Katarzyna Aleksy is Director of the Higher Education Programmes Department at FRSE – Erasmus+ National Agency in Poland, serving as the leading sectoral director for all Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes and the main liaison with the European Commission.

She has extensive experience in shaping international education policy and programme management. At FRSE, she developed and implemented scholarship schemes and cooperation frameworks under the Norwegian, EEA and Swiss–Polish Funds, fostering academic mobility and institutional collaboration between Poland, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland. She also contributed to negotiations with donor countries on the next programming period of the Financial Mechanisms.

As Director at the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA), she authored and co-authored flagship initiatives such as Welcome to Poland, Strategic Partnerships, and Support for European Universities. She also developed the foundations for Poland’s national strategy for the internationalisation of higher education.

A regular speaker at international conferences (APAIE, NAFSA, EAIE), she served as Treasurer on the Board of Administrators of the Academic Cooperation Association (ACA) and was a member of the Advisory Board to the Ministry of Science and Higher Education for the European Universities Initiative. She received the IRO’s Forum award for outstanding contributions to the internationalisation of higher education in Poland.

Amir Asif is the Vice President, Research and Innovation and Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at York University, Toronto. He has more than 15 years of experience serving in senior university leadership positions, including the founding Dean (2014-2020) of the Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science at Concordia University, Montreal, QC. As a specialist in signal processing and communications, his research interests are focused on developing next generation technologies for every-day applications, including health and medical devices, radar and sonar applications, distributed multiagent networked systems, and electrical power grids.

Amir is rethinking how to unlock the full potential of the higher education institutions for greater social impact through academic innovation, research partnerships, and entrepreneurship, by transcending traditional boundaries of conventional approaches and disciplines, and by addressing systemic issues that have been holding the Canadian institutions back. Amir received his education and professional training from Carnegie Mellon University and Harvard University. He is a registered professional engineer in the province of Ontario.

Erika Augustinsson is an innovation strategist at Region Blekinge, where she leads the implementation of the region’s smart specialisation strategy (S3) and advances mission-oriented innovation through the “Blekinge – a region on a mission” initiative. She previously worked at Malmö University and the Swedish Knowledge Foundation promoting social innovation in higher education and has a professional background in journalism and environmental advocacy.

Doctor of Economics; as a member of the Department of Strategic and Regional Studies at the University of Economics in Katowice, he specializes in innovation and regional policy. He focuses on the application of strategic management tools to policy planning. He has extensive experience in implementation. He serves as an advisor to public authorities. Often as the lead coordinator, he has helped develop economic development strategies and programs for major Polish cities and regions. He also served as the coordinator of work on the Strategy for Integrated Territorial Investments in the Central Subregion of the Silesian Voivodeship. He serves as a consultant on Regional Urban Policy for the Silesian Voivodeship. He is a member of the International Society for Professional Innovation Management and the Regional Studies Association, as well as the Task Force of the Polish Academy of Sciences’ Committee on Spatial Planning for integrated development policy in Poland and Europe.

I am currently a second year bachelor student at Lumière Lyon 2 University in France. I am majoring in political science and I have a minor in English. I am engaged in various organizations and BAHAUS4EU is one of them: I am in the student council since September 2025. Interculturality is a topic that personally touches me, I would like to cultivate it between universities and this forum is an opportunity to think about a concrete way to develop it.  Moreover, as a college student, mental health and poverty within universities are also topics that I often observe; the forum would be a start to explore potential solutions for European universities made for students to thrive.

Sergio Cavalieri is the Rector of the University of Bergamo and a full Professor at the University of Bergamo.  He is the Director of CELS - Research Group on Industrial Systems Engineering, Logistics and Service Operations, former coordinator of ASAP Service Management Forum, an Italian joint industry-academic After Sales Service Management Forum. He is a member of IFIP WG 5.7, IFAC TC 5.1 on Advanced Manufacturing Technology, and a member of the Technical Development Steering Committee of the Supply Chain Council. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of U4I – University for Innovation, past-president of the Italian Association of Professors in Industrial Systems Engineering, Director of MeGMI – Executive Master on Industrial Asset Management promoted by SdM – School of Management and MIP – Politecnico di Milano, member of IFAC-TC 5.1 on Advanced Manufacturing Technology, member of IFIP WG 5.7, former member of the Technical Development Steering Committee of the Supply Chain Council.

Christine Fernandez-Maloigne is a former Vice-Rector for International Relations at the University of Poitiers, where she led global partnerships and internationalisation strategies and contributed to the creation of the EC2U Alliance. She now coordinates the internationalisation of France’s national ‘Atypie-friendly’ programme, promoting the integration of neurodivergent learners in higher education and research worldwide.

Anna Jedynak-Rykała is an experienced manager with a proven track record in management, local government, and public institutions. She has many years of experience in strategic management and the implementation of national and EU projects. She managed the Silesian Entrepreneurship Center, an agency of the Silesian Voivodeship responsible for implementing European funds for SMEs and large enterprises under the FESL 2021–2027 regional program. She also served as Deputy Marshal of the Silesian Voivodeship, where she was responsible for the implementation of EU funds in the Silesian Voivodeship and oversaw more than thirty hospitals and other healthcare facilities. She also served as Deputy Mayor at the Sosnowiec City Hall. As part of the implementation of EU-co-funded projects, she participated in the full project lifecycle, identifying and analyzing financial, legal, organizational, and scheduling risks, as well as conducting the implementation of preventive and corrective measures to ensure compliance with guidelines and achieve the set objectives. She possesses the skills and experience to develop and implement long-term strategies related to the management of EU projects, as well as the development and implementation of regional programs co-financed by European funds. She participated in the development and co-authored the Regional Innovation Strategy for the Silesian Voivodeship for the years 2013–2020 and the Technology Development Program.

I am an international master's student from India at Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. From the very beginning, I have been part of the B4EU Student Council, involved in building its structures and consistently representing the international student perspective. Student politics has always mattered to me, not as a title but as a way to help students voice their concerns and improve their quality of life in Weimar.
Beyond the council, I represent the alliance at the European Student Assembly whenever and wherever possible, serving as both a panel coordinator and alumni advisor. I also actively organise cultural events with Bauhaus Internationals and support new master's students as a welcome tutor, helping them find their footing in a new country and university.
My work connects student representation, cross-cultural community, and grassroots advocacy across local and European platforms.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/satyasaigattupalli/

Agata Mannino has extensive experience in HE and internationalisation. She currently serves as Coordinator of the Across European University Alliance, leading cross-institutional collaboration and strategy. Previously, she worked at the University of Padova as Manager for International Educational Projects, at the University of Trieste as IRO for international agreements and networks, and as Institutional Coordinator for the Transform4Europe Alliance.

She is a former member of the EAIE General Council, and she now contributes to the EAIE Thematic Committee on Research on internationalisation. 

Agata holds a PhD from the Centre for Higher Education Internationalization (CHEI) of the Universita´ Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, focusing on sensemaking in internationalisation of HE within the EUI, where she explored the crucial role of middle managers in fostering staff engagement.

Agata´s social media:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/agata-mannino/

I bring over 20 years of experience in auditing financial statements across a diverse portfolio of engagements. My expertise spans audits of both separate and consolidated financial statements for major companies operating in the heavy industry, manufacturing and services (GBS) sectors, with significant experience auditing publicly listed entities I supervise audits conducted under both Polish Accounting Regulations and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and have hands-on experience in advisory engagements related to IFRS implementation. Additionally, I am experienced with sustainability reporting for EU-listed clients.​
I also serve as the CEE Alternative Delivery Models Leader at PwC, a role that is directly relevant to the challenges faced by organisations undergoing finance transformation. In this capacity, I oversee the transformation of the delivery model for assurance services across the CEE region, with a strategic focus on centralisation, standardisation and automation of audit work. I am responsible for all shared delivery centres serving the audit practice in PwC CEE meaning I am not only leading audits GBS environments but lead a comparable transformation within PwC itself.
Qualified with ACCA and KIBR (Polish Auditing Body)

Manager with 25 years’ of corporate experience in:
- Global Business Services / Outsourcing / Customer Care and Digital IT through Global / CEE Regional various organizational structures with deep knowledge about Business Diversity requirements
- Practice on Executives / Senior Leadership level with a track record of effective setup, delivery and transformations , strategic, tactical programs across geography and scope including demanding digital technology and medical industry sectors
- Proven records in supervising delivery Industrialization, Robotics, Standardization, Optimization and Service Integration Programs to achieve savings and productivity increase targets
- Proven successful setup of many Global Delivery & Operations Outsourcing SSC/BPO/ITO Centers/ Customer Care structures with practical Digital Technology and IT engineering knowledge
- Successful organizational changes project management, ramping up/down teams, staff adjustments, agile teams setups and multi-level talent management with reference to both employees structures from 90+ to 900+ FTE per site and revenue level 30+mio$
- Experience in driving of RA/QA, and Corporate Finance knowledge and appreciation for how IT, Logistics, Procurement, Supply Chain, Technical and Sales Support
- Active member of Industry Associations, Country Authority Economic Chambers, Educational Convents as ABSL, AmCham, Fraunhofer Institute.
- Recognized by external bodies as Ambidextrous Leader, Tiger of Business, Laure of Competencies, Honorary Citizen, Business Leader.

Rector of the University of Economics in Katowice, Head of the Department of Business Informatics at the Faculty of Economics.

Economist, author, co-author or editor of more than 300 publications, including 15 monographs. She has been the manager or contractor of numerous research projects obtained through competitions, both international and national.

Fellow of the Swiss Government at ETH Zurich, the Deutsche Akademische Austausch Dienst at the University of Trier in Germany, and the Bekker Program at the University of Technology in Sydney, Australia.

Member of the Council for Higher Education, Science and Innovation under the President of the Republic of Poland, the Committee on Organizational and Management Sciences of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), the Presidium of the Conference of Rectors of Academic Schools in Poland (KRASP). President of the IT Infrastructure Committee of KRASP and of the Regional Conference of Rectors of Academic Universities (RKRUA).

For all her professional achievements, she has been awarded the KEN medal, the Golden Cross of Merit, and the Golden Laurel of Skills and Competence. She has also received awards as a supervisor in doctoral dissertation processes and in the "Best Paper Award" category during international conferences.

Secretary General of the BAUHAUS4EU Alliance.

Responsibilities at Bauhaus University Weimar:

• Coordination and further development of teaching for the chair of Biotechnology in Resources Management
• Teaching
• Supervision and examination of student work and projects
• Applying for project funding

Expertise in:

• Conceptual design of cycle-oriented production systems
• Urban material and energy resources, sustainable resource management
• Accounting of environmental and consequential costs (LCA, LCCA, EMA)
• Model-based decision support
• Interdisciplinary and collaborative teaching courses
• Digital teaching courses

Magdalena Sikorska serves as Secretary General of the EUNICE European University. She co-designed EUNICE AISBL in Belgium, one of the first legal entities established by a European University Alliance, and chairs a Community of Practice for AISBL-based alliances. She leads the FOREU4ALL topical group on internationalisation and global outreach. She holds a PhD in management, with research focused on models within the European Universities Initiative, and has authored and co-authored publications on higher education, international collaboration, and university governance.

Maurizio Tira is Full Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Brescia, where he served as Rector from 2016 to 2022; the university is a member of the UNITA European University Alliance. He serves on the Board of the European University Association (EUA) and holds several roles in international higher education bodies, contributing to European-level university cooperation and governance.

President of the Board of Directors of the Katowice Special Economic Zone, Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at the Faculty of Economics, University of Economics in Katowice.
Manager, researcher, lecturer, and public administration advisor. His research interests include the knowledge-based economy, the information society, and the economics of information and innovation. Author of academic publications, development strategies, and expert reports.