Introduction to partnerships

Hanne Liv Østtveit-Moe

University of Oslo, Norway

Hanne Liv Østtveit-Moe is a Senior Research Adviser in the Department of Teacher Education and School Research at the University of Oslo, Norway. She has been working in the field of internationalisation of higher education for more than 10 years and has extensive experience with the administration of internationalisation in higher education and developing the international partner portfolio.

She has designed and delivered staff training for academics and university leaders on the internationalisation of study programmes. She has developed on-demand courses on virtual mobility/COIL (Collaborative Online International Learning) for supervisors and teachers, has presented at several international conferences, and has contributed to peer-to-peer learning on virtual exchange/COIL as a member of the working group for the COIL Forum in Norway.

Hanne Liv holds a Master of Science in Globalisation, Global Politics and Culture from The Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and a Bachelor’s degree in Intercultural Communication and French from the University of Bergen and NHH Norwegian School of Economics. Hanne Liv served from 2022 to 2024 as a member of the EAIE Expert Community on Health and Welfare Education. Since 2024, Hanne Liv has been a member of the EAIE Thematic Committee Partnerships. 

LinkedIn:

https://linkedin.com/in/hanne-liv-%C3%B8sttveit-moe-34b8a942/

Bente Gaalaas Rønningen

University of Finland, Norway

Bente Gaalaas Rønningen is a Senior Adviser at the University of Inland Norway with 20 years of experience in international cooperation in higher education. She has worked both operationally and strategically to develop and implement international partnerships, networks, mobility programmes, and capacity-building initiatives across European and global contexts. 

She brings a strong expertise in policy development, project management, and quality assurance, and has contributed to enhancing institutional internationalisation through network-building. 

Currently, Bente serves as the local coordinator for EMERGE at INN University, where she facilitates collaboration and engagement within the European University Alliance. 

Katja Stephenson

University of Oulu, Finland

Katja Stephenson (nee Nieminen) is an international higher education professional with over 25 years of experience of working in the US, UK and Finland. She worked in the UK higher education sector for 18 years supporting strategic internationalisation efforts, global engagement and partnerships. With a Master’s in Comparative International Education from Loyola University Chicago, and doctoral research studies in higher education policy from the University of Bath, Katja is a passionate advocate for internationalisation of higher education and research.

Since 2021, Katja has served as the Head of International Affairs at the University of Oulu, Finland, where she is responsible for the development and coordination of the university’s international strategy and internationalisation initiatives. Katja has been an EAIE member since 2013, served two terms in the EAIE Conference Programme Committee and acted as the Chair of the Committee 2018-2021.

As of 2026, Katja volunteers as a Professional Development Committee member at the EAIE.

LinkedIn:

https://linkedin.com/in/katja-nieminen-75984221/

Jake Broadhurst

The University of Edinburgh, UK

Jake is a Senior Partnerships Advisor at the University of Edinburgh, UK. Over many years, he has helped set up a wide range of academic-led partnerships that enable the University of Edinburgh to make a more positive impact on the world. These range from multidisciplinary responses to global challenges to a biomedical research centre in China and a new global data institute that will grapple with the darkest corners of the internet to protect children from harm. 

From 2021 to 2022, he coordinated the ERASMUS+ EVALUATE project – Developing a Framework for Evaluation of International University partnerships. Jake is also steering group chair of Future UniLab – the Una Europa university alliance think-tank – helping universities to explore their common future; co-lead of the Thematic Expert Group on Internationalisation at HUMANE, the Heads of University Management & Administration Network in Europe; and discussion group facilitator on the Leadership Development Programme at The University of Edinburgh. 

Jake founded TEDxUniversityofEdinburgh, co-founded the World Access to Higher Education Day and has been awarded the University of Edinburgh Principal’s Medal for Outstanding Service. He holds a Master’s of Business Administration MBA from the University of Edinburgh, an MSc Applied Computing from Dundee University, and a BSc Environmental Studies from Newcastle Polytechnic.

Britta Piel

Freie Universität Berlin

Britta Piel is Head of Freie Universität Berlin’s (FUB) Center for International Cooperation, a unit within the International Office focusing on strategic internationalisation, and Deputy Director of the International Office. Her tasks include advancing the university’s internationalisation strategy, managing the university’s network of global liaison offices worldwide, and initiating new cooperation formats.  

Managing a diverse team across four continents, she can rely on more than 20 years of experience in different higher education institutions. 

Britta holds a Master’s degree in American Studies from Saint Louis University, USA, and university certificates in Management and Leadership as well as Positive Psychology. 

Niki Vermeulen

University of Edinburgh, UK

Professor Niki Vermeulen is a researcher in Science, Technology and Innovation Studies at the University of Edinburgh and visiting researcher at CWTS Leiden University. She specialises in science and innovation policy and the organisation of research, with an emphasis on research collaboration, investigating the interaction between epistemic and social transformations, analysing new ways of doing research as well as the political and institutional structures in which research is performed. 

Next to her academic positions, she has experience as a policy advisor and consultant in science policy. Currently she is Director International for the School for Social and Political Sciences of the University of Edinburgh, involved in the establishment of a variety of partnerships including the Global Futures Hub in The Hague, and she is working to further expand the Evaluate framework to explicitly attend to the building of equitable global partnerships together with the UNESCO Chair of Diversity and Inclusion in Global Science.