Its members contribute independent insights, ensuring alignment with EU priorities and enhancing the project’s impact.
Professor Emeritus
Innovation Economics and Policy | Knowledge economy | Innovation & development | Smart specialization
Obtained his PhD in economics in 1984 and his “habilitation à diriger des recherches” in 1992 from the University Lumière of Lyon.
Appointed as researcher at CNRS (Lyon) in 1985, Professor at Ecole Centrale de Paris in 1992, Research Director at CNRS (Paris Dauphine) in 1995, then as Principal Analyst at the OECD in 2000, he joined EPFL in 2004 as full Professor in economics & management of innovation.
2004 - 2007 and 2019 - 2022: Director of the College of Management of Technology
2007 - 2017: Director of the Doctoral School in Management of Technology EDMT
2008 - 2016: Member of the Swiss National Research Council
2010 - present: Many engagements and activities in the area of the EU cohesion policy
2016 - present: Member of the Swiss Science Council
2017 - 2022: Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Swiss Economic Research Institute (KOF – ETHZ)
2025 - present: Member of the Advisory Board of the Institute of System Management and Public Governance at the University of St Gallen
Team Leader on “Transforming Territories” at the Joint Research Center (JRC)
Karel Haegeman has been working on R&I policies within the Joint Research Centre over the past two decades. Currently he is a Team Leader of SHIFT – Transforming Territories at the Joint Research Centre, considering societal challenges as a source of competitiveness and a key driver of industrial transformation. The team links territorial analysis to transition pathways and actionable knowledge to support innovation portfolios for transformative innovation. Areas of research include transformative innovation and 4th generation universities, industry 5.0, less advanced innovation ecosystems, interterritorial collaboration, anticipatory intelligence and resilience for competitiveness.
Karel holds degrees in economics and in Marketing from Ghent University, Universidad de Zaragoza and Vlerick Business School. He has 4 daugthers.
Chief State Counsellor, Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic
MSc. Jaroslava Szűdi, PhD. is a Chief State Counsellor at the Ministry of Education, Research, Development and Youth of the Slovak Republic. She specializes in European cooperation in research and innovation, including the EU Strategy for the Danube Region and EU Framework Programmes.
She previously served as Assistant Professor at the University of Economics in Bratislava, focusing on R&D&I policy, education policy, and social innovation.
Dr. Szűdi has extensive experience in international research governance and policy coordination.
Deputy Chair of the Department of Climate Resilience at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK e.V.)
Expertise: Systems Analysis | Urban Climate Modelling | Advanced Statistics | Urban Transformation Challenges
Deputy Chair: Research Domain “Climate Resilience” & Head Research Area “Urban Transformations” (ret. since 2025), Partner/Power of Attorney of the “Bauhaus Earth gGmbH” (since 2021), Scientific expert for several national/international bodies, project director for EU Horizon/FP7 projects and author/co-Author of more than 120 ISI papers.
2025 - 2026: Global Calculator 2.0 Advisory Board on behalf of UK Dept. Energy Security and Net Zero
2018 - 2024: Member of Board of Governors, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), Kathmandu, Nepal
2021: Jury Member: “German Sustainability Award – Cities & Communities”
2009 - 2020: Founder and CEO of the price awarded “Climate Media Factory UG”
2013 - 2018: Chair of the Scientific Advisory Board of Climate Change and Development Research Centre COMSATS University/Islamabad. Pakistan
2009: Professor University of Potsdam, Dept. Environmental Sciences & Geography
2008 - 2010: Visiting Professor: Mahidol University, Bangkok/Thailand
1999: Dr. rer. nat. in Theoretical Physics, University of Potsdam/Germany
1976 - 1984: Police Officer/Operations Staff of Mobile Police, State Police of Lower Saxony/Germany
