Tony Ryan is the Pro-Vice Chancellor for the Faculty of Science at the University of Sheffield where he was previously the ICI Professor of Physical Chemistry, Head of the Chemistry Department and Director of the Polymer Centre. His research covers the synthesis, structure, processing and properties of polymers and he was in at the beginning of polymer nanotechnology. He has co-authored more than 200 papers and eight patents and written a book on polymer processing or how things are made from plastic. Tony presented the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures on Channel 4 in 2002 and is a regular contributor to TV, radio and newspapers. He was born in Leeds and got his three degrees from UMIST. Married with two daughters, Tony is a creative cook, a keen cyclist and an occasional mountaineer with a weakness for gadgets. He was made an OBE in 2006 for 'Services to Science'.


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Enric Banda did his doctoral studies at the Federal Politechnical School (ETH) in Zurich and received his PhD in Physics in 1979 at the University of Barcelona. His postdoctoral was at the ETH in Zurich.

Enric was Research Professor of the Spanish High Council of Scientific Research in 1987, Director of the Earth Sciences Institute in Barcelona in 1988, Secretary General of the National R&D Plan in 1994, and Secretary of State for Universities and Research in 1995. From 1998 to 2003 he was Secretary General of the European Science Foundation, and between 2004 and 2007 he was Director of the Catalan Foundation for Research and Innovation and of the Catalan Institution for Advanced Studies. He was Director of Innovation and Environment at La Seda de Barcelona.

Since 2009, Enric has been Director of Science, Research and Environment at "la Caixa" Foundation. He has been Vice-President of the European Geophysical Society, Editor-in-Chief of Tectonophysics and European Editor of Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union), and he is author of more than 160 reviewed scientific papers.

Enric is a member of the Academia Europaea and a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society. Presently he is President of Euroscience.

Presentation: Developing the vision on a globally competitive European Research Area

The Euroscience organisation aims to reinforce scientific collaboration across all borders to advance European research and to influence policy. Crucial to increasing global competitiveness will be developing the strategies to improve how research is managed and organised in Europe. Discussing how best to encourage cross-border cooperation, avoid duplication and stimulate a collaborative approach to ensure worldclass research outcomes.

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Maria Leptin received her PhD in 1983 for work on B cell activation carried out at the Basel Institute for Immunology under the supervision of Fritz Melchers. She switched to the study of development in Drosophila when she joined the laboratory of Michael Wilcox at the Medical Research Council's Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in Cambridge, UK, for her postdoctoral work on Drosophila integrins. After a research visit at the lab of Pat O'Farrell at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), where she began her work on gastrulation, Maria spent the years from 1989 to 1994 as a group leader at the Max Planck Institute in Tübingen. In 1994, she became Professor at the Institute of Genetics University, Cologne.

In January 2010, she became the Director of EMBO and established a research group in Heidelberg at the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). The group studies the development of complex cell shapes in the respiratory system of Drosophila and the role of RNA localisation in generating such cell shapes. Maria is an elected member of EMBO and the Academia Europaea. She also serves on the editorial boards of Developmental Cell and Development Biology, and on advisory boards of several academic institutions. She chairs one of the evaluation panels for ERC Advanced Investigator Grants.

Presentation: Making the European Research Area a reality - important challenges ahead

In the near future a European Research Area (ERA) should deliver, through science, on three major outcomes: knowledge, benefit to society and economic gain. These ambitious goals can only be achieved with the right conditions that allow science to flourish.
While Horizon 2020, the new framework programme for research and innovation at European level, is being developed at a high pace, other challenges are still ahead: we need to find mechanisms for effective cross-border research funding from national sources, set conditions to allow researchers to move freely and adopt an effective policy on access to and funding for research infrastructures. As a platform of European learned societies and scientific organisations, ISE is committed to making aware the needs of science and advocates strong, independent scientific advice in European policymaking.

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Yuko Harayama is the Deputy Director of the OECD's Directorate for Science, Technology and Industry (STI) where she supports the Director to oversee OECD work on innovation, science and technology policy, business dynamics, information and communication technology policy as well as statistical work associated with each of these areas.

Ms. Harayama is a professor of Science and Technology Policy at the Graduate School of Engeneering of Tohoku University, presently on leave of absence. In Japan, she served as a Member of the Council for Science and Technology Policy (CSTP) at the Cabinet Office and a member of different commissions related to Science and Technology at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sport, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
Her experience prior to Tohoku University includes being a Fellow at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry in Japan and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Geneva.

Ms. Harayama is a citizen of Japan, holds a Ph.D. in Education Sciences and a Ph.D. in Economics both from the University of Geneva.

Presentation: STI policies under pressure



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Liz joined the University of Huddersfield in September 2009. The key aspect which attracted her to the University and made the biggest impression was the combination of the University's vision and ambition. A trained chemist, Liz graduated with a PhD in X-ray crystallography before joining the Research Council system. She also has an MBA and is a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.

Her first position was as a scientist at the UK's first synchrotron radiation source at Daresbury in Cheshire working closely with UK academics. At that time, her research included time resolved diffraction of biomolecular and polymeric systems but also required her to design and commission large scale equipment to carry out this work. Prior to arriving at the University, her role was Director of Knowledge Exchange for the Science and Technology Facilities Council, developing the organisation's strategy for Knowledge Exchange and Economic Impact. During this time she has gained extensive experience of working with industry, of providing hi-tech services, the commercialisation and exploitation of IP and of taking forward public/private partnerships. She was a key person responsible for the establishment of the two national Science and Innovation Campuses at Harwell and Daresbury.

Liz enjoys working at the interface between academia and industry and is the key driver in establishing the Huddersfield Enterprise and Innovation Centre which is due to be launched in May 2012 at the University.

Presentation: Facilitating Open Innovation : creating environments to connect business and academia

Open innovation is more than just connecting people through networks. It's about creating a supportive environment recognising the needs of business and forming an innovation eco system that can facilitate ways for creative knowledge transfer. Managing the interface between business and academia is key to successful open innovation and economic growth. New approaches and innovative solutions are required which include access to markets and commercialisation routes, access to finance and investment, and access to facilities and skills. European Regional Development funding has been secured to take forward a novel approach drawing on these key elements – the Huddersfield Enterprise and Innovation Centre model will be showcased during this presentation.

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Katrien Maes is Chief Policy Officer with the League of European Research Universities. LERU is an association of 21 European universities devoted to world-class research coupled with high quality teaching. LERU promotes the role and values of research universities in the knowledge society across Europe and beyond. Its purpose is to advocate these values, influence policy in Europe and to promote good practice through members' exchange of experience.

Katrien has been with LERU since 2004 and is currently responsible for policy development across all areas of LERU's activities, including research and higher education policies, research funding, management and assessment. She has a special interest in doctoral education, research training and career development.

Originally from Belgium, Katrien lived and worked in the US from 1986 until 2002, first as a doctoral student in linguistics, then as an assistant professor of Italian language and foreign language pedagogy at the University of Delaware.


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Joanna Chataway is Director of Innovation and Technology Policy at RAND Europe. She is also currently the Open University Co-Director of the ESRC INNOGEN research centre for social and economic research on life sciences innovation. Her experience and expertise includes analysis of the relationships between institutional, organisational and technological innovation. She has particular interests in health innovation policy, personalised/precision medicine, the pharmaceutical industry and global health, and has contributed to a number of reports, expert panels and consultations on changing models in research and development in pharmaceuticals, personalised medicine and e-health. Joanna has also led research on agricultural innovation and sat on the UK Nuffield Bioethics Council Working Party on biofuels. She has carried out research, policy analysis and evaluation studies for a wide variety of clients, including The European Commission, Pfizer, Merck, the World Bank, DfID, Defra, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and the Wellcome Trust.


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Iztok Lesjak MSc is an international expert in innovative SME creation, incubation and regional policy development. He obtained a MSc degree in economics while his BSc degree is in computer science, both from the University of Ljubljana.

From 1989 to 1992, Iztok has been involved in marketing research results and capabilities in the Italian market as representative for the Jožef Stefan Institute and the National Institute of Chemistry. From 1993 to 1995 he worked as Project Manager of the project Technology Park at the Jožef Stefan Institute, the predecessor of the Ljubljana Technology Park Ltd company, where he was appointed as General Manager in 1996.

He has supported the design, development and implementation of growth acceleration and value added services, together with a €42m infrastructure office and laboratory space project, for Ljubljana Technology Park tenants. He was actively involved in the evaluation process for more than 200 initiatives and hi-tech company proposals. Iztok is also an international projects expert in the fields of national and regional innovation and/or technology transfer strategies and regional development. He is also a senior lecturer of business planning at the University of Nova Gorica.

Iztok has been the initiator for the establishment of the National Association of Technology Parks, Business Incubators and Technology Centers and was President of this association from 2005 to 2008. In 2010, he was elected as President of the European Division of International Association of Science Parks (IASP).


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John Smith has worked at the EUA since September 2004 as Deputy Secretary General with responsibility for its activities in the fields of research and innovation. After completing his PhD in political science (University of Kent, Canterbury, UK), he took up a career in the field of science administration and policy at the Economic and Social Research Council, London, UK (1976-84), and the European Science Foundation, Strasbourg, (1985-2000). Based in Vienna from 2000-2003, he was Executive Director of the Institute for Human Sciences until December 2001 and then worked as a Research Consultant on several commissioned studies, including those for the Austrian Ministry of Education, Science and Culture; the European Centre for Social Welfare Policy and Research; and the European Commission Directorate-General for Research. From October 2003 to September 2004, he was based in Lisbon, Portugal, as a Gulbenkian Foundation Visiting Professor in European Science Policy at the Instituto Superior De Ciencias Do Trabalho E Da Empresa (ISCTE) of the University of Lisbon.


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Francis Moussy is currently working as Leader of Knowledge Management and Priorities at WHO/TDR. He is also leading projects to facilitate the development and use of medical devices for ageing populations and diagnostics that are suitable for low and middle-income countries.

Prior to joining WHO/TDR in March 2009, Franceis worked as Professor and Deputy Director in the Brunel Institute for Bioengineering at Brunel University (West London), UK. As Deputy Director, he helped the Director manage the Brunel Institute for Bioengineering. The Institute had about 55 staff and students. As Professor, he also managed a research group that included graduate students, technicians, research fellows and other professors. He remains a visiting professor.

From 2002 to 2007, Francis held a position as a tenured associate professor in the Department of Chemical & Biomedical Engineering at the University of South Florida in Tampa. From 1994 to 2002, he held Assistant Professor positions at the Universities of Maryland and Connecticut before moving to Tampa. Francis has been awarded tenure twice in US universities. The first time was in the School of Medicine of the University of Connecticut and the second time in the College of Engineering at the University of South Florida. Prior to moving to the USA, Francis worked in Canada, firstly as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Toronto, and then as a research fellow at the University of Alberta. He obtained his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Université de Technologie de Compiègne, France, in 1988.

Francis has 20 years' experience developing biosensors/diagnostics, biomaterials and drug delivery devices. His research has been funded by several peer-reviewed US federal grants, including a grant from the NIH Bioengineering Institute (NIBIB) for an amount of $2.2 m. He has published many peer-reviewed papers in the fields of biosensors, biomaterials, drug delivery devices and more recently on diagnostics for global health. He has often been a participant in grant review panels for the NIH to evaluate research grant applications dealing with biosensors/diagnostics. Francis holds a number of patents; some of them have been licensed.

Presentation: Creating the conditions for innovation to flourish and reach the market

The World Health Organization is responsible for helping to shape the health research agenda and accessing global health trends. Evidence-based research and development is fundamental to meeting the big challenges in healthcare. How do we remove the barriers that prevent innovative ideas, technology and products reaching the market quickly and safely? Discussing the role of innovation in improving upon health inequalities, raising healthcare standards and defence against transnational disease.

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