Montserrat Pinent Armengol is at the Vice-Rectorate for Teaching Projects and Students at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili. This Vice-Rectorate is responsible for innovation in teaching, teaching methodologies and educational resources and for student reception, student services, internships and academic orientation. It also promotes student involvement in university life and supports student associations and representative bodies.
Kristýna Raimerová is MA Student at Palacký University Olomouc and Secretary of the Aurora Student Council (ASC). She will be responsible for ensuring that the ASC functions smoothly and efficiently, through a strong focus on organisation, documentation, and internal coordination. Known for her detail-oriented approach and reliability, Kristýna plays a key role in maintaining accurate records, managing Council schedules, and keeping members updated with the latest developments and decisions affecting the Council and the wider Aurora network. Committed to transparency and effective communication, the Secretary General ensures that the Council’s work is well-documented and accessible to both its members and the broader student community.
Dugan O’Neil is an accomplished particle physicist whose research has focused on the search for new particles and interactions at high energy particle colliders at Fermilab and CERN. In addition to his work as a physicist, O’Neil has played a leadership role in building Canada’s digital research infrastructure within its diverse scientific community.
As Vice-President, Research and Innovation at Simon Fraser University, he works to secure partnerships with academia, industry, community and government. A key element of O’Neil’s role focuses on knowledge mobilization by facilitating opportunities to transfer researchdiscoveries to society and create a positive social, economic and environmental impact on the world stage.
Simona Gibalová is fourth year General Medicine student at Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice. As current President of the Aurora Student Council (ASC), she will leverage on her extensive experience as former Aurora Student Representative in the ASC. From collaboration on creating the Aurora Students’ Rights Charter to representing Aurora in the European Student Union, she will bring a unique perspective from an Aurora Associate Partner university to the ASC board for the first time.
Simona’s vision for this year involves deepening student collaboration on a local and European level, improving the Aurora Student Ambassador programme and bringing forward the needs of students from associate partner universities. She believes that the ASC is a unique opportunity for every student involved to gain new, outside-of-classroom knowledge, share good practices and gain growth on both personal and professional levels.
Professor Ramon Puras recently assumed the role of Secretary General at Aurora. With a PhD in biomedical sciences focusing on HIV research, he’s known for establishing the Amsterdam University College and in his previous role as Dean of the Faculty of Education at Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences.
Drawing from his extensive experience in higher education, Professor Puras is dedicated to enhancing programs by integrating cutting-edge research and emerging technologies. His passion for teaching the interdisciplinary course Gastronomy, the Art and Science of Cooking reflects his blend of interests in science, cooking, and education.
As senior strategic policy advisor EU and EU Liaison, Pim de Boer pro-actively enlarges visibility, reputation and competitiveness of VU Amsterdam and Aurora universities at EU authorities, EU services, academic institutions and other stakeholders in Europe. This entails providing advice on strategy and policies related to EU programmes and acquisition, networking, representation and lobbying in Brussels and other countries for VU and Aurora universities. To effectively achieve results, Pim involves scientists, lecturers and staff in EU-related policies, meetings and other activities. These tasks can be summarised as being a knowledge broker and bridging mediator. This also relates to his background as pathobiologist and assistant professor, director of research and grants at a charity and patient organisation, and entrepreneur combining societal and scientific engagement.
