Andreas Winkler

Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany

Andreas is Head of International Relations Europe and Unite at TU Darmstadt. He has been Secretary General of the European University Alliance Unite! since its foundation in November 2019. Prior to his current position, he successfully managed European projects and networks as coordinator of the CLUSTER consortium (2018-20), as a funding and policy advisor for internationalisation at TU Darmstadt (2015-19) and while working with universities in the Western Balkans as a researcher and lecturer at the University of Bamberg (2010-15).
Andreas studied Geography, Political Sciences, and Communication Sciences and holds a PhD in geography. He is also a certified university and science manager.
He is passionate about the EAIE and a member of the Thematic Committee on European-funded programmes (2024-26) and was already an associate member of the EAIE Expert Community for European Collaborative Programmes (2022-23).

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Susanne Conze

Head of Unit for Higher Education in the Directorate General for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, European Commission, Belgium

Susanne Conze is Head of Unit for Higher education in the Directorate General for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport of the European Commission. The unit is the lead service for the development of the European Education Area's higher education dimension as well as devising and managing the higher education strand of the flagship Erasmus+ Programme via the National Agencies and the Executive Agency EACEA.
During her career, both in the Commission and before, Susanne worked in different areas of education and social inclusion policies as well as in the management of European education programmes. She studied history, sociology and political science and holds a PhD in history.

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Simone Lepore

Erasmus Student Network, Italy

Simone Lepore is the President of the Erasmus Student Network (ESN), where he leads the organisation’s efforts to promote and strengthen student mobility and internationalisation in higher education across Europe and beyond. In this role, he represents the interests of international students and works closely with European institutions, National Agencies, and civil society organisations.

Simone holds a Master’s in International Development and Public Policy from NOVA School of Business and Economics in Portugal. His thesis, "Who Goes Abroad? The Determinants of Higher Education Mobility in Italy," reflects his strong academic interest in education policy and student mobility. He also holds a binational Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and International Relations from Luiss University in Italy and Sciences Po Bordeaux in France.

Before becoming President, Simone worked as a Policy Intern at ESN, supporting the Education and Policy Department. He also gained research experience as a student assistant at the Economics of Education Knowledge Center at NOVA SBE. In addition, he has been actively involved with AFS-Intercultura, an NGO promoting student mobility in secondary education, further highlighting his long-standing commitment to international exchange and policy advocacy.

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