2026 Arqus Annual Conference

Erivelton Nepomuceno (Arqus Alliance)

Erivelton Nepomuceno is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electronic Engineering, the Hamilton Institute, and the Centre for Ocean Energy Research at Maynooth University. He has held visiting positions at ITA (Brazil), Imperial College London, Saint Petersburg Electrotechnical University, and City, University of London. A Senior Member of IEEE, he serves as Associate Editor-in-Chief of IEEE JETCAS and Chair of the IEEE Nonlinear Circuits and Systems Technical Committee (2025–2027). He also coordinates the Arqus Community of Practice Green Computing Group. His research interests include computer arithmetic, chaotic cryptography, green computing, ocean energy, and system identification. He has published over 300 scientific papers.

Sharon Ferguson (Atlantic Technological University)

Sharon Ferguson is Mental Health & Wellbeing Project Officer at Atlantic Technological University, Donegal, Ireland. Sharon has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management & Community Development, a Postgraduate Certificate in Health Promotion & is currently completing her Master’s in Health Promotion Practice. Sharon is a registered member of the Association for Health Promotion Ireland. Sharon began her therapeutic career as a psychological support worker & education officer with Donegal Sexual Abuse & Rape Crisis Centre. After completing her studies in counselling, she has worked in the fields of elder abuse, addiction and mental health. She is the author and founder of the Wellness Café model with Wellness Cafes across Donegal & Co.Clare and in several campuses across ATU.

Elena Diana Radoi (Arqus Alliance)

Elena Diana Radoi is a Blue Book Trainee at the European Commission, working in the Secretariat-General, Relations with the European Parliament and National Parliaments. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in European Studies from Otto von Guericke University and is currently completing the Joint Master’s Programme in European Studies within the Arqus European University Alliance, with the University of Granada as her home institution. Her academic and professional trajectory focuses on EU governance, interinstitutional relations, and European cooperation. Diana has previously gained experience at the Romanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Romanian Embassy in Berlin and is actively involved as an Arqus Ambassador.

Martha Brandes (Arqus Alliance)

Martha Brandes is the Head of Access Operations at the Maynooth University Access Programme and has 18 years of experience in widening participation and inclusive higher education. She leads the operations and contributes to the strategic direction of MAP, the university’s widening participation programme, which supports more than 3,000 students each year. Martha works across schools, communities, and university partners to broaden participation and strengthen outcomes for students from backgrounds underrepresented in higher education. Her practice centres student voices and draws on design-led approaches to understand barriers and support the university to become more inclusive across all aspects of the student experience. She represents Maynooth University in ARQUS Working Group 10 Inclusion and Diversity Hub, contributing to the Alliance’s collective work on equity and inclusion.

Fernando Galán (EU-CONEXUS)

Fernando Galán is the Executive Director of the EU-CONEXUS European University Alliance, based in Brussels. He has over a decade of experience in European higher education policy, quality assurance and university alliances. Before joining EU-CONEXUS in 2025, he served as Secretary General of the Arqus European University Alliance, Head of International Engagement at the Spanish Rectors’ Conference (CRUE), and Policy and Project Officer at EURASHE. A former President of the European Students’ Union, he has been part of the Bologna Process’ BFUG board and of different expert groups of the European Union, the Council of Europe, UNESCO and the OECD, as well as of quality assurance agencies and universities, among others. He holds a degree in Law and a Master’s in Quality Assessment and Management in Higher Education.

Adriana Miele (Arqus Alliance)

Prof Adriana Erica Miele, PhD, is a full professor of Biophysics and Biochemistry at Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (FR), Institute of Analytical Sciences (UMR 5280 ISA CNRS UCBL). Adriana obtained her PhD in Biochemistry at Sapienza University of Rome (IT) in March 2000; after a postDoc at the MRC-Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge (UK), she was hired as researcher in 2003 and then promoted as associate professor in 2007 at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine of Sapienza University of Rome; since 2016 she was appointed full professor at UCBL. Since 2023, she has been coordinating an international doctoral programme, built within the Arqus Alliance and funded by the HE-MSCA-COFUND action. Her expertise in structural and molecular biophysics is driving her research, aimed at understanding the structure-function relationships in host-parasite interactions.

Susanne Conze (European Commission)

Susanne Conze is Head of Unit for Higher education in the Directorate General for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport of the European Commission. The unit is the lead service for the development of the European Education Area’s higher education dimension as well as devising and managing the higher education strand of the flagship Erasmus+ Programme via the National Agencies and the Executive Agency EACEA. During her career, both in the Commission and before, Susanne worked in different areas of education and social inclusion policies as well as in the management of European education programmes. She studied history, sociology and political science and holds a PhD in history.

Josep Maria Garrell (European University Association)

Prof. Josep M. Garrell is President of the European University Association (EUA). He is a former Rector of Ramon Llull University (Universitat Ramon Llull), Spain. He was elected EUA President in 2023, having served on the Association’s Board since 2019. Before his terms as rector, he held several leadership positions at Ramon Llull University, such as Secretary of the Research Commission (1998-2002), Delegate of the Rector for ICT (2000-2002), Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation (2002-2010), Secretary General (2006-2010) and Vice-Rector for University Policy (2010-2012). Professor Garrell holds a Doctorate in Electronic Engineering from Ramon Llull University. As a faculty member and researcher at Ramon Llull University (URL), he specialised in artificial intelligence and machine learning. He co-founded the Intelligent Systems Investigation Group at the university’s La Salle campus and conducted research at Carnegie Mellon University’s Pittsburgh Supercomputing Centre. Professor Garrell was formerly President of the Strategic Alliance of Catholic Universities (SACRU). From 2014 to 2018, he was a member of the Catalan Parliament’s Advisory Council on Science and Technology (CAPCIT), as the representative of Catalan private non-profit universities.

French Ministry

Lana Par (European Students’ Union)

Lana Par is the President of the European Students’ Union (ESU) for the 2025/26 mandate. She has been actively involved in the student movement for over five years, beginning as president of the student council at the University of Rijeka. As a member of the Croatian Students’ Council, she engaged in national and European-level advocacy on a wide range of student issues. Before becoming president, Lana served as Vice-President of ESU during the 2024/25 term and was a member of its Executive Committee since October 2023. In these roles, she worked extensively on topics related to enhancing the Quality of Education and the development of the European Education Area. As president, Lana focuses on advancing the European Education Area and strengthening the Organisational Development and Capacity Building. She is committed to fostering a more inclusive, innovative, and student-driven higher education landscape across Europe.

Piotr Kępski (Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA))

Dr Piotr Kępski is Director of the Department of Institutional Programmes at the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange (NAWA). Piotr graduated from the University of Warsaw and obtained a PhD in Sociology. He is a fellow of the Robert Bosch Foundation. He is a project manager with much experience in the public sector. From 2004 to 2018, he worked for the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (PL), where he was a delegate to the programme committee for Future Technologies (FET) Horizon 2020. Since 2018, Piotr has been working for NAWA. He coordinated several programmes, including Welcome to Poland. Since 2024, he has been in charge of institutional programmes supporting international collaboration.

Ricardo Araújo (Arqus Alliance)

Ricardo Araújo holds a degree in International Relations from the University of Minho, an Executive MBA from Porto Business School, and executive training in leadership and strategy from IE Business School (Spain) and Cornell University (United States).
He has extensive experience in both the public and private sectors, having been part of the senior staff of the EFACEC Group, where he worked in strategic planning and electric mobility. He has also held several national and international roles, including President of Movijovem and board member of the Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth, as well as positions within CPLP and the Ibero-American Youth Organisation.
Deeply rooted in civic life in Guimarães, he has long been involved in youth and cultural initiatives. His political career includes roles at local and national level, and he was elected to the Portuguese Parliament in 2024. He has served as Mayor of Guimarães since October 2025.