4EU+ Visioning Conference

Speakers

Opening session

Chair: Sabine Bottin-Rousseau

4EU+ EUP Coordinator

Sorbonne University

Keynote speech: Vanessa Debiais Sainton

Head of Unit Higher Education

DG EAC

Sabine Bottin-Rousseau is Professor of Physics at the Institut des NanoSciences de Paris at Sorbonne University. Since the start of 2022, she has been the Sorbonne University presidency’s representative for 4EU+ and the coordinator of the European University project. She is also Director of the Open and Distance Learning Department at the Faculty of Science and Engineering. She has conducted several successful projects focused on blended and distance learning, digital resources and online exams. On the physics research side, she was the principal investigator of the ANPHASES project (ANR-M-era.net, 2014-2018), a Franco-German research project on the anisotropy of eutectic solidification interfaces. She is also participating in the TRANSPARENT ALLOYS project: ESA's multi-user instrument for the International Space Station.

Vanessa Debiais-Sainton is Head of the Unit in charge of Higher Education policies and programme at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture. The unit is the lead service for European policies on reform and modernisation of higher education, the new European Universities initiative, automatic mutual recognition of higher education qualifications, the creation of the EU student card, and the higher education strand of Erasmus+. In previous posts in the European Commission, Vanessa has worked in DG Research and Innovation. Before moving to the European Commission in 2006, Vanessa spent eight years working for several petroleum and chemical companies.

Part 1: Plenary session

Moderator: Berni Hasenknopf

Chair of 4EU+ Academic Council

Sorbonne University

Bernold Hasenknopf has obtained his academic training in Germany, France, the UK, and the USA. He is chemistry professor since 1997 at Sorbonne University (formerly UPMC) in Paris, France. His research interests focus on supramolecular chemistry of multimetallic assemblies or cyclodextrines, and their interactions with biomolecules. As a teacher, he always engaged in innovative teaching methods, that he defended also as director of the Master of chemistry, member of the Academic Council, and board member of the educational support center “Capsule” in his university. He is regularly appointed to national and international evaluation committees for research, teaching or academic governance. Currently, he serves as Chair of the Academic Council of 4EU+, and as Senior Advisor for European Commitment at the President’s Office of Sorbonne University.

Sophia Schwemmer

Heidelberg University

Miriam Koktvedgaard Zeitzen

University of Copenhagen

Sophia Schwemmer is a Postdoc researcher at the Institute for Comparative Law, Conflict of Laws and International Business Law at Heidelberg University (Chair of Prof. Dr. Marc-Philippe Weller). Drawing from her previous practical experience as an attorney for Tax and Corporate Law, she has advised 4EU+ regarding the establishment of a legal entity.

Miriam Koktvedgaard Zeitzen is TRAIN4EU project manager, based in the Research and Innovation Department at University of Copenhagen, DK. She has a PhD in Social Anthropology from University of Cambridge, UK. She has worked 25+ years in research, applied research, teaching and administration at University of Copenhagen and the National Museum of Denmark, as well as museums and universities in Europe, Asia and North America.

Daniela Sauge

University of Geneva

Francesca Villata

University of Milan

Ms. Daniela Sauge is the Head of The Academic Exchange Office (SMAC) of the University of Geneva since 2018. The SMAC actively contributes to the implementation of UNIGE’s international strategy through the setting up of academic exchange, mainly for studying but also for research. It is also responsible for the maintenance and conclusion of collaborations at the European level.Between 2006 and 2018, Ms. Daniela Sauge was the administrator of the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences at the University of Geneva, managing and co-ordinating the administrative, financial and human resources of this research center. She worked from 1994 to 2006 in the administrative department of various private companies, setting up the administrative tools and procedures for two of them.Ms. Daniela Sauge holds a master degree in Psychology from the University of Geneva; her activity is mainly oriented towards change management and team support in the framework of the improvement of processes and procedures.

Francesca C. Villata is Full professor of International Law at the University of Milan, where she teaches Private International Law, International Contracts and Arbitration, International Financial Markets Law, and Cross-Border Family Law. Within 4EU+ Alliance she serves as WP2 leader and co-chair of WG Education. She has been a member of several legislative panels, such as the Expert group on conflict of laws regarding securities and claims (European Commission, DG Justice), the DLT Governing Law and Jurisdiction Working Group (Financial Market Law Committee, London) and the Working-group for the implementation of private international law rules on civil partnerships (Italian Ministry of Justice). Finally, Professor Villata is managing editor of the Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale and, since 2013, she has been working on several DG Justice funded project in the area of EU private international law, as coordinator and/or member (EFFORTS, IC2BE, EUFam’s I, EUFam’s II, EUPillar, Insolvency, Suxreg).

Part 2: Testimonials

Moderator: Marta Lis

Heidelberg University student

Marta Lis is a Student Executive Committee of 4EU+ at University of Heidelberg and also a Vice Chair of Student Committe of 4EU+. She actively works on promoting 4EU+ on different local and international events like Annual Meetings of 4EU+, European Student Assembly 2022, 4EU+ Day in Milan, Campus des Universités européennes in Paris. She is also a part of Psychology Students' Association and Student Representative at Grand Faculty Council of Faculty of Behavioural and Cultural Studies at her university.

Karolina Mroziewicz

University of Warsaw

Fabiana Meloni

University of Milan

Karolina Mroziewicz, PhD is an assistant professor and deputy director of student affairs in the Institute of Art History of the University of Warsaw. Since 2021 she has coordinated a didactic module "Visual Literacy: Understanding Images across Europe – Past and Present”, carried out in collaboration with the Charles University in Prague and the University of Milan, implemented as part of the 4EU+ Alliance.

Fabiana Meloni works at the Faculty of Law at the University of Milan: She deals with the organisation of conferences and communication through social media and website. She partcipated in the “Staff Mobility for Training” programme and spent two weeks at Sorbonne University where she worked at the 4EU+ Office and at the Communication Department.

Part 3: Panel discussion

Antonella Baldi

4EU+ Management Committee member

University of Milan

Lenka Rovná

4EU+ Management Committee member

Charles University

Antonella Baldi is Full Professor in Animal Nutrition at the University of Milan, where she serves as Vice-Rector for Internationalization since 2018. Her main interests in research are the role of animal nutrition and welfare in the production of high quality and healthy food of animal origin, in particular milk. She has been very involved in the activities of COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). She has held the position of Vice-President of the Association for Science and Animal Production (ASPA) and has been member of the board of European Association of Animal Production. She is Editor of the Journal “Animal” in the section of Product Quality, Human Health and Well-being.

Prof. PhDr. Lenka A. Rovná, CSc. is a Jean Monnet Chair Ad Personam and three times the bearer of Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in European Studies at Charles University (the first in Central/Eastern Europe). She served as a Vice Rector of Charles University in Prague for European Affairs (2014 – 2022) and have been teaching since 1995 at the Department of European Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences. Lenka Rovná is a member of the Executive Board of Coimbra Group (2016 - ) and a member of Management Committee of the European University Alliance 4EU+ from its foundation in 2018, currently she is a member of Rector’s Board and her representative in 4EU+.

Peter Lievens

Vice Rector International Policy, Interculturality and Alumni Policy, KU Leuven (Una Europa)

Daniela Trani

Director of the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) Alliance

Peter Lievens is Professor of Experimental Physics at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Science, KU Leuven, Belgium. After his PhD at KU Leuven in nuclear physics (1991) he was Fellow at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland before returning to Belgium in 1993 to switch research topics towards nanoscience and experimental quantum physics as Postdoctoral Researcher of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). He obtained tenure in 2001 as Research Professor and is Full Professor at KU Leuven since 2007. The focus of his work is on investigations of physical and chemical properties of atomic clusters and nanoparticles. In 2008 he became Vice Dean for Education of the Faculty of Science, where he got elected as Dean, taking office from 2009 until 2017. Since August 2017 he is Vice Rector at KU Leuven, currently responsible for International Policy, Interculturality and Alumni Policy.

Dr Daniela Traniis the Director of the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) Alliance at Maastricht University. Dr Trani was one of the main developers of the YUFE Erasmus+ pilot proposal selected by the European Commission as one of the first 17 pilot European Universities Initiatives in June 2019. Subsequently to the selection, she was appointed Director of the Alliance. Previously, she worked as Senior Advisor for International Research Policy at the department of Academic Affairs of Maastricht University. She holds an MSc degree in Physics (cum laude, 2003) from the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, and a PhD in Thoracic Oncology and Applied Biotechnology (2007) from the Second University of Naples, Italy. She worked as NASA/NSBRI postdoctoral fellow in the field of space radiation biology at Georgetown University (2008-2011) and then as senior researcher at the Department of Radiotherapy at Maastricht University (2011-2014).

Siegfried Martin Diaz

Head of the department on European higher education and research strategies, French Ministry of Higher Education and Research

Graduate of the College of Europe, associate professor in economics and management, Siegfried Martin-Diaz directs the department of strategies for the European area of higher education and research within the delegation for European and international affairs of the Ministry of higher education and research. This department is in charge of monitoring European policies and negotiations in the areas covered by the MESR. Passionate about European issues and knowledge policies, he previously worked at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in embassies as a scientific and university cooperation attaché, as well as at the General Secretariat for European Affairs.


Moderator: Berni Hasenknopf Chair of 4EU+ Academic Council Sorbonne University
Bernold Hasenknopf has obtained his academic training in Germany, France, the UK, and the USA. He is chemistry professor since 1997 at Sorbonne University (formerly UPMC) in Paris, France. His research interests focus on supramolecular chemistry of multimetallic assemblies or cyclodextrines, and their interactions with biomolecules. As a teacher, he always engaged in innovative teaching methods, that he defended also as director of the Master of chemistry, member of the Academic Council, and board member of the educational support center “Capsule” in his university. He is regularly appointed to national and international evaluation committees for research, teaching or academic governance. Currently, he serves as Chair of the Academic Council of 4EU+, and as Senior Advisor for European Commitment at the President’s Office of Sorbonne University.


Sophia Schwemmer Heidelberg University		Miriam Koktvedgaard Zeitzen University of Copenhagen
Sophia Schwemmer is a Postdoc researcher at the Institute for Comparative Law, Conflict of Laws and International Business Law at Heidelberg University (Chair of Prof. Dr. Marc-Philippe Weller). Drawing from her previous practical experience as an attorney for Tax and Corporate Law, she has advised 4EU+ regarding the establishment of a legal entity.		Miriam Koktvedgaard Zeitzen is TRAIN4EU project manager, based in the Research and Innovation Department at University of Copenhagen, DK. She has a PhD in Social Anthropology from University of Cambridge, UK. She has worked 25+ years in research, applied research, teaching and administration at University of Copenhagen and the National Museum of Denmark, as well as museums and universities in Europe, Asia and North America.


Daniela Sauge University of Geneva		Francesca Villata University of Milan
Ms. Daniela Sauge is the Head of The Academic Exchange Office (SMAC) of the University of Geneva since 2018. The SMAC actively contributes to the implementation of UNIGE’s international strategy through the setting up of academic exchange, mainly for studying but also for research. It is also responsible for the maintenance and conclusion of collaborations at the European level.Between 2006 and 2018, Ms. Daniela Sauge was the administrator of the Swiss Center for Affective Sciences at the University of Geneva, managing and co-ordinating the administrative, financial and human resources of this research center. She worked from 1994 to 2006 in the administrative department of various private companies, setting up the administrative tools and procedures for two of them.Ms. Daniela Sauge holds a master degree in Psychology from the University of Geneva; her activity is mainly oriented towards change management and team support in the framework of the improvement of processes and procedures.		Francesca C. Villata is Full professor of International Law at the University of Milan, where she teaches Private International Law, International Contracts and Arbitration, International Financial Markets Law, and Cross-Border Family Law. Within 4EU+ Alliance she serves as WP2 leader and co-chair of WG Education. She has been a member of several legislative panels, such as the Expert group on conflict of laws regarding securities and claims (European Commission, DG Justice), the DLT Governing Law and Jurisdiction Working Group (Financial Market Law Committee, London) and the Working-group for the implementation of private international law rules on civil partnerships (Italian Ministry of Justice). Finally, Professor Villata is managing editor of the Rivista di diritto internazionale privato e processuale and, since 2013, she has been working on several DG Justice funded project in the area of EU private international law, as coordinator and/or member (EFFORTS, IC2BE, EUFam’s I, EUFam’s II, EUPillar, Insolvency, Suxreg).


Moderator: Marta Lis Heidelberg University student
Marta Lis is a Student Executive Committee of 4EU+ at University of Heidelberg and also a Vice Chair of Student Committe of 4EU+. She actively works on promoting 4EU+ on different local and international events like Annual Meetings of 4EU+, European Student Assembly 2022, 4EU+ Day in Milan, Campus des Universités européennes in Paris. She is also a part of Psychology Students' Association and Student Representative at Grand Faculty Council of Faculty of Behavioural and Cultural Studies at her university.


Karolina Mroziewicz University of Warsaw		Fabiana Meloni University of Milan
Karolina Mroziewicz, PhD is an assistant professor and deputy director of student affairs in the Institute of Art History of the University of Warsaw. Since 2021 she has coordinated a didactic module "Visual Literacy: Understanding Images across Europe – Past and Present”, carried out in collaboration with the Charles University in Prague and the University of Milan, implemented as part of the 4EU+ Alliance.		Fabiana Meloni works at the Faculty of Law at the University of Milan: She deals with the organisation of conferences and communication through social media and website. She partcipated in the “Staff Mobility for Training” programme and spent two weeks at Sorbonne University where she worked at the 4EU+ Office and at the Communication Department.


Antonella Baldi 4EU+ Management Committee member University of Milan		Lenka Rovná 4EU+ Management Committee member Charles University
Antonella Baldi is Full Professor in Animal Nutrition at the University of Milan, where she serves as Vice-Rector for Internationalization since 2018. Her main interests in research are the role of animal nutrition and welfare in the production of high quality and healthy food of animal origin, in particular milk. She has been very involved in the activities of COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology). She has held the position of Vice-President of the Association for Science and Animal Production (ASPA) and has been member of the board of European Association of Animal Production. She is Editor of the Journal “Animal” in the section of Product Quality, Human Health and Well-being.		Prof. PhDr. Lenka A. Rovná, CSc. is a Jean Monnet Chair Ad Personam and three times the bearer of Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in European Studies at Charles University (the first in Central/Eastern Europe). She served as a Vice Rector of Charles University in Prague for European Affairs (2014 – 2022) and have been teaching since 1995 at the Department of European Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences. Lenka Rovná is a member of the Executive Board of Coimbra Group (2016 - ) and a member of Management Committee of the European University Alliance 4EU+ from its foundation in 2018, currently she is a member of Rector’s Board and her representative in 4EU+.


Peter Lievens Vice Rector International Policy, Interculturality and Alumni Policy, KU Leuven (Una Europa)		Daniela Trani Director of the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) Alliance
Peter Lievens is Professor of Experimental Physics at the Department of Physics and Astronomy, Faculty of Science, KU Leuven, Belgium. After his PhD at KU Leuven in nuclear physics (1991) he was Fellow at CERN, Geneva, Switzerland before returning to Belgium in 1993 to switch research topics towards nanoscience and experimental quantum physics as Postdoctoral Researcher of the Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO). He obtained tenure in 2001 as Research Professor and is Full Professor at KU Leuven since 2007. The focus of his work is on investigations of physical and chemical properties of atomic clusters and nanoparticles. In 2008 he became Vice Dean for Education of the Faculty of Science, where he got elected as Dean, taking office from 2009 until 2017. Since August 2017 he is Vice Rector at KU Leuven, currently responsible for International Policy, Interculturality and Alumni Policy.		Dr Daniela Traniis the Director of the Young Universities for the Future of Europe (YUFE) Alliance at Maastricht University. Dr Trani was one of the main developers of the YUFE Erasmus+ pilot proposal selected by the European Commission as one of the first 17 pilot European Universities Initiatives in June 2019. Subsequently to the selection, she was appointed Director of the Alliance. Previously, she worked as Senior Advisor for International Research Policy at the department of Academic Affairs of Maastricht University. She holds an MSc degree in Physics (cum laude, 2003) from the University of Naples Federico II, Italy, and a PhD in Thoracic Oncology and Applied Biotechnology (2007) from the Second University of Naples, Italy. She worked as NASA/NSBRI postdoctoral fellow in the field of space radiation biology at Georgetown University (2008-2011) and then as senior researcher at the Department of Radiotherapy at Maastricht University (2011-2014).


Siegfried Martin Diaz Head of the department on European higher education and research strategies, French Ministry of Higher Education and Research
Graduate of the College of Europe, associate professor in economics and management, Siegfried Martin-Diaz directs the department of strategies for the European area of higher education and research within the delegation for European and international affairs of the Ministry of higher education and research. This department is in charge of monitoring European policies and negotiations in the areas covered by the MESR. Passionate about European issues and knowledge policies, he previously worked at the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, in embassies as a scientific and university cooperation attaché, as well as at the General Secretariat for European Affairs.