Biographies

Rosalia Vargas

President, Ciência Viva – National Agency for Scientific and Technological Culture, Portugal, and Director of Pavilion of Knowledge, the Lisbon Science Centre. Elected City Councilor for Education, Youth and Culture at Lisbon City Hall (2007-2009). President of Ecsite – European Network of Museums and Science Centers (2013-2015).

Fátima Vieira

University of Porto
Fátima Vieira is Vice-Dean of the University of Porto and Associate Professor with Aggregation at the Faculty of Letters, where she has taught since 1986. She is coordinator of the Porto hub of CETAPS – Center for English, Translation and Anglo-Portuguese Studies where she leads the project “Mapping Utopianisms” and integrates “Shakespeare and the English Canon: A research and translation project”. At ILCML – Institute of Comparative Literature, Margarida Losa is the coordinator of the multidisciplinary project ALIMENTOPIA (Utopia, Food and Future: Utopian thinking and the construction of inclusive societies – a contribution of the Humanities). Fátima Vieira is also the director of the “New Library of Utopias” collection, by Afrontamento, and book review editor of the North American journal Utopian Studies (published by Penn State) since 2006.

Luís Gomes

Bookseller, owner of Artes & Letras Books & Graphic Designers, Óbidos, Portugal.

Christian Ehler

Member of the European Parliament
Christian Ehler has been a German Member of the European Parliament since 2004. He studied journalism, politics, economics, political administration and political science. He was a member of the Economics, European Affairs and Development committees of the Brandenburg regional parliament. From 2000 to 2010 he was Managing Director of Biotech GmbH and Biotech II GmbH. He is currently Member of the Regional Executive of the CDU Brandenburg and Vice President of the CDU / CSU Group at the European Parliament.

Manuel Heitor

Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology, Portugal. PHD from Imperial College London in Mechanical Engineering. Full Professor at Instituto Superior Técnico.

Joana Mendonça

Joana Mendonça is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering and Management at Instituto Superior Técnico (Portugal), where she teaches Innovation Management and Design Thinking, Entrepreneurship, Economic Engineering and Design disciplines. Her research focuses on processes of commercialization and adoption of new technologies and the role of skills and human capital in these processes, and has been published in magazines such as Research Policy, Small Business Economics and Technological Forecasting and Social Change.

Ana Bustorff Martinho

Degree in Architecture, Lisbon University. Internships at the Museum of Decorative Arts, Prague and the Ricardo Espírito Santo Foundation, Lisbon. Collaborated with several public and private cultural institutions in freelance projects in the area of Cultural Heritage and Arts. Cultural Advisor do the President of the Portuguese republic (2011 - 2016). Entered Ar.Co in 2006 as a Jewelry Student. Since 2008 established Ar.Co’s development office. Member of Ar.Co’s leadership team since 2015.

Paula Tavares

Fashion Up-Skilling Innovation Network, PT.
Paula Tavares is a professor, artist and researcher. She is the Co Director in ID+ Research Institute for Design, Media and Culture (http://www.idmais.org/pt-pt/) and she coordinates the CAOS group Communication, Art, Object and Synergies (since 2017). She works as Coordinator Professor at the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and the Ave where she is the Head of the School of Design (since 2015). She is also the General Chair of CONFIA - International Conference on Illustration and Animation (since 2012). Her research interests are in Art and Design and she has been leading applied research projects on Design.

Beatriz Ferreira

Designer, currently working as part of the Knit Creative Department at TMG (Têxtil Manuel Gonçalves) Group, Portugal, looking at trends, studying clients and markets, and constantly presenting new fabric ideas & garments proposals to them. Along side this creative roal Beatriz Ferreira also recently started working as a Colour and Materials Designer for the automotive industry.

Gerin Trautenberger

President, Kreativwirtschaft Austria – KAT
Gerin Trautenberger is the founder and owner of Microgiants Design & Research and Chairperson of the Creative Industries Austria (KAT) since 2013. He was board Member of the European Design Innovation Initiative (EDII) working for DG Industry and Enterprise and director for VIENNA OPEN – a festival for open innovations – where he investigated the implementation of open design practices and innovation for smart cities. He is currently teaching at the WIFI Graz Design Management and a board member of the European Creative Business Network and responsible for Business development and member services.

Rui Horta

Choreographer, “Espaço do Tempo”, PT
Rui Horta is one of the most influential choreographers of his generation. Since 2000 he directs “O Espaço do Tempo” in Montemor-o-Novo, Portugal, a transdisciplinary structure that supports numerous national and international creators. Her work has been performed all over the world in the most important theaters and festivals, such as the Theater de la Ville (Paris), Joyce (New York) or the Spyral Hall (Tokyo). It is in the repertoire of dozens of international dance companies, such as NDT, Cullberg, Geneva, Marseille and Gotteborg.

Stacz Wilhelm

Nederlands Dans Theatre /Korzo
Stacz Wilhelm works at the Nederlands Dans Theatre, one of the world’s most prominent and prolific contemporary dance companies. The Dutch troupe is based in The Hague, but performs for an international audience of 115.000 visitors in Europe, the USA, Asia and Australia. Stacz Wilhelm was also artistic director of dance at Korzo Theatre in Den Haag, Nederlands, head of production for many years and was seen as an artistic ambassador.

Pedro Russo

is assistant professor of astronomy & society at Leiden Observatory and the department of Science Communication & Society and coordinator of the Astronomy & Society group. Pedro is the president of the International Astronomical Union Commission on Communicating Astronomy with the Public. He was the global coordinator for the largest network ever in Astronomy, the International Year of Astronomy 2009.

Simão Costa

Pianist and composer, “MãoSimMão” | Portugal

It develops audiovisual creation projects, which are characterized by research into interactive technologies in terms of sound, image and light, bringing contemporary digital art to people's daily lives. The SOUND is the main object of his research, exploring it as a plastic, tangible and physical material.

His work has been awarded internationally, including 1st prize at the 34e Concours Internationaux de Musique et d'Art Sonore Electroacoustiques de Bourges with the piece “Subterrâneos do Corpo” – electroacoustic work for dance or theater (music for the piece by choreographer Ana Martins).

He has already presented his work in Portugal, Spain, France, Belgium, Poland, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Greece, Italy and Brazil. He is artistic director and founding member of MãoSimMão - cultural association - and has regularly collaborated with artists and scientists from different areas and practices.

Sebastian Hornung

Manager Branded Entertainment at Porsche, DE
Sebastian Hornung began his career at Porsche in 2012 as Marketing Specialist. He's now the Manager Branded Entertainment since 2016.
He holds a degree in Media Science from the University of Paderborn.

João Sampaio

Product designer Pixartidea, PT
João Sampaio is a Portuguese Product Designer at Pixartidea, a company specialized in Industrial and Product Design derived from Fibrenamics the international platform of the University of Minho for the development of products based on fibers and composites. Fibrenamics operates in several sectors with emphasis on architecture, construction, sport, medicine, protection and transport.

Peter K Weber

Peter Weber works at the Department of Ultrasound at Fraunhofer Institute for Biomedical Engineering IBMT. Peter Weber’s research focuses on microbial ecology and forensic signatures in biological and nuclear materials. He has developed new methods for linking microbial function and identity in complex microbial communities and has studied microbial nitrogen fixation, carbon fixation, and carbon cycling. He has also investigated forensic signatures in bacterial spores, vegetative cells, viruses, as well as a range of nuclear materials.

Cláudio Garrudo

Editorial director of the Ph. Series photobooks and head of division at INCM.
Photographer, editor and cultural producer, with exhibitions in Portugal, Spain, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romenia. Co-founder of Mapa das Artes (lisbon contemporary art map) and Bairro das Artes – a rentrée cultural da “sétima colina“ (Lisbon’s quarter of contemporary art) Director of “Isto não é um cachimbo“. Associação (contemporary art association)

Bernd Fesel

studied Economics and Philosophy in Heidelberg and Bonn and graduated with an economist degree. In 1990 he started his career in art market as co-owner of the Gallery Karin Fesel, becoming 1997 Managing Director of the German and then the European Gallery Association in Brussels. In 2003 he founded the Bureau for Cultural Policy and Economy and served as advisor of the German UNESCO Commission and the German Federal Foreign Office. In 2011 Bernd Fesel was elected chairman of the European Creative Business Network ( ECBN ) foundation in Rotterdam.

Andreas Kaufmann

is a businessperson who has been the head of 8 different companies.
He is Managing Director at SOCRATES Holding GmbH, Managing Director at SOCRATES Liegenschaftsbeteiligungs & Verwaltungs GmbH, Managing Director at Residenz Park Optic Beteiligung GmbH, Managing Director at ACM Cine Project Co. LLC, Managing Director at Optic Beteiligungs GmbH, Chairman-Supervisory Board at Leica Camera AG and Managing Director at ACM Projektentwicklung GmbH. Andreas Kaufmann is also Managing Director at Lfi Photographie GmbH. In his past career Dr. Kaufmann occupied the position of Managing Director at Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH.

Catherine Magnant

Deputy Director and Head of Unit of Cultural Policy, European Commission | France


Catherine Magnant graduated in international relations and Russian language in Paris, Sorbonne. She started her career in Moscow, where she headed the Press and Information Section of the European Commission Delegation. Back in Brussels, she was part of the team who prepared the 2004 EU enlargement to central and Eastern Europe.

Until 2017 she was the Deputy Head of the team in charge of cultural policy and innovation in the Directorate General for Education and Culture, where she dealt with the creative economy and fostered cooperation between EU countries in the field of culture. In 2018, she was Head of the Commission Task Force of the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, which took place in 37 countries. Catherine is now Deputy Director and Head of Unit of Cultural Policy, European Commission.

Florian Drücke

CEO, German Music Industry Association | Germany

Florian Drücke studied law in Berlin and Toulon and graduated from his legal studies in France with an MA and received his doctorate at the University Greifswald in 2004. In January 2006, the lawyer joined the BVMI as Legal Counsel and took over the position of Head of Legal and Political Affairs in 2008. Since 2017, he represents the association at international level as CEO in the IFPI main Board and as an associates’ representative at GVL.

He is regularly invitied as an expert to committees of the German Bundestag (Parliament) and the European Parliament and has been involved in the central topics and debates of digitisation for many years.

Drücke is also a member of the German-French Cultural Council (Kulturrat), the Global Future Council “The Future of Information and Entertainment“ of the World Economic Forum as well as of the Board of the Network European Movement Germany (EBD)..

Gerfried Stocker

STARTS/Ars Electronica, Austria

Gerfried Stocker is a media artist and an electronic engineer. Since 1995 he has been a managing and an artistic director of Ars Electronica: he developed the groundbreaking exhibition strategies with a small team of artists and technicians and was responsible for the set-up and establishment of Ars Electronica’s own R&D facility, Ars Electronica Futurelab.

From 2005 on he planned the expansion of Ars Electronica Center and implemented the total substantive makeover of its exhibits. Stocker is a guest speaker at many international conferences and a Visiting Professor at Osaka University of Arts as well as guest lecturer at Deusto University Bilbao.

He is also a consultant for many international companies on creativity and innovation management.

Martin Kern

Director, European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT)

Martin Kern has been the Interim Director and Chief Operating Officer at the EIT since 2014. Prior to joining, he worked at the European Commission for 15 years in a variety of posts, mainly in the area of enlargement policy and with financial assistance to support economic and social development programmes. He is responsible for leading the activities of Headquarters and coordinating collaboration among the Innovation Communities and heads the EIT's Management Team..

Rui Costa

Artist | Portugal
His work is marked by the symbiosis between art and science. He graduated as an artist and scientist: he studied Painting at Ar.Co and graduated in Social Psychology, having subsequently completed his PhD and post-doctoral studies between Portugal and the USA.

Rui Costa's artistic work reflects his interest in cognitive neuroscience, with an emphasis on the processes of perception and memory.

Works exclusively as a visual artist since 2013.

Mariya Gabriel

European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth | Bulgaria

Mariya Gabriel has devoted her work to several priority areas, such as the coherence of external and internal EU policies, migration, EU visa policy, relations with Africa and Middle East and women rights.

She was twice distinguished with the “Parliament Magazine’s annual MEP Award“ in the “Gender Equality“ (2013) and “Development“ (2016) categories.

In 2019, she assumed the position of European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.

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