Handover ceremony involving the outgoing Chair, Hasan Mandal, and the new Chair, Óscar García Suárez. Approval of two declarations on the promotion of Open Science and the EELISA Community.
 
PISA, 29 th May 2026. From 18 th to 22 nd May, the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM) hosted the meeting of the Governing Board of EELISA (European Engineering Learning Innovation and Science Alliance), the European university alliance of which the Scuola Normale Superiore is a member. 

Many institutional steps were taken, numerous topics were discussed and the key strategic directions were taken during this occasion, which was attended by around a hundred participants from the various member universities of the European network. There was an address by the Scuola Normale 's two representatives on the Governing Board, its Director Alessandro Schiesaro and Professor Fabio Beltram, and the project manager, Chiara Canneva.

The work sessions focussed on the strengthening of the implementation and long-term sustainability of the Alliance, with the commitment of Rectors, Presidents and Directors of the EELISA universities to achieve a deeper level of institutional integration. In addition, the new Sustainability and Financial Model was also approved, in view of the creation of the future EELISA legal entity, the formal structure of which will continue to be developed over the coming months, leading to the next stage of the Alliance, EELISA 3.0.

The meetings also included the signing of several strategic documents, in particular the EELISA Declaration on Advancing Open Science, in which the governing board committed to the advancement of Open Science through effective research data management, the strengthening of skills, improvement in the fostering of fair and responsible research assessment and the involvement of citizens and society, as well as the Joint Statement on EELISA Communities, which reaffirms the EELISA community as a strategic initiative of the Alliance, the governing board renewing its commitment to strengthening this shared ecosystem. 

During the inaugural day, the outgoing Chair of the Governing Board, the Rector of Istanbul Technical University, Hasan Mandal (November 2025 - April 2026) handed over the chairship to the new Chair, the Rector of UPM Óscar García Suárez (May-October 2026). The day also witnessed the renewal of the mandate of the non-executive President of EELISA, Dale Martin, and the appointment of Christian Lerminiaux, former Director of Chimie ParisTech-PSL and President of ParisTech, as the new EELISA Executive Vice-Chair for Academic affairs,a position that replaces the figure of EELISA Dean of Studies.

The Alliance - whose operations are based on the hub-and-spoke governance model, with 76 active EELISA Communities, over 100 implemented challenge-based activities and the engagement of more than 6,750 students, staff and faculty members - is currently developing six European Degree initiatives, among other actions.