Rui Mendes

Instituto Superior Tecnico, Portugal

Rui Mendes is the Director of International Affairs at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), University of Lisbon, where he has led internationalisation strategies and mobility programmes for over a decade. He has extensive experience in managing European-funded projects, having coordinated or contributed to nearly 30 initiatives under Erasmus+, Horizon Europe, and TEMPUS, including strategic partnerships, capacity building, and university alliances such as Unite! and FOSTWOM.

With a background in sociology (BSc) and statistics and information management (MSc), Rui brings a multidisciplinary approach to inclusion, data-driven policy, and international cooperation. He has held prior leadership roles in human resources and institutional governance at IST and currently serves on various high-level committees, including the Steering Committee of the Magalhães Network (Europe–Latin America), and as Deputy Vice President of the T.I.M.E. Association. He also chairs the Grant Application Support Team (GAST) within the CLUSTER network.

Rui is active in public service, currently presiding over the Commission of Health, Social and Labour Affairs in the Cascais Municipal Parliament. He is a seasoned presenter and trainer, having spoken at EAIE, SEFI, FAUBAI, and ESOF, and is the founder of IEHEP—International Experts for Higher Education in Portugal. His expertise bridges policy, practice, and inclusion in global higher education.

Mirko Varano

TO Tecnologico De Monterrey - ITESM, Mexico

Mirko Varano serves since June 2024 as Vice Rector for International Affairs at Tecnologico De Monterrey - ITESM, Mexico. Mirko has been active in the field of internationalisation of higher education for the past 30 years. He covered different positions of responsibility at the Turin Technical University between 1992–2008 in the field of international relations. He was appointed as CLUSTER network coordinator from 2008 to 2010. He was previously Senior Advisor for International Projects at KTH Royal Institute of Technology with a focus on Erasmus+, Joint Programmes, and university networks. At the same institution he was appointed a member of the international strategy group from 2013 to 2016, and Key Liaison Officer for the Unite! European University Alliance since November 2019. Mirko holds a Master’s degree in Political Science with a specialisation in International Relations and European Studies from the University of Turin, Italy. Mirko was elected Chair of the Expert Community European Collaborative Programmes for the 2022–2024 term, and has recently been appointed as member of the Thematic Committee "Partnerships" Steering Committee. Mirko has an extensive competence in the development and implementation of international Dual Degrees and Joint Programmes. 

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Gwenaëlle Guillerme

T.I.M.E. Association, France

Gwenaelle Guillerme is the Secretary General of the T.I.M.E. Association, a global network of over 60 top universities in engineering education that work together to develop double degree programs and foster international cooperation in science and engineering. She is also a researcher at the LIPADE laboratory  (Laboratory of Informatics) at Université Paris Cité in France, which specializes in computer science and data analysis, and collaborates closely with the Faculty of Applied Sciences at UNICAMP in Brazil. Her work connects higher education, research, and human mobility migration.

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