Governing Board

Director, Science Department, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian
Professor, Science and Technology Policy, Instituto Superior Economia e Gestão

Prof. Caraça obtained a D.Phil. in Nuclear Physics at the University of Oxford and the Agregação in Physics at the Lisbon Faculty of Sciences. From 1996 to 2006 he was Science Adviser to the President of the Portuguese Republic. He was a member of the Expert Group set up by the European Commission in 2005 to assess "The role of foundations and the non-profit sector in boosting R&D investment" and at present integrates the Steering Group of the European Forum on Philanthropy and Research Funding. He is also a Member of the National Science Technology and Innovation Council and a delegate to the OECD Committee for Science and Technology Policy (Vice-Chairman 2003-2005) and to the Global Science Forum. He has been a delegate to several EC Programmes and served as Chairman and as an expert on numerous EC evaluation panels.

Prof. Caraça is Director of the Science Department, Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian since 1983 and Professor of Science and Technology Policy, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão, Universidade Técnica de Lisboa since 1989.

Research Professor, Open University of Catalonia (Barcelona); and Chair Professor, University of Southern California (Los Angeles). Former member, Scientific Council of the European Research council (ERC)

Prof. Castells, born in Spain, was Professor of Sociology and of Planning at the University of California, Berkeley from 1979 to 2003. He was a Professor of Sociology at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris; and Professor and Director of the Institute of Sociology of New Technologies at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid. He is a Fellow of the European Academy, of the British Academy, and of the Spanish Royal Academy of Economics. He is the author of 24 books including the trilogy “The Information Age: Economy, Culture, and Society”, published in 22 languages.

Prof. Castells is currently Research Professor of Information Society and Director of the Internet Interdisciplinary Institute, Open University of Catalonia (UOC), Barcelona; Chair Professor of Communication Technology and Society at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles; Distinguished Visiting Professor of Technology and Society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Distinguished Visiting Professor of Internet Studies at Oxford University.

Honorary Chairman, Lafarge Chairman, Institut des Hautes Etudes pour la Science et la Technologie (IHEST)

Dr. Collomb is an engineering graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique and of the Ecole des Mines in Paris, has a French law degree and obtained a PhD in Management at the University of Texas. He held several positions at the French Ministry of Industry and within ministerial departments (1966-1975) and also founded and managed the Centre for research in Management at the Ecole Polytechnique. Having joined Lafarge in 1975, he occupied several positions and managed the group's North American subsidiary (1985). He was appointed Group Chairman and CEO in August 1989 and was Chairman of the Board from 2003 to 2007. As head of Lafarge, he has campaigned to promote sustainable development and the respect of the environment. He was also notably Chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and a Member of the European roundtable of industrialists (ERT).

Dr. Collomb is currently honorary Chairman of Lafarge. He is also Chairman of the Institut des Hautes Etudes pour la Science et la Technologie (IHEST), Chairman of the Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI), spokesperson of the European Corporate Governance Forum, and a Director of Lafarge, Total, DuPont and Atco.

EIT Executive Committee

Adjunct Professor, Politecnico di Torino
Former CTO, Telecom Italia LAB and Head of long-term research, Telecom Italia

Dr. Colombo graduated in Electrical Engineering at the Politecnico di Torino. Following a long management experience in the Telecommunications sector, he was appointed Head of Research of Telecom Italia Labs (2001-2003), Chief Technology Officer of Telecom Italia Labs (2003-2005) and finally Head of long-term research at Telecom Italia (2005-2006). For the European Commission, he was Chairman of two European R&D projects ("Rainbow" and Wineglass") between 1995-1999; Chairman of the Mobile Domain, clustering European R&D projects on mobile and wireless communication technologies and services (1997-1999) and a Member of ISTAG (IST Advisory Group), defining the European R&D policy in the ICT sector as a support to the Commission's 7th Framework-Programme (2006-2007).

Dr. Colombo is currently a Member of the European Commission's Strategic Advisory Board on Competitiveness and Innovation, a Steering Committee Member of the CVIS integrated Project, Member of the Scientific Board of the Centre Tecnològic de Telecomunicacions de Catalunya and adjunct Professor at the Politecnico di Torino.

Giovanni Colombo has recently been appointed vice President of Istituto Superiore Mario Boella, a Research Centre operating in the ICT sector.

Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Global R&D, Merial

Dr. De Brabander obtained her PhD in bio-organic chemistry and completed a post-doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Having joined DSM Research (Netherlands) in 1991, she occupied several positions, including R&D Manager (1995) and Global VP R&D of DSM Fine Chemicals (2001), before being appointed CEO of DSM Pharma Chemicals in 2004 and Deputy Chief Technology Officer in 2005. In 2006 she joined Intervet as VP R&D and Board Member. In 2008 she joined Merial as Vice President R&D and member of its Leadership team. Merial is a 50/50 JV of Merck and Sanofi-Aventis and is one of the global leaders in animal health.

Over the years she has been a Member of the European Research Advisory Board (EURAB, 2001-2007) and served on various Boards: Member of the Supervisory Board of Syncom and Chiralix, 2002-2005; Member of the Supervisory Board on Science and Technology to the Dutch government (AWT), 2002-2005; Board Member of EIRMA (European Industrial R&D Management Association), 2005-2008.

Dr. De Brabander is currently based in USA, France and The Netherlands.

EIT Vice-Chairman
EIT Executive Committee

Former University Chancellor, Swedish National Agency for Higher Education

Prof. Flodström started his career in Palo Alto, USA, as member of research staff in Xerox Palo Alto Research Center. Since 1985 he is professor in physics at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden. Prof. Flodström has been the Secretary General of the Swedish Research Council for Engineering Sciences and President at Linköping University (LiU), Sweden. He was President of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm until July 2007 when he was appointed University Chancellor for Swedish universities. He is member of the Swedish Academy for the Engineering Sciences (IVA). He is also honorary doctor at Riga Technical University in Latvia, honorary doctor of Helsinki Technical University (TKK) and honorary professor in Dalian University of Technology in China. He is a member of the advisory board of Karlsruhe Technical Institute (KIT) and a former Chairman of CLUSTER and Baltech a network of technical universities around the Baltic Sea. He has also been guest researcher at HASYLAB/DESY in Hamburg, Germany as well as in National Bureau of Standards (NBS) in Gaithersburg, USA.

Prof. Flodström was University Chancellor at the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education from 1 August 2007 to 30 June 2010. 

President, Technische Universität München

Prof. Herrmann obtained his PhD in Chemistry at the Universität Regensburg, where he became a Professor (Institute of Inorganic Chemistry) in 1979 following a career as a researcher. He was made Chair Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the Universität Frankfurt/Main (1982) and Chair Professor at the Technische Universität München (1985). He became President of the Technische Universität München in 1995 and was re-elected in 1999, 2005 and 2007. He was Chairman of the Bavarian University Rectors Conference (2002-2004) and Chairman of "Universität Bayern e.V" (2004-2005). He is a Member of the Editorial Board of numerous scientific journals and editor of the Journal of Organometallic Chemistry since 1994. He is also a Member of the Supervisory Board of the E.ON Energie AG and member of the Supervisory Board of Evonik Industries AG.

Prof. Herrmann is currently President of the Technische Universität München and a Member of the International Advisory Council, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia. He belongs to the top-100 group of the worldwide most-cited chemists and holds numerous Honorary PhD´s from Europe, USA, Russia and China.

Vice-Chancellor, Aston University
Professor, Materials Engineering
Former Director of Engineering, Marine Business, Rolls-Royce plc

Prof. King obtained her PhD at the University of Cambridge. She started her academic career At Cambridge University with appointments including Rolls-Royce Research Fellow, (1978-1980) and University Lecturer (1992-1994). In 1994 she was appointed Head of Materials, Rolls-Royce Aerospace Group and went on to hold a number of senior positions at Rolls-Royce including Director of Engineering & Technology, Marine (2000-2002). She served on the EU Aeronautics Expert Advisory Group (2000-2002), and on the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EPSRC (2000-2003). She was elected to Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 1997, serving as a Council member and Honorary Secretary for Education and Training from 2002-2006. She was Chief Executive of the Institute of Physics (2002-2004) before becoming Principal of the Engineering Faculty of Imperial College London (2004-2006).

Prof. King is currently Vice-Chancellor of Aston University, Birmingham, UK. She is a member of the UK Government’s Technology Strategy Board and as a non-Executive Director of .the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills. In 2007 she was appointed by the UK Government to lead an independent review into ‘decarbonising’ road transport.

Professor, Senior Advisor, Former Executive Vice President Strategic Research VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland

Prof. Lammasniemi obtained his PhD degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Oulu, Finland in 1983. He has been working since 1972 in various research and research management positions at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, a globally networked multitechnological contract research organization and one of the three founding members of the Helsinki node of the EIT ICT labs. Between 1986 and 1991 Prof. Lammasniemi was professor and director of Electronics research laboratory and from 1992 to 1993 director of the newly founded Optoelectronics research laboratory. Between 1994 and 2005 he was the director of the Electronics research Institute of VTT covering four research fields: Advanced interactive systems, Embedded software, Optoelectronics and Telecommunication systems. From 2006 to 2010 he was Executive Vice President Strategic Research of VTT, with full responsibility for VTT’s research strategy and research programmes, including VTT’s participation in EU research programmes and Finnish national research programmes.

Jorma Lammasniemi is a member of the Technology Academy of Finland.

Senior vice president, R&D, StatoilHydro ASA

Mr. Loktu obtained a Master of Science in Physics and Economics at the University of Trondheim, Norway. Having worked as an advisor to Saga Petroleum (1984-1985), he joined Statoil ASA as a Senior Engineer (1985-1989) and, after a brief spell at Servi Hydrualikk A/S as Controller and Vice-President of manufacturing (1990-1991), returned to Statoil (1991-2002) where he held numerous positions : Senior Engineer (1991-1992), Manager of Research and Development (1992-1996 and 1998-1999), Vice President of Research and Development (1999) and finally Executive Vice President of Technology (1999-2002). After having been made CEO of the SINTEF group in 2002, he once again integrated Statoil ASA as Executive Vice-President of Technology and projects (2004-2005) and then Senior Vice President, Research and Commercialisation (2005-2007).

Mr. Loktu is currently Senior Vice President of Research and Development at StatoilHydro ASA, Chairman of the OG21 Board (responsible for the national oil and gas technology strategy) and a Member of the Board, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

Vice-rector of Science, Engineering and Technology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (K.U.Leuven)
Full Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, K.U.Leuven

Prof. Maex obtained her PhD in Electrical Engineering at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. Having started her academic career as a Research Assistant (1982-1987) she became Research Director (1987), Assistant Professor at K.U. Leuven (1989), then Professor (1998) and finally Full Professor (2003). Between 2002-2005 she was a Member of K.U. Leuven's Research Council and Founder-Coordinator of the Erasmus Mundus Programme on Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. In 2005, she was appointed Vice-Rector for Science, Engineering and Technology at K.U. Leuven. Meanwhile at IMEC (Interuniversity Microelectronics Center), of which she is a fellow since 2001, she was Strategic Research Adviser for the Division on Semiconductor Process and Device Technology (2001-2005) and Programme Director of the IMEC Industrial Affiliate Programme (IIAP) on Nanotechnology (2004-2005).

Prof. Maex is currently Vice-Rector for Science, Engineering and Technology and a full Professor at K.U. Leuven, where she is also responsible for human resources and diversity policy.

Former Secretary of State for Development
Former Minister of Education
Member, Hungarian Parliament

Dr. Magyar obtained his degree in History and Sociology at the Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest and became a University Doctor there in 1980. Having started his career as a researcher (1977-1990), he became a member of the Hungarian Parliament in 1990 and served on several parliamentary committees. Appointed Minister of Education and Culture (1996-1998, re-appointed Minister of Education, 2002-2006), he initiated the higher education reform process, modernising the management and business structure of higher education institutions. He developed and passed the Act on Innovation (2003), set up an Innovation Fund (2004) and founded the National Office for Research and Technology (2004). He was Vice President of the National Development Council under the direction of the Prime Minister (2006-0032008) and Secretary of State for Development Policy (2007-2008), where he contributed to the reform for the development of R&D activities in higher education and gave support to innovative research teams and technology transfer.

Dr. Magyar is currently Vice President of the Ad-hoc Committee for the Supervision of the Execution of European Union Programmes, Hungarian Parliament.

Executive Director, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation
Emerita Professor, Karolinska Institutet
Chairman, Nobel Assembly (2007)

Dr. Möller obtained her MD and her PhD at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. A researcher for many years, she was successively appointed Lecturer in immunology (1975-1982), Professor in transplantation immunology (1983-1987) and Professor in clinical immunology (1987-2007) at the Karolinska Institutet. She was Physician in charge of the university hospital’s laboratory for clinical immunology. From the 1990s she gained experience in the pharmaceutical sector as the Director of Astra, Sweden (1995-1999) and Director of AstraZeneca PLC, Great Britain (1999-2007). She is a former Chairman of several Boards and Committees. She was elected member of the Nobel assembly in 1987, was a Member of the Nobel Committee of the Assembly (medicine) (2003-2005) before being made Vice-Chairman (2006) and then Chairman (2007) of the Nobel Assembly.

Since 2001, Dr. Möller is the Executive Director of the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, Sweden.

EIT Executive Committee

Professor, Research director, Helsinki University of Technology
Former Chairman, ARTEMIS Joint Technology Platform
Former CTO, Nokia

Dr. Neuvo obtained his PhD degree in electrical engineering from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. Between 1976-1992 he was Professor of electrical engineering at the Tampere University of Technology and between 1984-1993 a National Research Professor of the Academy of Finland. In 1993 he joined the Nokia Group as Senior Vice President of Technology, before being made Senior Vice President, Product Creation (1994) and then Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer (1999). He was Member of the Nokia Group Executive Board between 1993-2005. He has been the Chairman or Member of numerous Boards and working groups internationally and was notably the Chairman of the ARTEMIS Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) Governing Board and President of Artemisia until 2008.

Dr. Neuvo is currently Professor and Research Director at the Helsinki University of Technology and Member of the Board of two listed companies, Metso and Vaisala.

Coordinator, European Projects R&D, European Development Fund

Christine Patte obtained her Masters in Organisational sociology and systems strategy analysis from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Paris, after completing a degree in Mathematics at Paris VII. Ms Patte started her career as a research assistant at the statistical secondary analysis department of the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), following which she has held various posts at EDF, interspersed with three years as a Business Sector desk officer at the European Commission (DG Environment / Unit Communication and Civil Society). From 1983 to 1995 Ms Patte was a Research Engineer on Social Sciences for EDF R&D. Between 1996 and 1999 she was a Researcher and Assistant Consultant on Management & Occupational Safety issues for EDF, from 2003 – 2005 she first became involved in EDF R&D’s European Projects as advisor and project manager. Ms Patte has been overall responsible for EDF R&D’s European Projects’ Coordination since 2008. Ms Patte has been very involved in European networks, creating two “European Business Awards in sustainable development” events, acting as the Chairperson of the European Business Network, DG Environment between 2000 and 2002, being a member of Women in Sciences and Technology 1 and 2, and contributing to the EC expert group on ’structuring initiatives to further develop inter-sector mobility’ in 2006. She has been a member of the Eurelectric Research Working Group since 2008 and has been part of the Association of Research Managers and Administrators (EARMA) since 2007. Ms Patte is closely involved with both KIC InnoEnergy and Climate KIC.

Ms. Patte is Coordinating the European Projects of the European Development Fund's R&D since 2008.

Dean, ESADE Business School

Dr Alfons Sauquet obtained his doctorate from Columbia University and has completed an MBA at ESADE Business School. His academic interests focus on: Learning, Knowledge and Innovation Management. He has researched and published regularly on these topics and has become a principal researcher and founder of the research group GRACO. He has been guest speaker at different forums such as the AACSB Dean’s conference, the Association for Human Resource Management in International Organizations and UNESCO. He has lectured, among others, at HEC, Paris; Copenhagen Business School; Wharton School of Business, USA. Before being appointed the Dean of the ESADE Business School, he served as Director of University Programmes and Vice-Dean of Research and Knowledge.

Dr Sauquet is currently the Dean of ESADE Business School, Member of the Board of the European Academy for Business in Society (EABIS), the Innovation Board of Science Business, the Board of Directors of the GMAC, the EQUIS Committee of the European Foundation for Management Development and the Board of ESADECreapolis (creativity park). He is Chairman of the interfaculty group in organizational behaviour of the Community of European Management Schools.

Founding Chairman of the EIT Governing Board (2008 - September 2011)

Former Executive Vice President, Philips Research / Philips Medical systems (PMS)

Dr. Schuurmans (PhD TU/e, 1971) was professor of Solid State Physics at TU/Delft between 1985-1991. In 1968, he joined Philips to later become the head of experimental and theoretical physics in the Philips Research Laboratories, Eindhoven, Netherlands. From 1991-1994 he headed the solid state research at Philips Laboratories in Briarcliff, NY, USA. In 1995 he was appointed Chairman of the Philips Research Laboratory, Eindhoven and Vice-Chairman of Philips Research world-wide. He was involved in the early preparations for the High Tech Campus of Eindhoven promoting open innovation. From 2000-2002 he was CEO of the global Philips Industrial Technology Centre, with offices worldwide and from 2002 he was responsible for Innovation and Industry at Philips Medical Systems PMS (Boston, USA) until retiring from Philips in 2005. In 2002-2005 he was also a part-time professor of Innovation Management at TU/e. In 2005 he co-founded the Sino-Dutch Biomedical School of Information Engineering (BMIE) in Shenyang, China ; in 2006/7 he lived in China and was BMIE’s dean.

Dr. Schuurmans is currently Chairman of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, EIT. He is the honorary dean of BMIE and board member of the Foundation for the History of Technology in the Netherlands.

IG Patel Professor and Head of India Observatory, London School of Economics; Chairman, Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment

Professor Lord Nicholas Stern's first degree was in Mathematics from Cambridge University, and his doctorate in Economics is from Oxford. Subsequently Lord Stern has taught and researched in many places, including Oxford and Warwick Universities, London School of Economics, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Ecole Polytechnique and the Collège de France in Paris, the Indian Statistical Institute in Bangalore and Delhi, and the People’s University of China in Beijing. From 1994-1999 he was Chief Economist and Special Counsellor to the President at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, then Chief Economist and Senior Vice President at the World Bank, 2000-03. From 2003-05 he was Second Permanent Secretary to HM Treasury and also Head of the Government Economic Service, and Director of Policy and Research for the Commission for Africa, 2004-05. From 2005-07, he was adviser to the UK Government on the Economics of Climate Change and Development and Head of the Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, which was published in 2006. Lord Stern has been knighted for his services to economics and was appointed to the House of Lords as a cross-bench peer in 2007.

Currently, Prof. Lord Nicholas Stern is IG Patel Professor of Economics and Government at the London School of Economics, Chairman of the Grantham Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, and he heads LSE's India Observatory within the Asia Research Centre.

EIT Executive Committee

Founder and Managing Partner, EMF (Enterprise Management & Finance) Consultancy
Professor/Researcher, Warsaw University of Technology Business School

Dr. Tataj obtained her PhD at the Polish Academy of Sciences, followed by an MBA at the Warsaw University of Technology Business School. She worked as a consultant in an investment banking firm specialising in mergers and acquisitions in media and telecoms before becoming a Director at Copernicus Capital Management, a venture capital fund. Later, within her consulting firm, she led projects under the EU/EBRD SME Finance Facility in the banking sector. In 2004, she co-founded the DIADEM Foundation - an incubator for the Polish Professional Women's Network and the Vital Voices Poland Chapter. In 2006 she was a fellow under the US Department of State/FORTUNE Mentorship Program for Emerging Global Women Business Leaders.

Dr. Tataj is currently a Managing Partner at EMF (Enterprise Management & Finance) and Assistant Professor of management and block coordinator at the Warsaw University of Technology Business School, teaching Organisational Behaviour, Leadership and Change Management.

Head of AutoUni, Volkswagen Group

Dr. Tropschuh obtained his PhD in Engineering at the Munich Technical University, where he was also assistant lecturer (1983-1988). During this time, he simultaneously carried out freelance work in engineering and design offices across Germany. In 1988 he joined Audi, where his appointments have included Senior Supervisor of Interior Engineering and Body Testing, Head of Vehicle Concepts, Head of Development Management, and Head of the Research Projects division. He has also been General Secretary of AUDI AG. Since 2006, Dr. Tropschuh has been the Head of AutoUni at Volkswagen Group.

Dr. Tropschuh is a lecturer at the Munich Technical University and among other memberships and honorary appointments, he is Honorary Senator of Budapest University of Technology and Economics (BME), Member of the advisory board of St. Gallen University (Switzerland), Member of the Senat of GISMA Business School (Hannover), Member of the advisory board of TÜV Süd (Munich), Member of the advisory board of Foundation Lower Saxony (Stiftung Niedersachsen, Hannover), Member of the Curatorium of Foundation New Responsibility (Kuratorium Neue Verantwortung, Berlin), Member of the board of directors of FAT (Forschungsvereinigung Automobiltechnik im VDA, Frankfurt), Member of the advisory board of DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Köln) and Member of the advisory board of Automotive Cluster Bavaria (Automobil Cluster Bayern, Munich).

Former Director, Skype Technologies Ltd
Associate Professor and Member of the Board, Estonian Information Technology College

Mr. Viik obtained an M.Sc. (Information Technology and Informatics) at the Tallinn Technical University and an M.Sc./Postgraduate diploma (International Economy) at the Helsinki University of Technology. Having worked as a management consultant at KPMG (Estonia and London) between 1993-1995 he became Chairman of the Board of the IT company Meediamaa Ltd. (1995-1998) and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Netexpress Ltd. (1998-1999) before becoming Member of the Board of Directors and Head of the Multimedia Department of Levicom Ltd. He was also an advisor to the Prime Minister of Estonia (1999-2001). In 2001 he co-founded Mobi Solutions Ltd. and was Member of the Board there until 2007. In 2004 he founded Keelevara Ltd., of which he is still Chairman of the Supervisory Board.

Mr. Viik was Director of Skype Access at Skype Technologies Ltd. (2007-2009) and since 2000 has been lecturing at the Estonian IT College, where he was made Member of the Board in 2003.

EIT Chairman

Strategic Advisor to the Board of Intercell AG, Chair of the SAB and Co-Founder

Alexander von Gabain obtained his Ph.D. in Genetics at the University of Heidelberg and held a post-doctorate position at the Stanford University. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was Professor at the University of Umeå and at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, as well as an advisor to pharmaceutical and biotech companies. From 1992 to 1998, he was Chair of Microbiology of the University of Vienna at the Campus Vienna Biocenter, Austria and has helped to build the public private partnership of the Vienna Biocenter/IMP. In 1998, he co- founded Intercell AG and led the company as CEO until it was successfully floated on the Vienna Stock Exchange in 2005. From 2005 to 2009, he was Member of the Executive Management Board and CSO of the Company. Since then, he has been serving the Company as strategic advisor and chair of the Scientific Advisory Board.

His research interest is in the field of biomedical research and documented by a large number of publications, book chapters and patents. He is professor of Microbiology at the Max Perutz Laboratories of the University of Vienna, and foreign adjunct professor at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, member of several professional organizations and serves on the boards of biotech enterprises, including TVM Capital, Munich. In 2008, he was appointed to the Governing Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), where he is involved with the innovative entrepreneurship agenda. His achievements have been acknowledged by prestigious industrial awards, academic prizes, honourable memberships, including the Swedish Royal Academy of Engineering Science.

Alexander von Gabain was appointed as an initial member of the EIT’s Governing Board on 30 July 2008; on 15 September 2011 he took up his position as the second EIT Governing Board Chairperson.