2026 Conference of the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information

Speaker bio’s

Panel I - High level policy

Emanuel Kulczycki is Head of the Research System and Science Dynamics Department at the German Centre for Higher Education Research and Science Studies (DZHW) in Berlin, as well as Professor of Science Studies at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. His research examines how scholarly communication and research evaluation systems shape knowledge production, academic practices, and the governance of science. He focuses on scientometrics, multilingual scholarly publishing, and predatory publishing. His work draws on the science of science, sociology of science, science and technology studies, research evaluation studies, and bibliometrics.

Zeynep Varoglu Zeynep Varoglu is a Senior Programme Specialist at UNESCO, where she leads the Open Solutions portfolio spanning OER, Open Access, Open Data, and FOSS to support open and interoperable knowledge infrastructures. She provides global leadership for the implementation of the 2019 Recommendation on OER and leads initiatives supporting equitable access to scientific communications.

Matthew Wallace has been working in the field of science policy for almost 20 years. As a Senior Program Specialist at Canada’s International Development Research Centre, he manages a portfolio of projects to support inclusive science and innovation systems across the Global South. He previously worked at UNESCO, managing a program on science for sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa. He has also worked as an advisor and evaluator at Canadian science-based federal departments and funding agencies. He holds a Masters’ degree in Physics and a Ph.D. in the History of Science. He has published extensively on topics such as social innovation, research evaluation, the societal impacts of research and the dynamics of scientific disciplines.

Lin Zhang is Professor of Information Management at Wuhan University, China. She is Executive Director of the NSFC–Wuhan University Observatory for Global Fundamental Research, Director of the Ministry of Education-funded Research Evaluation Reform Centre at Wuhan University, and Editor-in-Chief of Scientometrics. Her research focuses on scientometrics, research evaluation, science policy, and the governance of research systems, with particular interests in responsible research assessment, open research information, and international comparison of research systems. She has held visiting and affiliated positions at the Centre for R&D Monitoring (ECOOM) at KU Leuven and the Centre for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) at Leiden University, and is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the Research on Research Institute (RoRI). She currently leads work on the China Fundamental Research Report (2026), an NSFC-funded initiative using open research information and new analytical approaches to better understand the development, contributions, and diversity of fundamental research systems internationally.

Panel II - Related international initiatives

Sandra Bendiscioli Sandra Bendiscioli leads EMBO’s policy work, bringing long-standing experience in research assessment, research integrity, and institutional change. She serves on the DORA Executive Board, represents EMBO in CoARA, and coordinates internal efforts to strengthen evaluation processes for EMBO funding schemes. A consistent part of her work has been creating space for thoughtful discussion and practical progress. For ten years, she led workshops on responsible research with EMBO Members and institutes across Europe, helping institutions reflect on and improve policies related to research integrity and assessment. She also convenes EMBO workshops on wider policy issues, most recently on biomedical engineering and on environmental sustainability in research.

Nicolas Fressengeas is a physicist and professor at Université de Lorraine, of which he is his vice president in charge of the digital, data and open science policies. He is missionned by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Space to represent it (i) in the Open Science Monitoring Intitiative governance, in which he his board chair ; (ii) in ORCID governance, in which he is board member and chair of the Membership and Fees committe ; (iii) to help steering the French CoARA national chapter.

Oliver Günther has been President of Universität Potsdam since 2012. From 1993 to 2011 he was Professor of Information Systems at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, since 2005 also Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics. Professor Günther also taught at UC Berkeley, UC Santa Barbara, ESMT Berlin, ESCP Paris, and the University of Cape Town. He holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Computer Science from UC Berkeley (1985/87) and a Diplom in Industrial Engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (1984). His research is focusing on IT strategy, IT efficiency, data protection, and information security. Oliver Günther is a Fellow of the German Informatics Society and a Member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering acatech. He holds a Doctor of Humane Letters honoris causa degree from American Jewish University in Los Angeles.