IKY appoints new director general and swissuniversities elect new president

In August 2022, Professor Maria-Zoi (Marisa) Fountopoulou was appointed by the Greek Minister of Education and Religious Affairs to the position of the Director General of the State Scholarships Foundation (IKY) – ACA’s member organisation in Greece. Mrs Fountopoulou is a Professor of Philosophy, Pedagogy and Psychology at the Pedagogic Department of Secondary Education at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA). As a former IKY scholar, she defended her doctoral thesis in the teaching of the ancient Greek language at the University of Athens after completing her MA in European Studies at the Institut d’ études européennes, Louvain-La-Neuve University. Her main scientific, research and writing work covers the area of ​​methodology of teaching the ancient Greek language and literature. Alongside her twenty-year academic career at the NKUA, she has often been assigned to the duty of scientific coordinator or member of the Board of Directors at university and also at national level.  Before she took office in IKY, she had served, since February 2020, as the 2nd Vice President of the Hellenic National Academic Recognition and Information Center (Hellenic NARIC).

Photo retrieved from NKUA's website

On October 20, 2022, the plenary assembly of swissuniversities elected Luciana Vaccaro, Rector of the Haute école spécialisée de Suisse occidentale (HES-SO), as President of swissuniversities, for the period of February 2023 to July 2024, succeeding Yves Flückiger of the University of Geneva. Luciana Vaccaro holds a master’s degree in physics from the University Federico II of Naples and a PhD in microtechnology from the EPFL. Her research has focused on optics and electromagnetism; in particular, she has developed high-resolution microscopic techniques. Since 2013, she is the Rector of the HES-SO. For swissuniversities, Luciana Vaccaro highlights four areas of special attention: Continuing efforts to enable Switzerland to participate in European research and education programmes; obtaining sufficient federal funding for all types of higher education    institutes; making the interdisciplinary knowledge and scientific expertise of HEIs available quickly, efficiently and in a coordinated manner to meet the challenges of society; and last but not least, ensuring the prosperity of our society by securing the next generation of academics, scientists, and professionals.

Photo retrieved from HES-SO, rectorat