The EOSC Association continues to evolve in concert with the first-wave deployment of the EOSC Federation and the continuing discussions concerning the future of EOSC post-2027.
A transition in leadership will take place 01 July 2025 following last week’s election of Klaus Tochtermann as the next EOSC-A president, and three Board positions will turn over at the end of this year. To ensure that the best candidates come forward in time for EOSC-A’s 11th General Assembly in November 2025, a Search Advisory Committee for Candidates for the Board of Directors has been formed.
As introduced at last week’s General Assembly meeting in Antwerp, the committee will serve in an advisory role to the EOSC-A General Assembly. It is tasked with providing feedback on potential candidates and approaching individuals in the EOSC community for the purpose of encouraging them to apply for a Board position. The EOSC-A Board of Directors is a hands-on board, with significant strategic and operational responsibilities. We therefore require directors who are willing to actively shape the future of EOSC and are firmly established and respected in their relevant communities.
The formation of the Search Advisory Committee does not alter the fact that any delegate to the EOSC-A General Assembly may apply for a Board candidacy, and does not in any way supersede the decision-making authority of the General Assembly. The election of EOSC-A Board positions rests exclusively with the EOSC-A Member delegates who vote in an election during the General Assembly.
Three distinguished members of the EOSC community have agreed to join the search committee:
Inmaculada Figueroa
- Deputy Director General of International Consortia, Organizations and Research Infrastructures at the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities
- EOSC Steering Board
Inmaculada Figueroa is the Deputy Director General for International Consortia, Organization, and Research Infrastructures at the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities in Spain. She holds a master’s degree in electrical engineering from the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid and has over 17 years of experience at the National Research Center for Aerospace (INTA), where she contributed to significant projects, including MINISAT and the James Webb Space Telescope.
Figueroa is the Spanish delegate on the EOSC Steering Board, where she helps to shape policies for Open Science and data sharing across Europe. Additionally, she serves as a delegate in the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, advocating for high-performance computing initiatives to enhance research capabilities. Figueroa is also a member of the European Strategy Forum for Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) and represents Spain in various international organizations, including CERN and the European Southern Observatory (ESO).
Her expertise focuses on enhancing Spain’s international cooperation in research and innovation, particularly through fostering EU-Latin America collaboration on research infrastructures via Horizon Europe projects.
Vinciane Gaillard
- Director for Research and Innovation at the European University Association
Having served as EUA’s Deputy Director of R&I since 2019, Vinciane Gaillard took up the role of Director on 1 March 2025. She leads EUA’s R&I unit, which is notably responsible for the implementation of the Association’s Research & Innovation Agenda, Innovation Agenda and Open Science Agenda, which take a comprehensive approach to the R&I continuum, covering basic research, applied research, and innovation.
Before joining EUA, Vinciane spent over 15 years as a researcher and research manager in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. She holds a Doctorate in Psychology from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Belgium.
Karel Luyben
- Rector Magnificus Emeritus, Delft University of Technology
- President of EOSC-A, 2021-2025
Karel Luyben is Rector Magnificus Emeritus of the Delft University of Technology as of 2018. He was Rector Magnificus of the Delft University of Technology from 2010 to 2018. Before that he served as Dean of the Faculty of Applied Sciences for almost 12 years.
In 1983 he was appointed full professor in Biochemical Engineering at the Delft University of Technology, and from there has gained experience in research, starting a SME, research leadership and leading European organisations like the European Federation of Biotechnology, CESAER and now the EOSC Association.
Presently he is primarily active in the domain of Open Science. Until 2023 he was National Coordinator for Open Science in the Netherlands. He was the Chairman of the Board of the Dutch Techcentre for Life Sciences for 10 years, and is involved with the Open Science Task Forces of CESAER and EUA since 2020.
Karel served two years as chair of the Executive Board of EOSC (during Horizon 2020), and four and a half years as president of the EOSC Association (2021-2025).
