechanics, Materials and Biomedical Engineering at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology, from February 2024 she is also a co-founder and Board Member of hiPower Institute of Materials Sp. z o.o..

She is a co-author of over 130 scientific papers in renowned journals, patents and reports for industrial partners. She has participated in over 18 national and international projects, among others serving as the principal investigator on the HyStor – Small Grant Scheme project funded by Norway Grants, or SolFaCo – OPUS+LAP project founded by National Science Center. She is a member of the Polish Society of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics and the International Sol-Gel Society (ISGS).

Dr. Krzak defended her doctorate in the discipline of Materials Engineering at the AGH University of Science and Technology in Kraków. She completed her master’s degree at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology at two faculties: Chemistry and Mechanical Engineering. Her research interests include modification of surface properties of construction materials by applying nanometric and submicron sol-gel coatings, with particular emphasis on the synthesis methodology and metrology of thin films. In recent years, she has focused on adapting the properties of coatings to the working environment in line with the needs of the industry. She actively collaborates with biologists, mechanics, physicists and chemists in solving interdisciplinary problems, such as the influence of the chemical composition of coatings on mechanical, biological or optical properties.

In the years 2014-2024 she was the deputy head of the Department where she works. As part of her organizational activity, she built a strategy based on interdisciplinary development driven by cooperation with industry. She co-created the organizational structure of the Department.

Project: HyStor – Improving the Efficiency of Hydrogen Storage Vessels through Novel Oxide Coatings

www.hystor.pwr.edu.pl

Dr. Jagoda Litowczenko-Cybulska is an Associate Professor and Head of JagodaLab at the Center for Advanced Technologies (CAT) at Adam Mickiewicz University (AMU). Her primary research focus revolves around 3D bioprinting of in-vitro scaffolds for tissue engineering. She thrives in an interdisciplinary environment where she combines materials science and nanotechnology with biology to address critical healthcare challenges. Her work spans a spectrum of activities, ranging from material and scaffold design to the cultivation and differentiation of stem cells, the study of cell-material interactions, and the functional analysis of printed tissues. Presently, she is dedicated to developing novel bioinks for 3D bioprinting of human induced pluripotent stem cell derivatives. Her expertise in material engineering and cell-material interactions is well-established, with over 22 publications. She has been cited more than 800 times in high-impact journals such as Bioactive Materials, Biomaterials Advances, and Acta Biomaterialia.

Dr. Litowczenko, a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship awardee, has demonstrated her ability to secure competitive grants and lead high-impact research projects. She was the principal investigator for the GrooveNeuroTube project, funded by the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR), and the PulsBioInk project from the National Science Centre (NCN), both focused on advanced bioinks for 3D bioprinting. Additionally, Dr. Litowczenko oversees the First Team FENG project, valued at nearly 3.5 million PLN, advancing research in volumetric bioengineering and iPSC studies.

Project: GrooveNeuroTube – Multifunctional groove‐patterned tubes for increased regeneration of peripheral nervous system after injuries

https://cnbm.amu.edu.pl/en/projekty-krajowe/small-grant-scheme-2020-norway-grants-multifunctional-groove-patterned-tubes

A manager with many years of experience in preparing and managing aid programs and projects financed from public funds.

A graduate of the Faculty of Economics at Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin. She completed internships at universities in the USA, UK and the Netherlands and postgraduate studies in European integration at the University of Warsaw.

In the years 2005-2008 she was deputy president of the Agency for Restructuring and Modernization of Agriculture. In the years 2008-2016 she served as deputy president and then president (2009-2016) of the Polish Agency for Enterprise Development.

She implemented consulting projects related to the development of a new product, new business organization, the optimization of business processes and the financing of development projects. As a panelist, juror, member of the evaluation committee and mentor, she participated in numerous competitions for innovative projects and startups, as well as in acceleration programs.

Member of supervisory boards and University Councils (Warsaw School of Economics, University of Life Sciences in Lublin), the Monitoring Committee of the “Smart Growth” Operational Program, the “European Funds for Modern Economy” Operational Program and the Masovian Innovation Council. Business Center Club’s expert on innovation and EU funds. President of the management board of the Foundation for the Development of Management Education of the Warsaw School of Economics since 2021. Author of scientific and popular science publications on the use of European funds.

On August 2, 2024, she was appointed for a four-year term as first Deputy Director of the National Centre for Research and Development.

Position- Dean, The Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Bergen

From August 2021 I was appointed as the Dean of the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences. The faculty consists of seven departments which jointly represents the foundation of our research and education within disciplines such as mathematics, chemistry, physics, computer science, earth science and life sciences, and with cross-diciplinary emphasis on climate, energytransition and marine research and education.

My research focuses on biostratigraphy by applying various aspects of palynology and palynofacies as keys to understand rock-age relations (dating and correlation). My work also includes applying palynology as proxies for paleovegetation, paleoclimate, and paleogeographic reconstructions, ranging in age from the Carboniferous up to the Pliocene. Since dating and reliable correlation tools are essential in every aspect of geological mapping and paleogeographic reconstructions I have worked both on a basinwide scale as as well on developing local zonations.

My ongoing research focus includes the Triassic and Paleozoic of the Arctic areas and includes novel palynological work in areas and parts of the successions previously not studied. This has a.o. resulted in various publications from the Barents Sea/Svalbard area.

Anna Nicińska is an assistant professor at the Faculty of Economic Sciences and a researcher in the Digital Economy Lab at the University of Warsaw. She is a fellow of Bekker scholarship, and Higher Education Scholarship for Excellent Young Scholars and a coordinator of the E-Health and Public Policy lab at DELab UW. She investigates the processes of individual ageing over the life course as viewed from the perspective of behavioral and institutional economics. Her research is focused on the formation of preferences and habits over the life course; outcomes in the end of life; inter vivos and post mortem intergenerational financial transfers; non-kin networks of informal support; and smart city solutions for ageing populations.

Project: CoMobility – Co-designing Inclusive Mobility

comobility.edu.pl

Dr. Katarzyna Pala is a biotechnology expert with a background in technology transfer, commercialization, and intellectual property. She holds a degree in biotechnology from Wroclaw University of Technology and completed her PhD at the University of Wroclaw. She furthered her expertise with postgraduate studies in IP protection at Jagiellonian University.

Dr. Pala began her career as an IP specialist at PORT (Polish Center for Technology Development), advancing to Head of Commercialization in the Business Development Department. At PORT, she led IP management, sales, and commercialization efforts for R&D innovations (PORT website). She also gained international experience through a fellowship in the Commercialization Department at the University of Wollongong in Australia.

As a co-founder and former Chief Business Development Officer of SensDx, Dr. Pala has extensive experience in startup leadership. Building on her strong connections with Norwegian partners, she co-founded Food4Future Technologies, a Polish-Norwegian startup dedicated to sustainable and circular-economy-focused food production. Alongside the F4F Tech founders, she also established the Water Institute – H2O Scitech, where she focuses on water management, recirculating systems, and water treatment technologies. The H2O team specializes in Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) to produce high-quality, environmentally sustainable food in controlled conditions.

Project: USAGE – Urban Stormwater Aquaponics Garden Environment
http://www.urbanras.eu/

Socjolog, ewaluator, od 15 lat współwłaściciel Centrum Rozwoju Społeczno-Gospodarczego sp. z o.o. (przedsiębiorstwo społeczne), współpracownik Evalu, Fundacji Pole Dialogu i Ośrodka Ewaluacji. Specjalizuje się w badaniach związanych z funduszami unijnymi, innowacyjnością i przedsiębiorczością. Uczestniczył jako ekspert i koordynator w ponad 80 projektach badawczych, w tym np. Badanie ewaluacyjne na potrzeby opracowania strategii komunikacji krajowej inteligentnej specjalizacji z komponentem analizy semiotycznej, Ewaluacja ex post projektu systemowego PARP – „Doradztwo KSI KSU dla Innowacyjnych” – realizowanego w ramach Działania 5.2 PO IG i inne.

Agnieszka Ratajczak – Director, Department of International Cooperation, National Centre for Research And Development, Poland

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

Dr Pawel Rostkowski is a Senior Scientist at Department of Environmental Chemistry and Health Effects at NILU (Norway). He specializes in environmental analytical chemistry, focusing on the identification and characterization of emerging contaminants with an emphasis on non-target and suspect screening methods using high-resolution mass spectrometry. Throughout his career, Rostkowski has developed innovative methodologies for analyses of organic contaminants across various environmental matrices.

In addition to his research, he plays an active role in various international scientific and regulatory organizations. He serves on the Steering Committee of the NORMAN Association, which focuses on emerging pollutants in Europe, and represents Norway in the European Environment Information and Observation Network (EIONET) Chemicals Expert Group. He is also part of BP4NTA (Benchmarking and Prioritization of Non-Target Analysis), which aims to advance non-target analytical techniques and establish best practices for prioritizing unknown environmental contaminants. Moreover, Rostkowski contributes as an expert in the ISO technical committee ISO/TC 147/SC 2/WG 85, dedicated to developing standard method for non-target screening of water, thereby supporting improvements in environmental monitoring and chemical risk assessment.

Project: i-Clare – Intelligent remediation system for removal of harmful contaminants in water using modified reticulated vitreous carbon foams
https://iclare.eu/

Executive Director – Investments, Strategic Advice and Dialogue, Research Council of Norway

Simonsen is an agricultural economist, and has previously held the positions of State Secretary for the Department of Environment for the Norwegian Liberal Party, Research Director at the Norwegian Agricultural Economics Research Institute (now part of the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research – NIBIO) and researcher at the Norwegian College of Agriculture (now the Norwegian University of Life Sciences – NMBU). He joined the Research Council in 2000, where he has also previously been responsible for health research, global development and social science environmental research.

Undersecretary of State in The Ministry of Science and Higher Education responsible for international cooperation.

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

Michał Towpik is Vice-President of Technology Partners (www.technologypartners.pl), a Polish RTO with a strong focus on materials engineering including multifunctional composites and functional coatings. He’s also a co-founder of TMBK Partners (www.tmbk.pl), Technology Partners’ spin-off founded to commercialise its selected technologies.

Michal has participated in app. 30 international collaborative projects, mainly in the frame of H2020, Horizon Europe, Norway Grants and M-ERA.NET.

Before joining Technology Partners and co-founding TMBK, Michał has worked in strategic and financial consultancies. Michal has a Masters in Economics from the Warsaw School of Economics and an MBA from University of Minnesota.

Aleksandra Witczak Haugstad works as special adviser in the department for international cooperation at the Research Council of Norway. She has been coordinating RCNs activities towards EEA and Norway Grants Norway since 2012. An important part of this funding mechanism are the Polish-Norwegian bilateral research programmes operated by NCBR since 2012.

She is contact point for Horizon Europe for Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation actions (NCP), as well as for research cooperation with South Korea.

Her background is a PhD at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology with a specialization in the history of research policies, international scientific cooperation, and Polish history in the 20th century. She also worked with research management at the University of Oslo on topics related to the Charter and Code for Researchers.

Pawel Jerzy Wojcik, Ph.D., obtained his doctorate in Nanoscience and Nanotechnology from the New University of Lisbon, Portugal. Over the past 15 years, his academic research has concentrated on Printed Electronics, with a particular emphasis on synthesizing materials and depositing electrochemically active substances, conducted at the Research Institutes of Sweden and Linkoping University. In 2015, he established Redox.me, where he holds the positions of Managing Director and Chief Engineer. Redox.me has become a prominent global provider of electrochemical equipment for research purposes.

Project: UPTURN – Microfluidic cells for high-throughput multiple response analyses

https://upturn.site/

Konrad Wojnarowski was appointed undersecretary of the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy on January 12, 2024.

A graduate of international relations at the Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University, law at the Łazarski University and postgraduate MBA studies – energy and climate policy management at Collegium Civitas in partnership with the Paweł Adamowicz Civic Study Centre.

He graduated from doctoral studies. He defended his doctoral dissertation in the scientific discipline: legal sciences, entitled. “The NUTS classification and its relevance to European Union law and Polish national law”, at the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Warsaw.

Author of scientific publications in the field of local government law and regional policy, participant in national and international scientific conferences.

He studied in South Korea, where he completed a six-month Korean language and culture program at Yeungnam University’s Korean Language Institute.

Participant and graduate of political and social programs organized by the European Committee of the Regions, the National Democratic Institute and the School of Political Leaders.

Member of the team for the preparation of the opinion of the European Committee of the Regions on „CoR recommendations to local and regional authorities for the successful development of regional development strategies after 2020”.

Ambassador of the European Climate Pact. Member of the Mazovian Council for Public Benefit Activities.

He gained professional experience in government and local administration.

Deputy chairman of the Polish People’s Party in the Mazowieckie Voivodship and member of the group’s general council.

He has been associated with the voivodship government for years – from 2018 as a councilor, from 2023 vice-chairman of the Mazowieckie Voivodship Assembly. Until recently, chairman of the Committee on Promotion and Foreign Cooperation. He currently heads the work of the Budget and Finance Committee. Vice Chairman of the Committee on Law, Local Government, Security and Public Order.

Dr Olena Zimba has been involved in rheumatology research since 2005 and got her PhD degree in 2010. Her current research interests include axial spondyloarthritis, patient-reported outcomes, lifestyle modifications, exercise and patient education. She is an Associate Professor at the Department of Internal Medicine N2 of Danylo Halytsky Lviv National Medical University (Lviv, Ukraine), Associate Editor of the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Secretary General of the Ukrainian Council of Science Editors (UCSE), and Research Fellow at the Department of Rheumatology, Immunology and Internal Medicine of University Hospital in Krakow, Poland. Olena Zimba is an Associate Editor and Social Media Advisor of several rheumatology and general medicine journals, including Clinical Rheumatology (ILAR journal), Rheumatology International (Springer Nature) and Journal of Korean Medical Science (Seoul). 

Anna Zmiievska received her Master’s degree in space engineering from the National Aerospace University ‘KAI’ in Ukraine and did her postgraduate studies in space power engineering. 

In parallel, she worked at the same university as Manager of the International Projects and Programmes Office and was actively involved in writing proposals for various research programmes, including EU-funded Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, bilateral programmes, Clean Sky 2, on topics such as materials science, composites, space, robotics, ICT, etc. 

Anna joined the Technology Partners Foundation in 2022 and is involved in both research and resource mobilisation for research development. She is actively involved in finding and evaluating funding opportunities, writing proposals, negotiating with partners, and managing several funded projects on the administrative side.