EU Day bij de EUR 2025

Sprekers o.a. (biografieën in het Engels)

• Thea Hilhorst

  Dorothea Hilhorst is a professor of humanitarian studies at the International Institute for Social Studies (ISS) of Erasmus University in The Hague. She defines humanitarian studies as “the study of societies and vulnerable communities experiencing humanitarian crisis originating from disaster, conflict, refugee situations, and/ or political collapse. It studies the causes and impact of crisis; how people, communities and authorities respond to them, including efforts for prevention and preparedness; how humanitarian action and other external interventions are organized and affect the recovery from crises; and the institutional changes that crises and crisis response engender”. She has a special interest in the intersections of humanitarianism with development, peacebuilding and gender-relations. She currently implements an ERC advanced grant programme on humanitarian governance. She is also part of a research team studying the prevalence of transactional sex in humanitarian crisis situations. In 2022, she was awarded the Spinoza Price, the highest scientific distinction in the Netherlands. Email: hilhorst@iss.nl Twitter: @hilhorst_thea

  

• Eveline Crone

  Prof. Eveline Crone is professor in Developmental Neuroscience in Society at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Professor of Neurocognitive Developmental Psychology at Leiden University. Her Society, Youth and Neuroscience Connected (SYNC) lab examines the psychological and neural processes involved in self-regulation and social development from birth to adulthood, with a special focus on adolescence. Her research relies strongly on neuroscience and translational approaches, involving societal partners and youth in the full research cycle and with a direct link to youth policy. Crone is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), Corresponding Fellow of The British Academy, and Member of the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS). She is the President of the International Flux Society for Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience and past Vice-President for Social Sciences and Humanities of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC), the European Commission’s flagship program for excellent science.

  

• Joep Roet

  As deputy director at Neth-ER, Joep Roet takes care of the smooth operations of the association. He coordinates the policy work and meetings with members and ministries. He also follows the EU budget and the shaping of the next framework programme, FP10.

  Joep started at the Netherlands house for Education and Research in 2019. He has worked on many files since, including Horizon 2020/Europe, Erasmus+, the European Research Area, international cooperation, digitalisation and the Green Deal.

  Previous roles include Porter Novelli Brussels and the European Health Parliament, as well as internships at the European Commission and the Dutch Foreign Ministry.

  Joep studied international relations at the Diplomatische Akademie Wien, Chinese at Beijing Language and Culture University, and geography & politics at University College Utrecht.

  

• Fatma Saçli

  Fatma Saçli is National Contact Person at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) for Horizon Europe, cluster 5 Mobility. Acting in this capacity, she is a member of the Dutch national delegations at the Programme Committee of Horizon Europe, cluster 5: climate, energy, mobility; at the States’ Representatives Group of Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking and at the States Representatives’ Group of CCAM (Connected, Cooperative and Automated Mobility) Partnership. Fatma holds a PhD degree in public administration at Erasmus University Rotterdam.

  

• Thijs van den Broek

  Thijs van den Broek is assistant professor in the Socio-Medical Sciences research group at the Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management.  He is a quantitative social scientist focusing on wellbeing, health and (informal and formal) care use, in particular of older people and migrants. He serves as Associate Editor of the diamond open access journal Demographic Research and has led projects funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the Economic Social Research Council (ESRC, UK). Previously, he held a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship for a project on the health and wellbeing of Turkish migrants in Europe.

  

• Hub Zwart

  Hub Zwart studied philosophy and psychology at Radboud University Nijmegen and defended his thesis in 1993. In 2000 he became full Professor of Philosophy at the Faculty of Science Radboud University Nijmegen and in 2018 he was appointed as Dean of Erasmus School of Philosophy (EUR). He is or has been coordinator of several EU-funded projects such as PRINTEGER (on research integrity) and IANUS (on trust in science). Recently, he published Continental Philosophy of Technoscience (Springer/Nature 2022, open access).

  

• Kimberly Couvson-Liebe

  Dr. Kimberly Couvson-Liebe is Scientific Officer at DLR Projektträger in Bonn, Germany, where she is also National Contact Point (NCP) for Horizon Europe Cluster 2, “Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society,” and part of the coordination team for the EU-funded Cluster 2 NCP network project, Net4Society. Kimberly’s focus as NCP and within Net4Society is on SSH Integration — the interdisciplinary collaboration between researchers from the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) and Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) disciplines in Horizon Europe. She is actively involved in promoting interdisciplinarity and recently organized two workshops on the topic of SSH Integration with the European Commission aimed at improving articulation of Social Sciences and Humanities research involvement in technology and innovation-oriented project calls. Kimberly holds a PhD in Sociocultural Anthropology from Cornell University (USA), and a Masters in Regional Studies East Asia (Chinese society and culture concentration) from Harvard.

  

• Rosalba Icaza

  Rosalba Icaza is Professor of Global Politics, Feminisms and Decoloniality and Vice-Dean of Research at the International Institute of Social Studies.

  Professor Icaza conducts societally engaged research of global politics and epistemic justice in development studies. Her teaching has contributed to developing a new area of research-led teaching on epistemic justice, decoloniality, and the politics of knowledge. Her most recent publications have appeared in Oxford University Press, MIT Press, Duke University Press, Bloomsbury, Routledge, Globalizations, Development and Change, and Third World Quarterly.

  Professor Icaza has received twice the prestigious EU Commission Marie Skłodowska Curie Research Grant, currently acts as scientific mentor of a Marie Slodowska Curie Post-doctoral researcher at ISS. She has also co-led and/or actively contributed to two Erasmus Plus Mobility Grants (Changing our Story: The Pursuit of Inclusive Education and Diversity in European Dance Education), one EU COST Action Network (Decolonizing Development) and one EU-International Training Network (WEGO-IT).

  

• Bozhidar Ivanov

  Dr. Bozhidar Ivanov, Project Manager Major Research Initiatives - currently managing JustWind4All, CUES and FAiR - three large-scale international projects on key European policy issues [green transition, sustainability, migration,]. His background is in cross-national comparative urban planning and policy as well as in management in various industries. He has done research in Germany, Spain, Netherlands, and Bulgaria and has managed international collaborative projects in different sectors. He has also led and conducted research for the EP and EC. Former Marie Sklodowska-Curie fellow (MSCA).

  

• Maarten IJzerman

  Professor Maarten IJzerman is Dean of Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management. Maarten has led research teams in Canada, the Netherlands and Australia focussing on cancer genomics and data-informed optimisation of cancer health services. He served as member of research evaluation panels in Europe (Horizon, Cancer Mission board and Innovative Medicines/Health Initiative, NWO), Australia (including NHMRC and MRFF), Netherlands (NWO) and other countries (e.g. Singapore). He was a Principal or Co-Investigator in several EU consortia (Horizon, MSCA-ITN, COST), the NHMRC and Medical Research Future Fund (Australia), the Canadian Institute for Healthcare Research (CIHR) and Genome Canada. Maarten is listed in the top 2% of most cited scientist (Stanford-Elsevier) and is a member of the Lancet commission on colorectal cancer. Since January 2024, he is the chair of the steering board of Erasmus 2030 strategy. A role he shares with Harriët Schelhaas, dean of Erasmus School of Law.

  

• Marleen van den Berg

  Marleen van den Berg studied Biology at the Utrecht University. She works at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency as National Contact point for the European Frameworks for Research and Innovation. During Horizon2020 her role was National Contact point for the Societal challenge on Health, demographic change and wellbeing. Since the start of Horizon Europe she works in the role of Dutch NCP for the Marie Sklodowska Curie Programme, and recently in combination with the NCP role for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). She has also been involved in the Widening participation and spreading excellence programme and Cluster 2 on Culture, creativity and Inclusive society.

  

• Anita Harrewijn

  Dr. Anita Harrewijn is an assistant professor in Clinical Psychology. Why do some adolescents develop anxiety disorders, while others do not? Dr. Harrewijn studies neural and behavioral correlates of attention bias and social stress to answer this question. Dr. Harrewijn studies social and neural moderators of the temperament-anxiety association using Generation R data, as part of a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship. Before, she was a post-doctoral researcher at the National Institute of Mental Health in the US. She led several fMRI and behavioral studies with children with and without anxiety disorders and analyzed data from a 16-year longitudinal fMRI study. She has received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Leiden University (The Netherlands).

  

• Jantine Schuit

  Jantine Schuit is Rector Magnificus of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her portfolio includes Education; Research; Student affairs, Social safety, Knowledge security, Recognition & Rewards and Library.
  
  She is a Professor of Health, Behaviour and Society, specializing in the domains of health behavior and health promotion. Her research is dedicated to assessing the efficacy of various interventions, including behavioral strategies, environmental modifications, and overarching policy initiatives, with a particular focus on their impact on health and health-related behaviors.
  
  One facet of her research examines the intricate relationship between social and built environments and their influence on children's physical activity levels. Furthermore, she investigates the effectiveness of policies, such as those pertaining to food and pricing, in promoting healthier dietary habits. Additionally, she delves into the consequences of transport policies on active commuting behaviors.
  
  Beyond her investigative work, she possesses expertise in bridging the gap between scientific evidence and the development of effective public policies and practical implementations in the field of health promotion.

  

• Meri Georgievska-van de Laar

  Ms. Meri Georgievska - van de Laar is the EU Liaison Officer of Erasmus University Rotterdam and strategic advisor on EU matters, connecting the EUR to the broader European funding and policy landscapes. In this role she works on enhancing the university's visibility and on promoting its scientific excellence and societal contributions.

  Operating at the intersection of strategy and public affairs Meri acts as a bridge between the EU and EUR’s research, education, and innovation initiatives. By ensuring EUR's proactive representation at the European level, Meri fosters strategic engagement, builds partnerships, identifies funding opportunities, and facilitates participation in EU events - both in Brussels and at EUR - helping researchers secure funding and influence European research and innovation policies and agendas. Meri holds a transversal role, and collaborates closely with university leaders, researchers, and various EUR departments, connecting major initiatives and academic communities. As such has been involved in some of the most strategic EU funded collaborations at our university, including our European University Alliance UNIC, the EIT Knowledge and Innovation Community on Culture and Creative industries, our new European Bauhaus Lighthouse project on Culture Campus.
   
  She is EU Public Affairs specialist, holding MA in EU Public Affairs from University of Maastricht, and over 20 years of professional engagement in the public and private sector, combining extensive experience in strategic relationships and partnerships management, and at the same time working in matrix organizations with multi-level, multicultural and multi-stakeholders’ environments, building and managing diverse teams and collaborations.

  

• Jovana Ostojic

  Jovana “Jovie” Ostojic is a Science Communications Advisor at Erasmus University Rotterdam, where she transforms complex research into engaging, story-driven content that connects academia with society. With a flair for social media and a passion for science, innovation, and impact, she helps researchers shine while amplifying the university’s civic mission.

  Before diving into science communication, Jovana built a career as an international criminal lawyer at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and Special Court for Sierra Leone. Today, she uses that same drive for justice and societal change to craft content that informs, inspires, and creates real-world resonance.

  Jovana is especially drawn to stories that spark positive change - whether through ground-breaking research or community collaboration. Outside of work, she enjoys tackling home renovation projects, baking with her kids, and cheering on her favorite Eurovision acts.

  

• Conrad Heilmann

  Conrad Heilmann is Professor of Philosophy of Economics at Erasmus School of Philosophy (ESPhil), where he also serves as vice-dean of research and co-director of the Erasmus Institute for Philosophy and Economics (EIPE). He is core faculty of the Erasmus Initiative “Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity” and a research associate at the London School of Economics (LSE). His research centres on the methodology and ethics of economics, especially regarding finance, fairness, and rational decision-making about the future. He is co-editor of the Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Economics. He has experience in conducting and evaluating Horizon 2020 research projects, especially Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), as well as other national research agencies in Europe and North America.

  

• Angela Noble

  Angela Noble is Coordinator of the ERS Pre-award Grants Team and Senior Collaborative Proposal Development Partner. Angela has over 20 years’ experience as grant advisor having worked at the University of Edinburgh and led the European Grants pre-award team, and then moving to Leiden University where her focus was on developing collaborative and individual grant proposals for both NL and European funding schemes. In her role within the University at ERS Angela, along with her colleagues, focuses her attention on developing major research initiatives supported by the Coordinatorship Enablement Package, collaborating with grant offices based within the Faculties on matching opportunities with researchers and contributing towards the development of research strategies.

  

• Jun Borras

  Jun Borras is Professor of Agrarian Studies at the International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). He was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Peasant Studies for fifteen years, until 2023. He is a recipient of ERC Advance Grant, 2019-2025, for his research project studying the global land rush in Africa, Latin America and Asia. He works in the tradition of scholar-activism, a method of work that engages closely with grassroots social movements.

  

• Jason Pridmore

  Prof. dr. Jason Pridmore is a professor of Human Centric Artificial Intelligence and Society in the department of Media and Communication within the Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication. He is the co-director of the Community for Learning Innovation and the co-lead of the AI strategy working group at Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). Jason is the coordinator of both COALESCE, which will build a European Science Communication Competency Centre, and SEISMEC, an EU funded project piloting Human Centric Industry innovations across Europe. Jason is also the lead on several projects with his research team, including Energenius and the Inspiring and Anchoring Trust in Science project. Previously, Jason led the TRESCA, SPATIAL and BIM-SPEED projects. As an advocate of collaborative research, his ongoing research efforts focus on practices of digital science communication, digital identification, the use of new technologies in everyday contexts such as work.

  

• Anca Miclea-Faciu

  Anca Miclea-Faciu is Senior Collaborative Proposal Development Partner in the ERS Pre-award Grants team and Interim Coordinator of the ERS Project Management Team. Anca has worked for almost 20 years in European funding, both in the public sector at the Ministry of European Affairs in Romania and in the private sector. The experience gained as consultant, project evaluator, proposal developer and project manager of various programs and projects in the fields of education, social inclusion, human capital, entrepreneurship and other has helped her to get a profound understanding of the intricacies of collaborative grants. In her role within ERS Anca, along with her colleagues, focuses her attention on providing solid support to EUR researchers developing major research initiatives under the Coordinatorship Enablement Package and collaborating with grant offices based within the Faculties on matching opportunities with researchers and organizing sessions and trainings on funding opportunities.

  

• Michiel Besters

  Michiel Besters is the Director of Engagement and Research Services (ERS) at Erasmus University Rotterdam. With a background spanning academic research, public policy, and university leadership, he brings a deep commitment to connecting research with real-world impact. Michiel is passionate about supporting researchers in creating societal value through collaboration, co-creation, and transdisciplinary approaches. At EUR, he aims to strengthen research support, align efforts with institutional strategy, and help bridge the gap between academia and society - ensuring that research not only meets high standards, but also contributes meaningfully to addressing urgent societal challenges.

  

• Susanne Janssen

  Susanne Janssen is full professor of Sociology of Media and Culture and research director of the Department of Media and Communication ( ESHCC). She is a member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW) and a board member of the Social Sciences and Humanities domain at the Dutch Research Council (NWO). Susanne Janssen has extensive experience in international comparative and collaborative research and has led several large-scale research projects, including a VICI (NWO) and HERA (EU) project. She recently served as coordinator of the Horizon 2020 project INVENT: European Inventory of Societal Values of Culture as a Basis for Inclusive Cultural Policies in the Globalizing World.

  As founding dean of Communication and Media at EUR, she spearheaded the development of various successful international degree programs and the Erasmus Research Centre for Media, Communication, and Culture (ERMeCC, renamed ERMeCHS in 2023).

  

• René Repasi

  René Repasi is Professor of Law at Erasmus University Rotterdam, holding the co-chair of ‘Public and Private Interests’ at Erasmus School of Law, and Chairman of ESL’s Faculty Council. Since February 2022, he is also Member of the European Parliament. He is the Head of the German SPD delegation in the European Parliament and Coordinator of the S&D Group in the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI). After re-election to the European Parliament in 2024, he also joined the committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) focussing on research policy. He was shadow rapporteur of the recent Parliament report on the future 10th Research Framework Programme. Prior to becoming an MEP, he was also acting as evaluator and panel member for the ERC Advanced Grant in the area of social sciences. Repasi joined ESL in 2014 as scientific coordinator of the European Research Centre for Economic and Financial Governance of the Universities of Leiden, Delft and Rotterdam, after his defended his PhD at the University of Heidelberg, and pursued his academic career at EUR until his appointment as professor in 2021. He studied German and French law at the Universities of Heidelberg and Montpellier.

  

• Inga Hoever

  Inga Hoever is Professor of Organizational Behavior and Teamwork at the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) and RSM’s vice-dean of research. She also serves as the scientific director of the Erasmus Research Institute in Management (ERIM) – an interfaculty institute bringing together research in the broad domain of management across RSM and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) – and as the director of the ERIM graduate school (home to both a full-time and a part-time PhD program). Her research focuses on how to promote effective teamwork and collaboration in organizations, with a particular focus on how to achieve collective creative outcomes and the role of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her research is regularly published in the top-outlets in the field and she recently completed a term as Associate Editor of Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

  

• Job van Exel

  Job van Exel is Professor of Health Economics, Director of Research and Vice Dean of Erasmus School of Health Policy & Management, and chair of the board of the joint European Master programme in Health Economics and Management. His research focuses on improving methods for economic evaluations in health and social care, and the analysis of health preferences and behaviours. Over the years, he has collaborated with academic and non-academic partners in approx. 15 internationally and 25 nationally funded projects, and he is involved in the Erasmus Initiative Smarter Choices for Better Health and several collaborations with colleagues at other EUR faculties, Erasmus MC and TU Delft in the context of Convergence.

  

• Fabian Amtenbrink

  Fabian Amtenbrink is Vice Dean of the Erasmus School of Law of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. He is also professor at the Erasmus School of Law of the Erasmus University Rotterdam where he holds the chair of European Union law. Since 2009 he is also visiting Professor at the College of Europe (Bruges, Belgium). He is member of the Scientific Board of the Erasmus Center for Economic and Financial Governance (ECEFG), an international multidisciplinary network lead by Erasmus School of Economics and Erasmus School of Law.

  Professor Amtenbrink, who studied law at the Freie Universität of Berlin (Germany) and is fully qualified in Germany to practice law, holds a Dutch doctorate in law (PhD) with distinction. His research focuses on constitutional and institutional aspects of European Union law, legal issues of (European) economic and monetary and financial market integration. One hallmark of his research is the cooperation with economists and political economists, as becomes apparent from his co-authored publications in economics journals and in the working paper series of (inter-) national economic and financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund and the Dutch Central Bank. He has published extensively in international journals, such as the European Law Review, the Common Market Law Review, and the Journal of Common Market Studies, as well as with leading international academic publishers, including Oxford University Press and Cambridge University Press. He serves on the editorial board of the European Law Review and the Netherlands Yearbook for International Law, as well as being a principal editor of the Nijhoff Studies in EU Law Series (Brill Academic Publishers).

  Professor Amtenbrink has provided expert evidence and co-authored several studies for the European Parliament and on several occasions has provided expert evidence to the Dutch Parliament, including on two separate occasions as a member of an expert group appointed by Finance Committee of the Dutch Parliament (2021 and 2023) delivering two publicly-available reports offering respectively (1) an economic and legal analysis of the ECB’s position during the European sovereign debt and (2) the ECB’s position during the COVID-19 pandemic and thereafter, including the development of central bank profits and losses.

  Professor Amtenbrink was in the past the Erasmus University Rotterdam academic lead for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action Innovative Training Networks project EUTIP (2017-2021) (grant agreement ID 721916) and currently serves as the EUR lead researcher in the Jean Monnet Network PROSPER (Project to Research Opportunities to Strengthen Prosperity and Economic Resilience in the EU) that seeks to address contemporary challenges faced by the European Union, focusing particularly on economic resilience.

  He has served as an independent reviewer/expert for scientific project proposals and project progress monitoring, mainly for the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and the European Executive Research Agency (Jean Monnet Action, Horizon 2020), and has also been acting as an external reviewer in the research assessment exercises of foreign research institutions.

  

• Xandra Kramer

  Xandra Kramer is Professor of Private Law at Erasmus University Rotterdam and Professor of Private International Law at Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Her research focuses on access to justice and justice innovation, the functioning of civil justice systems, cross-border complex litigation, e-justice, collective actions and  costs and funding of litigation. She is an elected member of the Dutch Royal Academy of Arts and Sciences (KNAW), the Institut de Droit International (IDI) and currently serves on the Council of the European Law Institute (ELI).

  She was awarded an ERC consolidator grant for her project Building EU civil justice: challenges of procedural innovations - bridging access to justice (2017-2022); www.euciviljustice.eu. She also obtained a Vidi grant (2010) and a Vici grant (2019) from NWO, has been a project leader and has participated in numerous studies for the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice, the European Parliament, and the European Commission.