Governance

Janis Vetra has been a professor at Riga Stradins University, Latvia, since 1998. His current research interests include anthropological research on the Latvian population, as well as his duties as chair of the university's Research Ethics Committee. From 1992 to 2007, Janis Vetra was the rector of Riga Stradins University. From 2008 to 2022, he headed the Latvian Council of Higher Education, an institution responsible for the institutional accreditation of higher education institutions, the distribution of public funding in higher education, as well as the development of the strategic development of higher education in Latvia.He graduated from the Riga Medical Institute, received a MD, and practiced for sometime as a traumatologist and orthopedist, as well as conducting research in biomechanics. Vetra has been a team member and team chair for EUA-IEP evaluation teams since 2017, and completed 9 IEP institutional evaluations in different countries.

Brian Norton is Emeritus Professor of Solar Energy Applications at TU Dublin, President of the European Sustainable Energy Innovation Alliance, and a Vice-President of the European Academies Science Advisory Council. He was formally President of (what is now) Technological University Dublinfor sixteen years, and prior to that Dean of Engineering at Ulster University.

Brian serves as an EUA-IEP chair and has evaluated universities in Portugal, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. He has also chaired reviews of university research in Finland and Estonia.

His honours include an Honorary Doctorate from Universite de Technologie de Troyes, France, Membership of the Royal Irish Academy, Fellowship of the Irish Academy of Engineering, Honorary Membership of the Daylight Academy, and Honorary Fellowship of the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers.  His awards include the CIBSE Napier Shaw Medal, Energy Institute’s Roscoe Award and American Association of Publishers PROSE Award.

Georg Schulz is Rector at the University for Music and Performing Arts Graz, Austria since 2020. Previously, he held positions at the same university — where he is an associate professor — serving as Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs from 2003 to 2007 and as Rector from 2007 to 2012. From 2014 to 2020 he was Vice-president at the AEC, the European Association of Conservatories and from 2017 to 2019 member of the Executive Board of the International Music Council IMC associated with UNECO in Paris.

He joined EUA-IEP in 2012, was promoted to chair in 2015 and from 2017 to 2019 already member of the steering committee, rejoining the committee in 2026. He conducted several evaluations under the auspices of EUA-IEP, evalag, NQA and MusiQuE.

Drawing on his background in chemistry, music, and higher education and research management, he has actively championed the establishment of artistic research as an independent discipline.

Katarzyna is a PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics at the University of Warsaw where she studies the effectiveness of mobile applications in foreign-language teaching. Since 2023 she has been a member of the European Students’ Union Quality Assurance Students’ Experts Pool. She has participated in a number of evaluations including the EUA- IEP initial evaluation at the University of the Republic of San Marino and an EVALAG programme accreditation at the University of Jordan.

At the University of Warsaw, she advances quality assurance and language education as a member of the Council for Foreign-Language Teaching and Proficiency Certification, the Microcredential Implementation Team, the Senate’s Legal & Statutory and Academic Affairs Committees, and the Council for Teaching and Learning (2021–2025). She is a former vice-president of the Doctoral School of Humanities PhD Students’ Union (2022–2024), a TEDx University of Warsaw Speaker (2024), and a member of the Polish National Council of Doctoral Students’ Scientific Communication Team.

Lewis Purser works at the Irish Universities Association, where is Director for Learning, Teaching & Academic Affairs. Within IUA he has overall responsibility for a broad portfolio of policy areas, including access, admissions, teaching and learning, student engagement, skills and graduate outcomes, graduate studies and quality.

Prior to joining IUA in 2005, Lewis worked at the European University Association and with several United Nations agencies in educational, health and social fields. He is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin and of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies at the University of Geneva.

Lewis has been a coordinator for EUA-IEP evaluation teams since 1998, and completed over 25 IEP institutional evaluations, across a broad range of countries. He has also assisted a number of national QA agencies with their work. He is currently a member of the EQAR Register Committee.

Melita is a full professor at the University of Zagreb. She has been involved in higher education policy-making since 2000, serving on a number of national and European bodies in this field. She has participated in projects relating to doctoral training, research capacity, academic leadership and quality assurance in the European Union, South East Europe, Asia and Africa, and participates in institutional, programme and agency evaluations, both individually and as a member of international teams. She is a member of the ENQA panel and is frequently engaged by national agencies as a chair. Since 2017, she has been a member of the European University Association -  Institutional Evaluation Programme, participating in evaluations as member of teams. She is currently serving her second term on the Steering Committee.

Ronny Heintze is Deputy Director for International Development at AQAS, Germany. He oversees international activities and has coordinated more than 150 accreditation procedures, with a particular focus on joint programmes. His work spans Europe, the ASEAN region, the Gulf states and South America, and includes projects funded by the European Union. He has also advised quality assurance agencies and higher-education authorities internationally.

Ronny serves as an international reviewer and review chair for ENQA, assessing quality assurance agencies against the ESG. He has served on ENQA’s Agency Review Committee and on the Board of the European Consortium for Accreditation, where he has led work on certification for internationalisation. He has also contributed to INQAAHE reviews and international projects supporting the development of quality assurance systems and methodologies.

Before entering higher-education quality assurance, Ronny held executive roles with National Model United Nations in New York. He holds an MA from the University of Bonn in political science, psychology and media studies. He also teaches about the United Nations at the University of Trier and joined the EUA-IEP Steering Committee in 2026.

Simona Lache is Vice-Rector for Internationalization and Quality Evaluation at Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania, and a professor of Mechanical Engineering. She currently serves on the Institutional Commission of ARACIS (Romanian Agency for Quality Assurance in Higher Education), after completing two terms on the ARACIS Council as director of the Accreditation Department.

Simona has extensive expertise in quality assurance and internationalization of higher education, actively contributing as an international reviewer and serving on the boards of several organizations, including INQAAHE, CEENQA, and EUA-IEP.

She is an experienced expert in EUA-IEP and ENQA reviews. She has served as an academic, quality assurance specialist, or project manager on several projects related to the development, implementation, and external assessment of the higher education system, as well as in creating policies and methodologies in quality assurance. Additionally, she has worked on fostering transnational cooperation between universities and businesses to promote entrepreneurship, open innovation, and work-based learning.

Ivanka Popović is Vice-President of EUA and member of the association’s Board. She is a former Rector of the University of Belgrade, Serbia. She was elected to the EUA Board in 2021, and currently chairs the Association’s Task Force on Ukraine. Ivanka joined the EUA-IEP Steering Committee as an ex-officio member in 2025.

Prior to her term as Rector (2018-2021), Professor Popović served as Vice-Rector for Research (2012-2015) and Vice-Rector for International and Inter-University Cooperation (2015-2018) at the University of Belgrade. She also previously presided the Serbian Rectors’ Conference (2018-2021), the Danube Rectors’ Conference and the Rectors’ Forum of Southeast Europe and the Western Balkans.

Professor Popović studied at the University of Maryland (USA) and at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy (FTM) of the University of Belgrade. She holds a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from the latter.