Research community

Supervisor: Lisa Hehenberger

BIO:
Chiara is a Postdoctoral researcher at the Esade Center for Social Impact. She is finalizing her PhD at Copenhagen Business School in Management and Sustainability. Her research focuses on Impact Measurement and Management in Impact Investing. Her interest lies in the managerial dynamics associated with materiality, power dynamics, stakeholder engagement, and commensuration. She is the author of scientific papers, a book chapter, and case studies on those topics. She employs an engaged scholarship orientation in her research, thereby producing research that is relevant to practice. She recently won a scholarship to participate in the prestigious “Impact Measurement” executive course (edition June 2023) at Saïd Business School, Oxford University. Chiara is also an Honorary Research Fellow at UCL School of Management (London). Previously, she worked in the pharmaceutical industry at Novo Nordisk (Copenhagen) and in the venture capital field at Luiss Enlabs (Rome).

Supervisor: Irene Unceta

BIO:
Arayeh obtained her PhD in Industrial Engineering from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC). She is currently a researcher at the Institute for Data-Driven Decisions at Esade. She specializes in sustainable management using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making tools and sustainable machine learning. Her research focuses on developing and implementing techniques to address complex sustainability challenges in industrial settings. Her recent work includes research on environmental adaptation and differential replication in machine learning under the supervision of Irene Unceta and Jordi Nin. This innovative approach addresses how machine learning models can adapt to changing environmental constraints, drawing parallels with biological evolution. This work proposes solutions based on differential replication, where knowledge from deployed models is reused to train more suitable future generations. This research has significant implications for maintaining the effectiveness of machine learning models in dynamic, real-world environments across various applications.

Supervisor: Anna Ginés

BIO:
Matteo obtained his PhD in Labour Law at the University of Milan in 2019. And his research in the field of evolution of workers' organizations in the digital age got an international recognition in 2018, with the Marco Biagi Award, granted by the International Association of Labour Law Journals. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the Horizon2020 project Equal4Europe, which aims to develop and implement Gender Equality Standards for AHMSSBL (Art, Humanities, Medicine, Social Sciences, Business & Management and Law) research institutions throughout Europe. This project aims to promote equal economic independence for women and men, also through solutions contrasting the gender pay gap and advancing gender balance in decision-making. He is also conducting studies about the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic on labour relationships, with specific reference to working time issues relating to telework.

Supervisors: Annachiara Longoni & Frank Wiengarten

BIO:
After finishing his Master’s degree in International Taxation, Santiago completed his PhD at the University of Santiago de Compostela. His research has addressed the fields of public finance and health economics. His doctoral work addresses the effect of fiscal decentralization on health. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the BuNeD research group at Esade. Under the supervision of Frank Wiengarten and Cristina Sancha, his work focuses on the sustainability of firms.

Supervisor: Ignasi Martí

BIO:
Raluca is a psychologist, with a Master’s in Applied Anthropology, Health and Community Development, and a PhD at the University of Salamanca in 2019. Her thesis revolves around the models of intervention with homeless people in Spain. After doing her PhD, she has participated in different research from the University of Salamanca. In 2021 she has received the Postdoctoral Advance Fellowship 2021 - STAR-UBB at Babes-Bolyai University in Romania, to develop research on access to the health of Roma communities. She also has experience in the third sector, in humanitarian aid and cooperation projects in Spain, Dominican Republic and Colombia. She is currently a Postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Social Innovation at Esade Business School since November 2022, and a member of the Institute´s Decent Housing Observatory, working with Ignasi Marti. Her research interests include homelessness and housing-led methodologies, social and residential exclusion, ethnic minorities and cultural diversity, applied anthropology, and mental health.

Supervisors: Tobias Hahn & Maja Tampe

BIO:
Veronica is a sociologist, with an MSc in Social Research and Development, and a PhD in Environmental Sciences and Technologies (University of Barcelona). After doing her PhD, she began her career as an academic, at the Adolfo Ibañez University Business School in Chile. She taught non-market strategies and started her research on B Corporations and regenerative businesses. She also became Director of the Sustainable Management minor within the School’s MSc Management and Strategy and commenced teaching on the subject of sustainable business models. She also did a one-year academic visit at the ICTA (Environmental Sciences and Technologies Institute), UAB, to explore the potential synergies between regenerative business and postgrowth. Additionally, she became a member of the Board of B Academics, a global network which promotes teaching and research on B Corporations. She is currently co-leading the SEKN's research project on regenerative business. Currently, Veronica is a postdoc researcher at Esade, collaborating in a research project on regenerative agriculture in Spain.

Supervisors: Rebeca Carpi & Joaquín Castañer

BIO:
Ariana obtained her PhD in Administrative Law at the University of Almería (Spain) in 2021 with the maximum honour: “cum laude”. Her field of expertise is IT law, which involves data protection, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, digital administration, and digital rights. She had two research stays: a predoctoral stay at the University of Brescia (Italy), and a postdoctoral stay at the Universidad Anaháuac Querétaro (Mexico), allowing her to get in touch with international research networks. Besides, she has several publications in national and international journals and books that reflect her research career. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher with the New Generation Fund by the European Union financed by the Ministry of Science and: «Non-bank financing for start-ups: risks and private-legal remedies». This project analyses the access to financing for startups outside the banking system, reviewing the business forms of credit and the contractual architecture of new credit categories such as convertible loans, crowdfunding and venture debts.

Supervisor: Ignasi Martí

BIO:
Juan Martín holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science (UBA), with master’s degrees in Politics and Government (UNSAM) and Public Management (BSM-UPF), and a PhD in Political Science (University of Granada). He is currently pursuing a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Social Innovation at Esade, working with Dr Ignasi Martí, researching topics related to immigration and social integration.

Supervisor: Tobias Hahn & Maja Tampe

BIO:
Natalia has over 15 years of expertise in social research and has contributed to over 10 academic research projects and authored 10 scientific publications. She holds a Licenciate degree in Sociology, and a Master’s degree in Communication and Culture both at University of Buenos Aires. She got a postgraduate scholarship from CONICET and has been teaching a sociology course. She has been a visiting researcher at Universidade de São Paulo, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo, University of Deusto, and almost two years at University of Groningen with the mobility scholarships Erasmus Mundus Europlata, and the Sociedad Económica Barcelonesa de Amics del País (SEBAP). She is also an external Lecturer at Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen, and Student Supervisor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. During her Ph.D. studies she investigated the interorganizational networks, collaboration, gender-based inequalities, and practices in social entrepreneurship and the social and solidarity economy in Barcelona with a Doctoral grant from Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. As a postdoctoral researcher, she is now studying governance, collaboration, and practices in the regenerative agriculture field in the Recover Project "Regeneration, Collaboration and Governance: A Longitudinal Study of Regenerative Agriculture in Spain", funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation.

Supervisor: Luca del Viva

BIO:
Filippo holds a Phd in Statistics and Data Science. During his PhD, as an active member of the CefES research group, his research focused on the field of game theory, in particular on the design of mathematical models for the analysis of mass uprisings phenomena. In parallel, he had the opportunity to work on database management and the application of quantitative statistical models for real cases with various programming languages in several interdisciplinary academic and corporate projects. He is currently  a MSCA candidate and a researcher associated to the GREF research group and collaborates on several projects led by Prof. Luca Del Viva, ranging from the temporal investigation of the factors influencing the level of risk and financing strategies in the banking world to the study of the causes of interest rate variation in the Repo market. Given his expertise of statistical methods and programming languages, his role is focused on data management, the design of metrics and the specification of statistical models for project purposes.  

Supervisors: Carolina Villegas & Vicente Bermejo

BIO:
Erfan holds a PhD in Economics from Pompeu Fabra University, an M.Sc. in Economics from the Barcelona School of Economics, and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology in Tehran. Before joining Esade, his research centred on information macroeconomics, uncertainty shocks, and firm dynamics. During his PhD, he introduced Bayesian learning as a potential driver of subjective uncertainty, exploring its effects on optimal monetary policy and firms' investment decisions. During his postdoctoral experience at Esade, Erfan contributed to a project on sustainability and productivity across supply chains. Under the supervision of Carolina Villegas-Sanchez and Vicente Bermejo, his research examined whether suppliers' ESG incidents led to the termination of customer relationships and assessed the associated costs of such terminations. Following his postdoctoral work at Esade, Erfan joined the World Federation of Exchanges as a financial economist.

Supervisors: Marc Esteve & Angel Saz

BIO:
Master’s in Data Analytics and PhD in Economics from the University of Granada in 2021, his main research focus is on housing price analysis, tourism analysis and pricing models in both markets, with the application of advanced analytical techniques. Currently, Juan is a postdoctoral researcher in the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan, funded by the European Union - NextGenerationEU and the Generalitat de Catalunya. The project aims to analyse the main boards of directors at both the Spanish and European levels, focusing on revolving doors with the public sector and the influence on profits.

Supervisor: Laura Guillén

BIO:
Qianshuo holds a PhD in Economics from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, IAE-CSIC, and Barcelona School of Economics. Currently, he is a postdoctoral researcher at Esade Business School, Ramon Llull University. His research interests are the Economics of Information and Innovation, Industrial Organization, and Applied Game Theory. In his current research, he focuses on the innovation collaboration between firms and academics, incentives and the manager's behaviour, the effect of institutional investors on CEO hiring, and on the innovation, and collaboration matching between investors' portfolio firms. Moreover, He is also interested in the topics at the intersection of economics and organizational behaviour, for instance, working from home.

Supervisors: Cristina Gimenez & Cristina Sancha

Supervisor: Núria Agell

BIO:
Jennifer is a postdoc at the Institute for Data Driven Decisions. She collaborates with Dr. Núria Agell at EsadeD3. Her research explores geopolitical actors, their relationships and perceptions using world news, and ranking items based on customer reviews. To accomplish this, in those groups she is working on methods to analyze and synthesize text sentiment to facilitate the comparison among groups for both use cases. In the future, they hope to expand on these models and improve their interpretability.

Supervisor: Jonathan Wareham

BIO:
Angelo finished his PhD at VU University Amsterdam, exploring the commercialization and adoption of early-stage technologies in the pharmaceutical industry. He has collaborated with large scientific infrastructures, big pharma companies, biotech spin-offs and academic drug discovery groups. He is also involved in Embiggen Consulting, an emerging consulting firm building innovation capacity in emerging markets. He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Innovation and Knowledge Management, and his research focuses on deep tech, digital infrastructures and life science innovations. Currently, he is involved in two large European projects coordinated by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). The first is ATTRACT, an initiative aiming to accelerate the commercialization of technologies from the continent's largest research infrastructures. The second is the Science Mesh which aims to boost interdisciplinary research collaborations by connecting the different cloud services across Europe.

Supervisors: Ruth Aguilera & Mario Lara

BIO:
Nestor holds a Ph.D. in Economics, Management, and Organization from Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, an MRes and an MBA from ESAN University, and a BSc in Architecture from the National University of Engineering. Before doing his PhD, he began his career as an instructor of information technology (IT) and quantitative methods at ESAN Graduate School of Business. His research focuses on internal mechanisms of corporate governance in Ibero-America, such as ownership and board leadership structures, and their relationship to IT, such as IT investments and IT adoption, using quantitative methods to examine these fields in different contexts and sectors. Currently, Nestor is a Postdoctoral research fellow at the Esade Center for Corporate Governance, where his recent studies focus on the transition from executives to board directors and board committee dynamics. He also has academic membership in the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) and the International Corporate Governance Society (ICGS). He is also an Adjunct Professor at ESAN Graduate School of Business. Member of the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Economics and Development (JED), the Corporate Governance and Organizational Behavior Review (CGOBR), and the Journal of Cases on Information Technology (JCIT). Former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Economics, Finance and Administrative Science (2021-2023).

Supervisor: Ignasi Martí

BIO:
Susanna has a PhD and holds a degree in Political and Administrative Sciences, and a Master’s in Business Administration from Esade. After completing her master’s, she defended her Doctoral Thesis on the governance of networks in July 2017. At the professional level and for the last twenty-five years, she has developed a wide range of responsibilities both in public administration and non-governmental organizations, as well as in the business field. She is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Social Innovation. Her research focuses on the intersection of social innovation with precariousness, vulnerability, and human dignity. She also coordinates the Decent Housing Observatory, a new project whose aim is to shed light on the experiences of the ones facing housing exclusion, the multiplicity of causes leading to it, and the impacts of housing precariousness on individuals, families, and the society as a whole.

Supervisor: George Chondrakis

BIO:
Patrik is studying for his PhD in Education at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra and he holds an M.A. degree in Education and a Master’s degree in Public Administration. He was teaching Business-related courses at CPU Nitra, Slovakia. Patrik is a Postdoc Researcher in Entrepreneurial Education at Esade Entrepreneurship Institute. His research interests revolve around the intersection between labour market expectations and higher education. His research looks at the impact of mentors and mentorship programs on early-stage startups and their founders from different aspects.

Supervisor: Vicente Bermejo

BIO:
Matthew obtained a PhD in Machine Learning Applications in Economics at the Universidad Complutense Madrid and is currently a postdoctoral researcher at Esade. His research focuses on Machine Learning and Generative AI in Finance. He previously worked at IESE Business School, Esade Business School, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and as a Data Science Consultant in the Advanced Analytics (Financial Advisory) department at Deloitte, Spain. He has publications in Nature journals such as Journal of Scientific Data and Journal of Scientific Reports and journals in Machine Learning such as, Journal of Expert Systems with Applications and Computational Economics.

Supervisor: Petya Platikanova

BIO:
Damian obtained his PhD from the University of Barcelona, and he was previously a postdoctoral researcher at the University Rovira i Virgili. His main field of research is the economics of innovation with a particular interest in knowledge transfer and regional economics. Furthermore, his research focuses on how companies can benefit from external sources of knowledge, and specifically through networking activities (collaboration and/or offshoring-outsourcing); trying to understand how the knowledge environment in their regions/sectors affects this process. Currently, he works on several research projects related to innovation, sustainability and financial performance. He was a postdoctoral researcher at the Department of Economics, Finance and Accounting (GREF).

Supervisors: Anna Bayona & Ariadna Dumitrescu

BIO:
Faruk has a PhD in Economics from Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, specializing in Industrial Organization and Economics of Information. His research focuses on the dynamics of digital platforms, addressing the challenges of asymmetric information that can disrupt market efficiency and potentially lead to market failures. Through data analysis, interpretation of complex data patterns, and building theoretical models, he contributed to the field of digital economics. He bridges traditional economic theories with the novel complexities introduced by digitalization, addressing the unique aspects of digital markets. Prior to academia, he gained practical expertise as a Business Analyst at Accenture and Borsa Istanbul, bringing a unique blend of industry experience and academic expertise to his research. He is currently a postdoctoral research fellow collaborating on a project led by Anna Bayona and Ariadna Dumitrescu at the Group for Research in Economics and Finance (GREF). This project explores the intricate facets of social finance and confidence through the perspective of behavioural economics and finance.

Supervisor: Núria Agell

BIO:
Konstantina is a linguist, with a MSc in Brain and Cognition and a PhD in Biomedicine from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Her previous research has focused on language acquisition in early infance and how humans understand speech in different modalities and social contexts. She joined Esade recently as a post-doctoral researcher through the Investigo Programme funded by the European Union. Konstantina collaborates with Professor Núria Agell from the EsadeD3 Institute for Data-Driven Decisions. Her research focuses on designing innovative experimental work to acquire data within the Esade community. She is currently working on two multidisciplinary projects. The first is on the effects of cause-related marketing and the second one on the drivers behind food waste behavior.  

Supervisor: Núria Agell

BIO:
Nil holds a degree in Mathematical Engineering in Data Science from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. Throughout his academic journey, he has developed a strong foundation in data analysis, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, with a special focus on model analysis and computations. In addition to his formal education, Nil has gained practical experience working as a data scientist at B2Brouter, where he supported the marketing and financial departments by analyzing key business data. 
Currently, Nil is a research assistant at Esade Business School's Data-Driven Decisions Institute (EsadeD3). In this role, he applies his expertise in data science and Python programming to support researchers across various projects. His contributions include web scraping, text analysis of survey results using natural language processing (NLP) and developing machine learning and deep learning models for medical prediction.

Supervisor: Ivanka Visnjic

BIO:
Nora completed her bachelor's degree in International Business at the University of Barcelona (UB), with a minor in Risk Management for Financial Institutions from VU Amsterdam. Her bachelor’s thesis on the impact of fintech as a tool for financial inclusion in the competitive landscape of traditional banking, explores the transformative role of fintech in the financial sector of emerging markets by focusing on the case of Kenya. Her research interests span multiple areas including (digital) innovation, sustainable development, disruptive technologies, and the impact of climate change on business and society. Nora is currently a Research Assistant under Dr Ivanka Visnjic, where she supports the development of research papers, case studies and managerial articles focused on business model innovation, open innovation, sustainability-oriented strategy transformation of incumbent firms, and innovation management. Beyond research, she also supports the creation of engaging teaching materials and content that bridges current business trends with research outputs.

Supervisor: Ivanka Visnjic

BIO:
Jeff completed his bachelor’s degree at the Management Center Innsbruck with two theses: "Blockchain Technology in European Financial Institutions", and "Pharmaceutical Patents & Innovation". Furthermore, his master thesis titled "The Implementation of Big Data Analytics: Barriers and Solutions for Industrial SMEs in the EU" was accepted in 2019 at Universitat Pompeu Fabra - Barcelona School of Management. He is interested in studying collaborations and innovative relationships between government, startups, and industry. He is currently working as a Research Assistant under Dr Ivanka Visnjic supporting her research in business model innovation and servitization. And he also serves as a grant writer and research promoter and creates managerial & educational content based on research output within Institute for Innovation and Knowledge Management.

Supervisors: Calin Arcalean & Ioana Schiopu

BIO:
Hamza holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from IIUM, Kuala Lumpur, and a Master’s degree in Economics from the Universitat de Barcelona. He is currently completing his PhD in Economics at the Universitat de Barcelona. Hamza has a strong background in quantitative analytics, econometric modeling, and data analysis, with proficiency in software such as Stata, R, and Matlab. He has worked on various research projects, focusing on macroeconomics, public policy, and education economics. In his recent work, Hamza has explored topics such as inequality, education funding, and redistribution in U.S. school districts. His research contributes to the broader literature on inequality and public finance, emphasizing the use of grouped data and the development of robust econometric methods

Supervisor: Angel Castiñeira

BIO:
Joan is an Investigo research assistant at the Cátedra LiderazgoS y Sostenibilidad at Esade. During the summer of 2023, he held a position as a research assistant with the Climate and Environment group at the Johns Hopkins University - Pompeu Fabra University (JHU-UPF) Public Policy Center. His academic background includes an MA degree in Current Democracies: Nationalism, Federalism, and Multiculturalism from Pompeu Fabra University. For his master’s thesis, he explored issues of identity and State (mis)recognition within the European Roma community around the work of Charles Taylor. Prior to this, he pursued postgraduate studies as a data analyst at Barcelona University and obtained a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Public Administration from the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

Supervisor: Núria Agell

BIO:
Arnau is a physicist from the University of Barcelona and a current PhD student at Esade, pursuing the MRes in Management Sciences. He has been working as a Research Assistant at the EsadeD3 Institute for Data-Driven Decisions, contributing to a project with the Col·legi de Metges de Barcelona to prevent medical malpractice using AI. His research focuses on applying AI to improve decision-making in healthcare, with a growing interest in the potential of large language models (LLMs) to transform medical knowledge extraction and processing. Arnau is dedicated to exploring innovative ways to enhance patient safety and optimize clinical outcomes.

Supervisors: Janina Grabs & Rita Mota

BIO:
Marc is a passionate researcher and climate ambassador working at the intersection between the social and environmental sciences. A PhD student, he is part of Dr. Mindy Crandall's Forest, Industries, and Communities in the US lab (FICUS) in the College of Forestry at Oregon State University. He has a dual major in sustainable forest management and public policy. He is also the recipient of a Provost's Distinguished Graduate Fellowship and a Dean of Forestry's Distinguished Graduate Fellowship. He holds a BA in Sociology from the University of Warwick (UK) and an MSc in International Sustainability Management from ESCP Business School (France). He has five years of experience as a research assistant at Esade Business School and has also worked with several enterprises, NGOs, and foundations on the topics of environmental justice and social equity. His current research interests lie in the social valuation of ecosystem services, sustainable local economies, and policy for collaborative governance.

Supervisor: Jorge Galindo

BIO:
Lucia is a researcher at EsadeEcPol, focused on Education Economics and with a great interest in the fields of Health Economics and Gender Economics. She studied her undergraduate in Economics at Universidad de Cantabria and holds a Master’s in Industrial and Market Economics from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Currently, she is finishing a Master’s in Education at UNED and pursuing a PhD in Economics at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Previously, she worked as a pre-doctoral researcher at Banco de España and at the Centre for Monetary and Financial Studies. Over the last year, she has published impact analyses from EsadeEcPol, including an in-depth take on equity in the education system based on PISA data (co-authored with Lucas Gortazar), a pioneering study of family spending on school supplies and the scholarships that help to compensate for it (co-authored with Ángel Martínez and Lucas Gortazar), an analysis of the rise in Selectividad grades with a unique database of university entrance grades (co-authored with Juan Manuel Moreno and Lucas Gortazar), and an analysis of the deterioration of primary care (co-authored with Carlos Sunyer).

Supervisor: Jorge Galindo

BIO:
Natalia is a research economist at EsadeEcPol, specializing in industrial economics and regulated sectors (energy, transport and telecommunications). She holds a degree in Economics and a Master in Industrial Economics and Regulated Markets from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, and is working on her PhD thesis at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, focusing on the challenges of the energy transition and how to address them. In addition to his experience in research institutions (CSIC, AIReF) and consulting projects with public institutions, his current line of research focuses on quantitative, regulatory and policy evaluation analysis to achieve a fair and effective decarbonization. His most recent work includes the EsadeEcPol Policy Brief published in June 2023 on the effect in Spain of the new EU tax on emissions in imports and another published in October where they evaluate whether the subsidy to metropolitan public transport managed to get cars out of the cities. In the September edition of the Revista de Economía ICE has published an article on the process of reforming the electricity market in the European Union.

Supervisor: Laura Guillén

BIO:
Mahal is a Research Assistant at Esade within the Leadership Development Research Center (GLEAD). She holds a degree in Neuroscience and Global Health, with a minor in Psychology from the University of Toronto. Before joining Esade, Mahal developed fitness programs aimed at enhancing cognitive development. Her current research interests include the gut-brain matrix, gender diversity, neurodiversity, and sports-related projects. At Esade, she has contributed to projects on AI feedback and gender diversity and is currently involved in an age diversity initiative with Merck ES to develop an age diversity index. Additionally, she is working with the Great Run Company (GRC) on predictive leadership measures for runners. Alongside her research, Mahal is developing an introductory neuroscience course to improve the uptake of mental health initiatives, enhance athlete careers, and support cognitive development.

Supervisor: Rebeca Carpi

BIO:
Nohaila is a research assistant at Esade Law School, attached to the Vice-Deanship of Research, which supports the law research groups. She holds a Law degree from the University of Girona and a Master's degree in Intellectual Property from Carlos III University of Madrid. Her research interests include civil and commercial law.

Supervisor: Marie Vandendriessche

BIO:
Anna is a research and teaching assistant at EsadeGeo. She holds a Double bachelor’s degree in law and Global Governance from Esade. She graduated with a Research Master’s in International Studies from IBEI and a Master of Laws from UNED. Her research interests include climate governance and the geopolitics of energy, EU external action policy and transitional justice. Currently, Anna is involved in the ENGAGE Horizon 2020 project, which aims to provide policymakers with recommendations for improving the capacities and capabilities of the EU’s external action. She also collaborates in the organization of the MBA course Business, Government and Society.

Supervisor: Angel Saz

BIO:
Juan Nepomuceno has been a Researcher at EsadeGeo and GLIGP since 2023, where he has mainly worked on projects on global governance and European public policy. He has also written articles and op-eds in outlets such as Atalayar.com, The National Interest and Emerging Europe. He previously worked at the Union for the Mediterranean in Barcelona and the Cato Institute in Washington, DC. He holds a MSc in International Politics from SOAS, University of London, and a Bachelor’s in law and Global Governance from Esade.  

Supervisor: Angel Castiñeira

BIO:
Eloi is an economist with an MSc in Political Philosophy. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Contemporary History at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and has worked as a researcher at the Esade's Center for Leadership and Sustainability. His main fields of research are focused on the political economy of Corporate Sustainability and Systems Thinking.

Supervisor: Angel Saz

BIO:
Elisa is a Research Assistant at EsadeGeo. In 2023, she obtained a master's degree in International Relations from Ming Chuan University, in Taipei. She also holds a master's degree in East Asian Studies from the University of Salamanca and a bachelor's degree in Translation and Interpretation of Spanish, English and Chinese from the University of Granada. At EsadeGeo, she is involved in research projects on industrial policy, energy policy, and EU affairs in collaboration with EIT InnoEnergy and other partners. She also assists in the organization of publications, events and day-to-day programmatic activities for the new Observatory of European Industrial Policy. Her most recent research contribution was an analysis of the EU-China Strategic Partnership for a Working Paper in the ENGAGE Horizon 2020 project.

Supervisor: Carolina Villegas

BIO:
Madalena is a PhD candidate in Economics, Finance and Management at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics and a Master's in Economics with a major in Macroeconomic Policy from Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics. In 2021, her master's thesis "Resource misallocation in Portugal: Between sectors misallocation and intersectoral linkages" was selected as one of the best dissertations about the Portuguese economy by Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos and the Bank of Portugal. Before joining Esade, she was a research fellow at Católica Lisbon's Center of Economics for Prosperity where she worked on several projects assessing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on poverty and inequality. Her research interests focus on the role of firm dynamics and the quality of resource allocation on macroeconomic outcomes. Her work in this field includes a project on technology diffusion and business dynamism co-authored with Prof. Andrea Caggese, Prof. Carolina Villegas-Sanchez, and Robert Wojciechowski.

Supervisor: Angel Saz

BIO:
Matthew has been a researcher at EsadeGeo, where he supported Javier Solana with speeches and writings and also prepared briefing sessions on national and international politics. Additionally, he has held various responsibilities in research projects related to energy and industrial policy. He graduated in 2023 with a Master's in International Relations from IBEI and in 2021 with a degree in International Business Management and Languages from Heriot-Watt University (Edinburgh). His interests include the ecological transition and European Union policy.

Supervisor: Jorge Galindo

BIO:
Ángel is an economist at EsadeEcPol. He holds a degree in Economics with a major in Economic Analysis from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM) and a master's degree in Applied Economic Analysis from the Universidad de Alcalá de Henares. Before joining EsadeEcPol, he participated as a research assistant in the Spending Review II of the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility (Airef), within the framework of the comprehensive evaluation of the air discount for residents. His research interests focus on the causal evaluation of the effects of public policies, a line of research in which he has actively participated within EsadeEcPol with evaluations such as the fuel discount, the VAT rebate on food or the VAT hike on sugar-sweetened beverages. Additionally, he collaborates weekly with the Sunday supplement of the newspaper El Mundo.

Supervisor: Jorge Galindo

BIO:
Javier is an economist at EsadeEcPol, specializing in public policy evaluation and data analysis. He holds a degree in Business Administration from the University of A Coruña and a master's degree in Economic Analysis from the University of Santiago de Compostela. In addition, he is currently pursuing a PhD program in applied microeconomics on the evaluation of different public policies related to urban economy and transport. Before joining ESADE she has experience as a research assistant in different projects of analysis of local labor markets and in a Randomized Control Trial (RCT). Once at EsadeEcPol, she has focused on the analysis of large amounts of data and the evaluation of public policies, including the Policy Brief published in EsadeEcPol on the effects of the VAT reduction on basic food products on the prices of these products in large Spanish supermarkets.

Supervisor: Lisa Hehenberger

BIO:
Helena holds a degree in Business Administration and Management (ESADE) and a Master's in International Studies and Cooperation (University of Barcelona). She is currently finishing a Master's in Circular Economy and Sustainability (International University of Valencia). She has been part of the Spanish team of the European Social Enterprise Monitor (Euclid Network) and has collaborated on a research project on Impact Investment in Spain. Currently, Helena is mainly involved in the Erasmus+ Social X-Change project, in which ECSI is leading the research on the topic of Impact Management and Measurement.

Supervisor: Angel Saz

BIO:
Carlota is a research and project management assistant at EsadeGeo. She is a Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics (PPLE) graduate from the University of Amsterdam, where she also obtained an MSc in International Relations. Her research interests include the geopolitics of energy, climate change and technology, and global economic governance. Currently, she is involved in two H2020 projects. The first project, ENGAGE, aims to provide policymakers with recommendations for improving the capacities and capabilities of the EU’s external action. The GLOBE project, on the other hand, addresses the issues defined as strategic priorities in the 2016 EU Global Strategy.

Supervisor: Angel Saz

BIO:
Ana has been a Research Assistant at EsadeGeo since September 2022. She holds a degree in International Studies from Autonomous University of Madrid and a Master’s degree in International Relations and African Studies from the same institution. At EsadeGeo, she has worked as a speechwriter and research assistant to President Javier Solana. Her research interests focus primarily on Global South dynamics, specifically the Middle East and North Africa region, migrations, social movements and human rights.

Supervisor: Anna Ginés

BIO:
Juan is working on the project #LABORALgorithm at Esade's Institute for Labor Studies, led by Professor Anna Ginès i Fabrellas. This project aims to study the use of algorithms in employment relationships, as well as the use of algorithms for automated decision-making and profiling in labour matters. In regard to the project, he analyzes the rights of information, consultation and negotiation of the legal representation from the workforce regarding the use of algorithms and artificial intelligence systems in the employment relationship.

Supervisor: Lisa Hehenberger

BIO:
Teresa is a Researcher at the Esade Center for Social Impact. Now she is involved in research in the field of impact investing. As a philosopher and economist, she initiated her professional career working on an economic development project for the benefit of an association of smallholder producers in Cambimba (Colombia). After graduating with a master's in quantitative economic analysis, she worked at Afi as a consultant in the fields of sustainable finance and public finance, as well as public policy evaluation. She has developed projects related to the integration of sustainability criteria into the strategy, product design and reporting for different public and private financial institutions -following different market guidelines and the EU Taxonomy-. She has delivered trainings on the integration of the EU Taxonomy into the strategy and operations of private credit institutions and a national promotional bank. She has offered advisory services with regard to sustainability financial instruments with volumes ranging between €500M and €1,500M (i.e. sustainability bonds/loans, sustainability linked bonds/loans).

Supervisor: Lisa Hehenberger

BIO:
Laura is a Project Manager and Researcher at the Esade Center for Social Impact. Her work mainly focuses on philanthropies, and she focuses on the topics of impact measurement and management and the governance of impact in foundations. More specifically, she has been managing the Community of Practice on Impact Measurement and Management for foundations from all over Europe since the fall of 2020. Before working at Esade, Laura worked both as a part-time communications professional in an international NGO and as a freelance consultant and facilitator in The Netherlands. She focused on a variety of themes including trust-building, and sustainable living with an emphasis on food safety, renewable energy, and personal development through experiential learning. In her work as a facilitator, she focused on deepening the understanding of assumptions, beliefs, and values that shape our frames of reference. She completed her BA in Communications at the University of Applied Sciences in Utrecht and her MSc in Culture, Organization and Management from University VU in Amsterdam with a focus on Culture and Identity in Organizations.

Supervisor: Jordi Nin

BIO:
Carles is a researcher and educator with a strong background in computer science and artificial intelligence. He earned his bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the Universitat de Barcelona and later obtained a master's degree in AI from UPC, pursuing a PhD in Deep Learning at Universitat de Barcelona. Riera has been involved in both industry and academic research, collaborating with startups specializing in computer vision while contributing to research in core deep learning. His research focuses on innovative methods for training deep networks, exploring approaches that do not rely on residual connections or batch normalization. He has proposed novel activation functions, zero initialization techniques, and has explored the Lottery Ticket Hypothesis. His academic interests span a wide range of low-level deep learning topics, including network pruning, initialization strategies, new architectures, optimizers, and knowledge distillation. Since 2019, Carles has been a lecturer at Esade, where he teaches data science, Python programming, AI, and statistics. He is currently working on a research project at Esade focused on detecting fake news on Twitter/X

Supervisor: Ivanka Visnjic

BIO:
Winslow was a Research Assistant within the Institute for Innovation and Knowledge Management at Esade. He used this time to finish up the three chapters of his dissertation studying the role of ideology in management in all of its permutations. This also entailed him sending a version of one of his chapters as a second-round revised manuscript to the Academy of Management Journal (AMJ). In addition, he is collaborating with PhD student Alireza Mahmoodzadeh and his supervisor, Prof. Ivanka Visnjic, for his dissertation looking at the ideological antecedents of green patenting to understand whose ideology matters within organizations.

Supervisor: Ignasi Martí

BIO:
Joan holds a degree in Political Science from Pompeu Fabra University, a Master’s in Sociology, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Data Analysis from the University of Barcelona. His professional experience includes working as a research assistant on projects related to homelessness, as well as serving as an advisor in the City Council of the Eixample district in Barcelona, where he applied his knowledge in public policy and social analysis. Since 2023, Joan has been a research assistant at the Decent Housing Observatory, part of the Institute for Social Innovation, collaborating with researchers Ignasi Martí and Raluca Cosmina. His research interests include homelessness, poverty, and housing policies, with a focus on social impact and strategies to improve access to decent housing.

BIO:
Xavier holds a degree in Political Science and Public Management from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and a Master's in Political Economy and Institutions from the Universitat de Barcelona, complemented by a postgraduate Diploma in Data Analysis for Social Sciences from the same university. Xavier has worked as a Research Assistant on various topics at several universities, including attitudes toward climate mitigation policies, malapportionment, polarization, and democratic trade-offs. He previously completed an internship at the Centre d’Estudis d’Opinió (CEO) and has co-authored several reports on the political attitudes and behaviour of Catalan youth. His research interests include public policy, the professionalization of public management, policy evaluation, and data visualization.

Supervisor: Jonathan Wareham

Bio:
Bianca holds a First Honours BSc Degree in Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Leicester. Her academic journey continued with an MPhil in Neuroscience, Psychology, and Behaviour, supported by a grant from the European Regional Development Fund and Lnet Digital. Investigating biometric tools in e-commerce, her focus encompassed eye tracking and facial expression analysis in marketing, with an anticipated completion by the summer of 2024. Beyond academia, she actively contributed to the scientific community as a coordinator for the ReproducibiliTea Leicester Journal Club. Her passion for bridging cognitive science, technology, and innovation was showcased in a compelling talk at Pint of Science UK 2023 titled "Neuromarketing - the secret to the customer's brain or a gamble." During the years she has spent in England, Bianca also served as a Research Assistant for a spatial navigation study and contributed to Patient Preference Information research involving ultra-wide-angle optical coherence tomography (OCT) implementation. Currently, as a Research Assistant working with Prof. Jonathan Wareham and Dr. Angelo Romasanta, she delves into the transformative potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in reshaping the pharmaceutical industry.

Supervisor: Angel Saz

BIO:
Mateu is a research assistant at EsadeGeo. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political and administration sciences from Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona). He graduated with a Master’s in International Relations from Leiden University (Netherlands) and completed his studies with a postgraduate course on data analysis from the Col·legi de Politòlegs de Catalunya. His research interests include the EU's external action and North Korea, particularly the issue of denuclearization and inter-Korean relations. Currently, Mateu is involved in the Horizon 2020 ENGAGE project, which examines how the EU can effectively and sustainably meet strategic challenges by harnessing all of its tools to become a more assertive global actor.

Supervisor: Jonathan Wareham

BIO:
Gideon is a project management and research assistant at Esade’s IIK. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biodiversity and ecology from Stellenbosch University and a Master of Science degree from the University of Pretoria, where his research focused on whales in a changing climate. Transitioning to the intersection of scientific research, policy, and business development, Gideon plays a key role in managing the ATTRACT Socioeconomic Studies Consortium, which comprises projects aimed at enhancing traditional impact metrics and gaining fresh insights into realizing the full socioeconomic potential of initiatives like ATTRACT—a €50 million endeavour dedicated to reducing reliance on chance in transforming frontier science into products, processes, and services addressing societal needs. Gideon also contributed to the Horizon 2020 Project, CS3MESH4EOSC. He is driven by a passion for scientific communication, and his research interests span scientific computing, policy, deep tech, and innovative mitigation and adaptation solutions for tackling the climate crisis.

Supervisor: Jordi Vinaixa / María José de la Maza

BIO:
Winnie is graduated in Management and Bioengineering in 2012 from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium). She worked for more than five years as a Project Manager for industrial projects, designing chocolate factories, amongst others. She is currently a Research Assistant at Esade, focusing on innovative business models for different solutions around renewable energy and electricity grid problems. In that context, she worked together with Professor Jordi Vinaixa and postdoctoral researcher Hasan Muslemani on a European Horizon2020 project, EU-SysFlex, working with different European partners on the business models and exploitation of five selected project results.

Supervisor: David Murillo

BIO:
Mireia holds a PhD in sociology (UB). She has worked as Associate Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of Barcelona at the same time that she was a freelance research consultant. Nowadays she is a researcher associated to both the Business Network Dynamics (BuNeD) research group and also to the Institute for Social Innovation (ISS). She is also teaching Sociology in the BBA at Esade as an academic collaborator. She has extensive experience as a researcher in various projects both at a European and national level. And is currently involved in two research projects: “Supporting compliance and better OSH practice through leverage in market-based initiatives (Lift-OSH)” lead by Annachiara Longoni as well as the project about Food Waste, Food Banks and digitalization lead by David Murillo.