The 3rd part of this portrait series gives us a glimpse of the careers and thoughts of Dana V. Gheorghe (UPB), Ayse Nur Koc (ITU), Chiara Cappelli (SNS), and Eike Trost (FAU) – an example of women from different generations and with diverse professional backgrounds that share the same purpose – to transform higher education innovatively.
Dana Violeta Gheorghe
She is Director of the R & I and European Funds Department at UPB. She is a senior researcher in the field of industrial computers for process automation and was Director General in the central public administration, leading various departments of policies, programs, and structural funds at the National Authority for Scientific Research and the Ministry of Education and Research. (1994-2016). She is currently project manager and expert in national and international projects that develop Open Science implementation actions, especially in the direction of FAIR Data and RDM.
* In her own words:
EELISA and ELLISA InnoCore open new directions for the future of the universities in the context of new forms of communication, teaching, and learning and the need to manage and use complex data volumes using Artificial Intelligence, IT machine learning, digital Twin, etc. I consider this initiative representative of the entire European Union project, a project that represents the emancipation of the thinking of those European states that have set out to harmonize on their values, actions, and beneficial developments for the benefit of the EU.
* Her key ideas to define EELISA:
1 .Responsible, 2. Challenging, 3. Open
Chiara Cappelli
Chiara is a theoretical chemist and is currently serving as Vice-Rector for Technology Transfer at Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy. She develops theoretical methods and HPC codes to study complex chemical systems evolving under the effect of light. Her models are rooted in quantum mechanics; due to its complexity, this theory has fascinated her since she was a student. Last, but not least, she is the mother of two young girls to whom she is inspiring with her passion for science.
* In her own words
I will bring to EELISA my contribution as a woman scientist, which tempers competence with passion and pragmatism. EELISA will play a substantial role in blurring stereotypes and in building up an inclusive and inspiring environment for young women engaging in science and engineering.
* Her key ideas to define EELISA
1. Cooperative 2 .Innovative 3 .Inspiring
Ayse Nur Koc
Ayse has had the vocation to help people since she was very little. She has worked and collaborated in different NGOs since her high school years and earned her bachelor’s degree from Istanbul Sehir University. After years of experience in the communication field, she is currently the communication officer at Istanbul Technical University, a position that has allowed her to find the path where tech innovations, social impact, and communication meet.
* In her own words
I envision EELISA as a place to solve global challenges and work towards a better world for younger generations.
* Her key ideas to define EELISA.
1. Sharing information 2. Solutions 3. Growing together.
Eike Trost
She studied international and cultural business followed by an MBA in Passau, Germany, and a master thesis in the area of executive education programs in collaboration with the renowned International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. After working as an IT consultant in the area of finance and banking, Eike is currently a PhD candidate at Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, scientific instructor, and FAU’s work package leader in EELISA. She is a passionate Judo athlete who finds inspiration in the judo philosophy “Jita-Kyoei” which means “helping and understanding each other for the goal of mutual prosperity and benefit” every day.
* In her own words
Being one of the youngest in the EELISA-staff team, I think I can contribute to EELISA being a welcoming space by being still close to students but also understanding the challenges of EELISA team members, organizers, and professors.
* Her key ideas to define EELISA.
1. Co-creation 2. Diversity 3. Ethnorelativism
