At Slovak Academy of Sciences, Tomáš deals mostly with the concepts of sociology of science, such as technology assessment, science & technology studies, responsible research & innovation, public engagement, and foresight – all of which long for knowledge-based policy-making by engaging citizens, policymakers and stakeholders in joint communication processes.
Among other things, in 2012-2015, while working for the Technology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, he was investigator in the EU project PACITA (Parliaments and Civil Society in Technology Assessment), within which he helped connecting citizens, stakeholders and policymakers in working on several topics, such as public health genomics (future panel), ageing society (scenario building) and sustainable consumption (Europe Wide Views).
In 2015-2018, as project manager of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, he was the principal investigator for Slovakia in the EU project CIMULACT (Citizens and Multi-Actor Consultation on Horizon 2020), which dealt with the involvement of citizens in research agenda setting. Since 2016, he has been responsible for the Science meets Parliaments event in Slovakia, within which he has facilitated several expert panels in the Slovak Parliament.
Similarly, since 2017, he has facilitated citizen consultations in Slovakia for the Human Brain Project, EU Climate Adaptation Mission, ACT4ECO and Robotics4EU. Furthermore, in 2019, Tomáš received a Tokyo-Foundation-for-Policy-Research Fellowship (SYLFF) at Stanford University and at University of Auckland. He is board member of the Europe’s People’s Forum and regular collaborator of the Danish Board of Technology Foundation.
In his analytical texts, Tomáš focuses on the development of the so-called post-Soviet space, especially given the political-historical context, possible sources of tension and open conflicts.
He graduated from Charles University in Prague, majoring in Central European, Balkan and Central Asian studies. He further expanded his knowledge at I. Jvachishvili University in Tbilisi. He spent more than a year in the Caucasus as a field researcher working on the ongoing conflict in the region.
In Slovakia, i. a., he has worked as a journalist, researcher at the Ministry of Defense and also as an expert for some NGOs.
Katarína Cséfalvayová is the co-funder and director of the Institute for Central Europe. She served as the Chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Vice-chairwoman of the European Affairs Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic. As a strong advocate of Slovakia’s pro-Atlantic and pro-European foreign policy underpinning, she has frequently voiced criticism of populist and extremist politicians and movements that question Slovakia’s membership in the EU and NATO.
Prior to joining the National Council she served as Vice Dean for Foreign Affairs at the Faculty of International Relations at the University of Economics in Bratislava. She holds a Master´s degree in economic diplomacy and a PhD in international relations. Having lived, studied and worked in different countries and specializing in foreign and european affairs in her professional life, she strongly believes in international cooperation and dialogue as the way forward. Unafraid to call herself european federalist, she is looking for ways to enhance european cooperation and to make Europe great again.
In her research as well as in her political agenda, she emphasised the importance of dealing with climate change as the major challenge of our times. She also advocates the role of women in society, aiming to raise public awareness on these issues in the central European region.
Czech editor and publicist. He established and directs news portals such as Zdravotnický deník, Česká justice and Ekonomický deník. In the past he worked in the positions of Deputy to the Vice-Prime Minister and Deputy Minister of Justice, the First Deputy Minister for Regional Development, General Director for Economic and International Affairs of the Ministry of Health, Advisor to the Chairman of the parliamentary party of the Czech Parliament and Assistant to the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. In 2008 and 2009 he participated in securing the first Czech Presidency of the European Union as a representative of the Ministry of Health for its preparation and performance, He studied political science and economics.
William Dávila-Valeri is a leading Venezuelan executive with more than 20 years of experience in managing corporate relations around the world. He has specialized in identifying global business opportunities, developing management training programs and institutional projects with a focus on Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. He is currently responsible for IE’s Corporate Relations Department and President of the Building Up Foundation.
In addition to having held positions in the corporate world, he has also been appointed most recently by the Venezuelan National Assembly to represent the interim Government of President Juan Guaidó as diplomatic representative to Austria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Croatia, as well as coordinator for Asia.
With a clearly international profile, he has had the opportunity to live in various parts of the world, from Caracas in his home country, to New York, Boston, Helsinki, Eindhoven, Madrid and Vienna.
William Dávila-Valeri is a Systems Engineer from the Universidad Metropolitana de Caracas, with a specialization in finance. He studied an MBA at IE Business School in Madrid and an MA in International Relations at TheFletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, Massachusetts, USA.
A specialist of environmental geopolitics and migration dynamics, Dr. François Gemenne is a FNRS senior research associate at the University of Liège, where he is the Director of the Hugo Observatory. He also serves as co-director of the Observatory on Defence and Climate of the French Ministry of Defence. He lectures on environmental and migration policies in various universities, including Sciences Po (Paris and Grenoble) and the Free University of Brussels, where he holds the Bernheim Chair on Peace and Citizenship.
His research deals mostly with environmental and migration governance. He’s a lead author for the IPCC and has been involved in a large number of international research projects on these issues. In 2015, he was recipient of a Fulbright scholarship to pursue research at Princeton University. Previously he worked as a research fellow at Sciences Po (as the executive director of the Politics of the Earth research programme), the University of Versailles (UVSQ) and IDDRI.
He has also been the scientific advisor of the exhibition ‘Native Land. Stop Eject’ at the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, in Paris. He has consulted for several organisations, including the International Organisation of Migration (IOM), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the World Bank, the ACP Observatory on Migration and the British government (Foresight). In 2010, he was awarded the ISDT-Wernaers Prize for achievement in the communication of science to the general public.
He holds a joint doctorate in political science from Sciences Po Paris and the University of Liege (Belgium). He also holds a Master in Development, Environment and Societies from the University of Louvain, as well as a Master of Research in Political Science from the London School of Economics. Between 2008 and 2010, he was awarded a post-doctoral scholarship from the AXA Research Fund. He has published in various journals, including Science and Global Environmental Change, and has authored several books and he is also the director of the Sustainable Development series at Presses de Sciences Po.
A convinced supporter of closer European cooperation, also in the field of security and defense. Advocate for strong security ties with allies across the Atlantic.
During his active public (political) life, he has supported reforms in the area of police reform and new system of its accoutability. He has been active in the field of strengthening citizens’ rights to protection from eavesdropping. While served as a parliamentarian he held position of the Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee as well as the Chairman of the Special Control Committee for the Control of Military Intelligence. He also served as the chairman of the Slovak delegation to the parliaments of the NATO Assembly and the chairman of the Slovak-Polish Friendship Group. He also held the government posts of State Secretary of the Ministry of Defense, later Minister of Defense.
He earned his diploma in Polical Science at the Comenius University in Bratislava, later he finished postgradual studies of Europen Economic and Public Affairs at Dublin European Institute (UCD) (MEconSc.). He defended a rigorous thesis (PhD degree) on the topic of Perspectives of closer cooperation in the field of security and defense of the EU member states at the Faculty of Political Sciences and International Relations of the Matej Bel University in Banská Bystrica.