Lisa Ericsson

Secretary General of CESAER

Leuven, Flemish Region, Belgium

About

Dr Mattias Björnmalm is a scientist and policy professional with extensive experience at the intersection of research, innovation, and higher education. He serves as Secretary General of CESAER, the strong and united voice of universities of science and technology in Europe. Originally from Sweden, Mattias completed his PhD in engineering at the University of Melbourne in Australia. He was later awarded a prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Individual Fellowship by the European Commission, which brought him to Imperial College London as a postdoctoral researcher, where he led the qBionano project. From the 8,916 submissions to MSCA that year from across Europe, he was selected by the European Commission as one of the continent’s 30 most highly promising researchers at an award ceremony in Brussels. In 2019, he received an Imperial College President’s Award, “recognised for outstanding achievements in policy engagement”. He has previously served as Honorary Research Fellow at the Bionics Institute, Editor in science & policy for Angle, Vice-Chair of Policy for the Marie Curie Alumni Association, and as an invited member of the World Economic Forum Expert Network. Mattias has a strong scientific background in nanotechnology and biomedical engineering, with dozens of publications in peer-reviewed journals. Since moving to Belgium, he has focused on shaping research and innovation policy, foresight, strategy, and engagement across Europe.

Experience