Advisory and Impact (ADIM) Board
VERITY aims to engage a broad range of stakeholders in participatory processes to align research with society's values, needs and expectations. One of our tools for ensuring stakeholder engagement in all phases of the project is an Advisory and Impact (ADIM) Board. Members will serve as a source of expertise, providing regular feedback and guidance, and act as a dissemination multiplier. They are constantly informed about project developments and help to disseminate and use VERITY project results in their networks and communities.
ADIM Board members are invited to participate in meetings, small-scale studies, and social lab activities, interviews, focus groups, expert workshops, or other events organised by the project. They are distinguished by their recognition and high reputation in the field, or by the unique perspective they can contribute to the discussion on trust in science. ADIM Board members drive the direction and collaborate with partners, advise, and are involved in the development of resources and data. In this respect, they play a vital role as 'stewards of trust' by contributing to aligning project outcomes with the needs of the research community and reflecting societal values, ultimately strengthening the 'ecosystem of trust'.
Note: Not all members of the VERITY Advisory and Impact Board are displayed on the website or public platforms, as some may prefer to maintain their privacy or confidentiality. The listed board members represent a selection of highly qualified experts involved in the project.
Learn more about our ADIM Board members
Jonas Åkerman
Dr. Åkerman is a docent (reader/associate professor) in philosophy. He currently works as a Research Integrity and Ethics Coordinator at Stockholm University (Office of Research, Engagement and Innovation Services).
He was co-chair of EARMA’s Ethics and Research Integrity Officers Network (ERION) 2018-2022. He has been member and secretary of the expert group on ethics within the Association of Swedish Higher Education Institutions since 2019. He is presently involved in several EU-funded projects. He is also temporarily employed by the Swedish Research Council in order to write a revised version of their guidance document Good Research Practice.
Ivan Buljan
Dr. Buljan is a faculty member at the Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Split (Croatia).
Having participated in previous Horizon 2020 projects, including EnTIRE (Mapping Normative Frameworks for Ethics and Integrity of Research), VIRT2UE (Virtue-based Ethics and Integrity of Research: Train-the-Trainer program), and SOPS4RI (Standard Operating Procedures for Research Integrity), he has played a pivotal role in addressing the crucial issue of trust in science. Through these projects, he has been involved in mapping normative frameworks, designing ethics training programs, and establishing standard operating procedures to ensure research integrity.
With a focus on research ethics and integrity, he has published extensively and served as the chair of the Croatian Reproducibility and Integrity Network, promoting good scientific practice.
Mónica Cano Abadía
Dr. Cano Abadía is a Senior Scientist at BBMRI-ERIC (Austria), where she focuses on the analysis of ethical and societal aspects of AI in medicine, particularly emphasizing trustworthiness. Within BBMRI-ERIC, she holds the position of Deputy Head of the Ethical, Legal, and Societal Issues Services and Research Department. Furthermore, she serves as the Gender, Equality, and Diversity Specialist.
She also serves as a lecturer in the master's programs of Interdisciplinary Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Graz and Interdisciplinary Gender Studies at the Autonomous University of Madrid.
Prior to her current role, she held postdoctoral positions at the Center for Advanced Studies - South East Europe (University of Rijeka) and the Section of Political Philosophy (University of Graz). She has made significant contributions to the development of the FUTURE-AI guiding principles, which aim to establish trustworthy AI practices.
Balaganapathi Devarakonda
Prof. Devarakonda is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Delhi. He is presently with the University of West Indies, Jamaica, as ICCR Chair for Indology and Gandhian Studies. His research publications are in the areas of Historiography of Indian Philosophy, Early Buddhism, Bio-informationalism and Philosophical Practice.
In addition to teaching and research, he is a Certified Philosophical Counselor by American Philosophy Practitioners Association, New York and is one of the founding Directors of the Philosophical Practitioners Association of India (PPAI), a non-profit organisation established for promoting the Philosophical Practice in India.
Earlier to this, Bala worked on his Doctoral thesis on Thomas Hobbes whose writings present a deeper understanding and reception of early modern science. His deep indulgence in the recent past in philosophical practices made him philosophise science for everyday human life. Bala is a member of the Institutional Ethics Review Board of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi that reviews scientific and non-scientific projects that involve human subjects. He has been associated with the Centre for Research in Values and Philosophy (CRVP), Washington DC as a Regional coordinator that has been engaged with studies of values at a Global level.
Marc Jan Eumann
Dr. Eumann serves as the Director of the Rhineland-Palatinate Media Authority (Medienanstalt Rheinland-Pfalz) and chairs the Commission for the Protection of Minors in the Media (Kommission für Jugendmedienschutz – KJM).
Before his current positions, he served as the State Secretary for Europe and Media in the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia from 2010 to 2017 and he held the position of deputy chairman of the SPD parliamentary group. Before his involvement in politics, he worked as a journalist and a consultant for journalistic activities for the mayor of Cologne.
Throughout his career, he has made substantial contributions to the understanding and developing media regulation, the digital society, and the future of journalism. His research and publications have mainly focused on the crucial issue of journalism financing.
Ramón Feenstra
Dr. Feenstra is an Associate Professor at the Universitat Jaume I of Castellón (Spain), specializing in democracy theory, research ethics, and communication ethics,
As a member of the European Project ETHNA System, he played a significant role in coordinating the development of the new Code of Good Practice in Research and Doctoral Studies (2022) at the Universitat Jaume I. This project focused on ethical research practices and ensuring the integrity of doctoral studies. Currently, he is also involved in the Catalisi Project.
He has authored several books, including Kidnapped Democracy (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) and Refiguring Democracy: The Spanish Political Laboratory (co-authored with Simon Tormey, Andreu Casero, and John Keane, Routledge, 2017). He has published articles in journals such as the Journal of Science and Engineering Ethics; Research Evaluation; Scientometrics; Learned Publishing; Journal of Business Ethics and The International Journal of Press Politics.
Dr. Maura Hiney
Dr. Hiney is Adjunct Professor at the University College Dublin Institute for Discovery, where she is focused on RI and ethics as contributors to a healthy research environment. She is a member of the Irish National Research Integrity Forum, a member of the Oversight Group of the National Open Research Forum, and was instrumental in developing the first National Policy on Ensuring Integrity in Irish Research (updated in 2019) and the 2022 Guidelines on Ensuring Integrity in Collaborative Research.
She has collaborated with organizations such as the European Science Foundation, Science Europe, and the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA) Permanent Working Group on Science and Ethics, where she serves as Chair. Her notable contributions include leading a comprehensive revision of the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity, which has become a foundational document for numerous national and local RI policies, EU Grant Agreements, and RI curricular structures.
She holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Diagnostics and Epizootology from NUI Galway and is also a qualified nurse. Her expertise spans various ethical and RI issues, including training, guideline harmonization, behavioral interventions, open science, reproducibility, and the ethical challenges posed by emerging technologies. She holds positions in RI-related foundations and conferences, as Treasurer of the World Conferences on Research Integrity Foundation and Co-chair of the 8th WCRI in Athens in 2024.
Ildi M. Ipolyi
Dr. Ipolyi is a Senior Science Officer at the European Science Foundation, where she leads the Inclusive Science (iScience) activity cluster.
With her extensive experience as a program coordinator, international project leader, and network coordinator, she has successfully completed numerous impactful tasks. Driven by the goal of increasing trust in science, Ildi focuses on advocating for the systematic inclusion of responsible open science principles in the practices of research and innovation entities. Additionally, she has actively facilitated and evaluated the implementation of responsible research and innovation principles in both institutional settings and diverse research and innovation ecosystems.
Her interdisciplinary scientific background includes an MSc in food sciences and a Ph.D. in analytical chemistry. She possesses expertise in capacity building, supporting evidence-based policy making, and environmental monitoring, particularly in the area of surface water.
Yairen Jerez Columbié
Dr. Jerez Columbié is an Assistant Professor in Latin American Studies and Intercultural Communication and Deputy Director of the Centre for Global Intercultural Communications at Trinity College Dublin.
Previously, she led interdisciplinary research at the Science Foundation Ireland Centre for Energy, Climate and Marine Research and Innovation (MaREI) of the Environmental Research Institute (ERI) at University College Cork. She is the author of the monograph Essays on Transculturation and Catalan-Cuban Intellectual History (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021) and co-editor of the open-access edited volume Creating Resilient Futures: Integrating Disaster Risk Reduction, Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Change Adaptation Agendas (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022). As a member of the European Research Area for Climate Services [ERA4CS] Co-production Working Group, she co-authored the report Co-production of Climate Services: A diversity of approaches and good practice from the ERA4CS projects (2017–2021).
A published poet and interdisciplinary researcher, with field experience in diverse territories from Latin America and Europe, she brings to Verity her experience in designing, undertaking, disseminating, and assessing research that connects artists, intellectuals, scientists, communities, and policymakers to support equity, diversity and inclusion in knowledge-making processes, international partnerships and the fair public uptake and use of science and technology.
Ventseslav Kozarev
Mr. Kozarev is a Policy Analyst at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, where he is part of the team behind the Competence Centre on Participatory and Deliberative Democracy. Mr. Kozarev’s primary focus is on the continued development of a framework for the evaluation of citizen engagement in policymaking. He also contributes to the Competence Centre’s training programme, and is actively involved in collaboration activities with members of the Competence Centre’s Community of Practice.
Prior to joining the JRC, he led a small transdisciplinary team of policy analysts and innovation project managers in Bulgaria focusing particularly on challenges to policy and regulation emerging from science, technology, and innovation developments. In this role, he co-designed and implemented numerous participatory processes empowering citizens to co-produce recommendations to local, national, and European policy-makers on complex and often controversial topics, such as sustainable consumption, human enhancement, sustainable innovation, and responsible and ethical research.
Mr. Kozarev holds a Master’s degree in Political Science from Sofia University, and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Minnesota, USA. He specialised in Technology Assessment at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Portugal..
Sorin Adam Matei
Dr. Matei is an Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Education at the College of Liberal Arts and a Professor of Communication at the Brian Lamb School of Communication. His research focuses on the relationship between information technology, group behaviours, and social structures, particularly in the context of collaboration and conflict.
He is the founder and director of the MS in Technology and Strategy program and has developed various publishing, collaborative, and knowledge management tools. He has also initiated study abroad programs, such as the Global Communication Study Abroad Program in Paris, which provides experiential learning opportunities in the social and digital media landscape of Europe.
In addition to his research, he is an innovator in STEM education and has developed transdisciplinary programs and initiatives. He has led extramural awards and research teams, focusing on topics such as communication technologies, social structures, and AI ethics. Furthermore, he has created educational programs and tools, including the Remote Sensing and Observation in Archaeology (ROSETTA) program and the Data Storytelling non-credit Program.
Istvan Palugyai
Mr. Palugyai is a science journalist who has had an extensive career in the field with a focus on trust in science particularly in light of the proliferation of fake science and the decreasing accessibility of scientific information to the general public.
He has worked as a TV host, editor, and producer of popular science programs, as well as served as the science editor of daily papers from 1979 to 2016.
He holds notable positions such as Honorary President of the Club of Hungarian Science Journalists, President Emeritus of the European Union of Science Journalists' Associations (EUSJA), and Vice President of the World Federation of Science Journalists. He also played significant roles in organizing international conferences and has been involved in various science communication projects.
Gianluca Sgueo
Mr. Sgueo is a Professor in Digital Democracy in Public Spaces at École d’Affaires Publiques of Sciences Po Paris, Senior Associate Researcher at the Centre for Digitalization, Democracy and Innovation of the Brussels School of Governance and Associate Researcher at the Centro de Estudos Sociais of the University of Coimbra.
He currently works as a policy advisor in the Digital Transformation Team of the Italian government, focusing on data analysis and assessment of digital transition and democratic engagement through technology.
His research focuses on civic engagement and digital democratic governance and he has been involved in various projects, including 'PRODEMO,' an EU-funded project aimed at promoting political engagement among EU mobile citizens through a mobile application.
Previously, he worked as a Policy Analyst in the Citizens' Policies Unit of the European Parliamentary Research Service in Brussels, where he coordinated research projects on innovative approaches to democracy and citizens' participation.
Cristina Torres
Dr. Torres is a Social Science Professor at the University of the Philippines in Manila and serves as the Asian Regional Coordinator for the Forum for Ethical Review Committees in Asia and the Western Pacific.
She is also an Adjunct Professor at the National Health Institute of Manila and works as a Research Ethics Consultant for the Department of Health of the Philippines. In addition, she is a member of the World Health Organisation Working Group on Global Benchmarking Tool for Research Ethics.
Cristina is an experienced Research Ethics Lecturer at various institutions, including the University of the Philippines Manila, Thammasat University in Thailand, and Nagasaki University in Japan.
Luk Van Baelen
Dr. Van Baelen is Project Coordinator at the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction in Lisbon.
He has a diverse background in working with hard-to-reach populations and addressing critical issues such as mental health, female genital mutilation, and substance use. He worked as a researcher for Doctors Without Borders, Ghent University, the Belgian Scientific Institute for Public Health, and the European Drugs Agency. His scientific work revolves around studying and addressing the challenges faced by marginalized populations.
From 2003 to 2010, he served with Doctors Without Borders, undertaking long-term missions in Eastern Europe and Africa, and holds a MA in Sociology and a Ph.D. in Psychology.
Mathijs Vleugel
Dr. Vleugel is a science policy expert at the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA), Berlin, where he is responsible for managing various projects related to Open Science, Research Integrity, and Research Assessment.
Before joining ALLEA in 2021, he gained four years of experience as a scientific editor in London and Berlin for Springer Nature Group.
With a Ph.D. in cell biology from Utrecht University and postdoctoral research experience in biophysics at the Delft University of Technology, he brings a strong scientific background to his work.
Dr Jenny Knell is a Research Manager at University College Dublin (UCD), where she specialises in the development and implementation of large-scale collaborative research projects. Most recently, she was Project Manager of the Horizon 2020 project PERITIA - Policy, Expertise and Trust in Action, which investigated the extent and conditions of public trust in expert advice on policy issues.
Her professional background spans higher education institutions in the US, UK and Ireland. Jenny has previously held research support roles in the UCD EU Research Office and the UCD Institute for Discovery, an incubator providing expertise and support for emerging and early stage interdisciplinary research. She holds a PhD in Film and Cultural Studies.
