I. Working Group on Local Government

Gabor Soos, Political Science Institute of Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary

E-mail: gabor.soos@mtapti.hu

He holds a PhD in Political Science, an MA in Sociology, and an MA in History, edited and co-edited four books on local government in Central and Eastern Europe.

Arto Haveri, University of Tampere, School of Management, Finland

E-mail: atarha@uta.fi

Professor of Local Governance at the School of Management, University of Tampere, Finland. He focuses primarily on local governance and local government management, and most recently on promises and problems of democratic network governance. He also maintains an interest in the problems of administrative reform design and evaluation, particularly in areas of local and regional government and regional development.

II. Working Group on e-Government

Kristina Reinsalu,e-Governance Academy, Estonia

E-mail: kristina.reinsalu@ega.ee

She holds a MPR in Public Relations and a PhD in Media and Communications and is currently Program Director of Local Governments in Estonian e-Governance Academy. She is also part-time researcher and lecturer of social communication in Institute of Media and Communication at University of Tartu. Next to her teaching she has been involved in several local and international research projects focused onthe use of ICT in communication of public institutions, focusing especially on e-participation and tools for implementing it on local level. Her last projects have been Participatory Budgeting in City of Tartu, Interreg IVC financed project - eCitizen II – Towards citizen-centered eGovernment in European cities and regions, Estonian Electors Compass 2011 made for Estonian Parliamentary Elections etc. She has published articles in different international scientific journals as Journal of Baltic Studies; Information Polity : An International Journal of Government and Democracy in the Information Age; Information Technology for Development etc.

Tina Jukic, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
E-mail: tina.jukic@fu.uni-lj.si

She gained her PhD in administrative science at the Faculty of Administration, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Now, she works as Assistant Professor of informatics in public administration at the same faculty; currently, she is also Head of Chair of Organisation and Informatics. As a researcher she is active in the field of e-government; in recent years her research activities are mainly focused on methodologies for the evaluation of e-government policies, programs and projects. She participated in several national and international research and consulting projects, and is (co-) author of several scientific and professional publications.

III. Working Group on Integrity in Public Governance

Patrycja Suwaj, Poland
E-mail: psuwaj@gmail.com

Former Head of the Institute of Administrative Sciences, S. Staszic School of Public Administration in Bialystok, Poland, former Executive Director of the Polish Association for Public Administration Education, Poland, former member of the Accreditation Committee of the European Association of Public Administration Accreditation (EAPAA). She is the author of over one hundred articles and books on public administration, administrative law and conflict of interest.

Hans Joachim Rieger, Director General in DBB Academie GmbH, Germany
E-mail: h.rieger@dbbakademie.de

He is the Director General at the dbb akademie GmbH in Bonn and the Head of the Training Department at dbb akademie Berlin, Germany. His focus of interest lies in public administration reform, training and human resources. He took over the leadership of the Working Group on Civil Service which was announced in 2009. Its aim is to follow cross-country discussions and encourage those from different countries, with different backgrounds, to present and discuss the various models of Human Resources’ (HR), commonalities and differences between CEE states compared to Western countries. In addition to this scientific approach, he would like to continue a practical input and experience exchange for the implementation of selected and precise HR Instruments in different countries and to have a critical analysis of their impact.

IV. Working Group on Public Administration Reform

Veronica Junjan, University of Twente, School of Management and Governance, Enschede, The Netherlands
E-mail:v.junjan@utwente.nl

Assistant Professor at the Department of Public Administration, School of Management and Governance, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands. Her current research focuses on investigating mechanisms and dynamics of public sector reform within the EU governance processes, for instance on consequences of circulatory migration on the provision of social services within EU, and implementation processes. Since 2008 she has been involved as co-Chair in the coordination of the work of, first the Panel, then the Working Group on Public Administration Reform in Central and Easter Europe and Central Asia.

Diana - Camelia Iancu, Faculty of Public Administration, SNSPA, Romania

E-mail:dciancu@snspa.ro, dianaiancu@hotmail.com

Senior lecturer at the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration - SNSPA (Bucharest, Romania). She is currently Dean of the Faculty of Public Administration and manages a Romanian e-network of schools in public administration. She served as consultant on public policy and RIA in projects for OECD and the World Bank. Her research interests include: public administration reform, politicization of civil service and international aid programs focused on administrative capacity building and RIA.

V. Working Group on Regional Development and Inter-regional Cooperation

Alexey Barabashev, Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia

E-mail:abarabashev@hse.ru

Professor at the Research University - Higher School of Economics (Moscow, Russia), where he teaches courses on civil service, including civil service reforms in Russia. His research interests are concentrated in the area of theory of bureaucracy, and applications of the theory towards Russian practical needs, and methodology of reflexive systems. From 2004 to the present he has also served as the President (from 2011) and Dean (2004-2011) of the School of Public Administration and Management, and as the Chair of the Department of Civil and Municipal Service at the Higher School of Economics. Since 1997 he has served as a member of the advisors expert group for public service reform under the Administration of the President of Russia, and as a member of several attestation commissions for federal governmental bodies. He was the Woodrow Wilson (Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies) scholar in 1992 and in 2013, President of the Kennan Russian Alumni Association (1992-1996), and President-elect of the Alumni Association for Russia-US Academic Exchange Programmes (1996-2000).

Patrick Gray, London Metropolitan University, London, UK

E-mail:p.gray@londonmet.ac.uk

Associate Dean at the Faculty of Law, Governance and International Relations at the London Metropolitan University, and previously course director for the Masters in Public Administration (MPA) there. Prior to beginning his academic career, he worked for the Greater London Council and in the policy units of several other local authorities in the UK. He has worked in Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Romania and Ukraine to improve the training of civil servants. His publications include ‘Public Policy Disasters in Western Europe’ (Routledge) and Gray, P (2008) ´International financial institutions and Russia’s civil service reform: international push or domestic pull?´ in Joachim, J, Reinalda, B and Verbeek, B International organizations and implementation Routledge/ECPR pp147-161. He currently leads the teaching team in the final year module ‘International Aid and Development’ at the London Metropolitan University.

VI. Working Group on Public Finance and Public Financial Management

Lucie Sedmihradska, Department of Public Finance, University of Economics, Prague, Czech Republic

E-mail: sedmih@vse.cz

SedmihradskaLucie Sedmihradska is a Lecturer at the Department of Public Finance, University of Economics in Prague. Apart from her teaching she has been involved in several local and international research projects focusing on public budgets, local government finance and inter-municipal cooperation. She has published approximately a dozen journal articles and book chapters.She has been involvedin NISPAcee since 2000, and since 2007 has been one of the coordinators of the WG on Public Sector Finance and Accounting and the WG on Fiscal Policy. She has also edited (co-edited) three books on local government finance issues in transition countries which were the outcome of the activities of the WG on Public Sector Finance and Accounting.

Juraj Nemec, Matej Bel University Banska Bystrica, Slovakia

Professor of Public Finance and Management

E-mail: juraj.nemec@umb.sk

He holds an MBA in Business Administration, a Ph.D. in Public Sector Economics and is Professor of Public Finance and Public Management at the Faculty of Finance of the University in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia, with more than 28 years’ experience in teaching in public sector management and procurement. He published over 300 books and scientific articles in this field and filled several academic posts, including the position of "Dean of the Faculty of Finance". He is one of the top CEE and SEE academic and research people (according to the unofficial scientometric Top 10 ranking). During his academic and professional career he became very experienced in the political and administrative situation in the European integration process and EU enlargement.

VII. Working Group on Public Policy Analysis Development Issues

Lesya Ilchenko-Syuyva, Economic Policy Department, National Academy of Public Administration, Office of the President of Ukraine
E-mail:lesya@rocketmail.com

Associate Professor, Economic Policy Department at the National Academy of Public Administration, Office of the President of Ukraine. She worked as an adviser in policy analysis and financial policy for various technical assistance projects provided by USAID, CIDA, UNDP and participated in training projects provided by Wales University, World Bank etc. in CEE and Balkan countries. She has wide experience in designing and delivering training courses for multi-ethnic groups. She has more than 100 publications which include monographs, articles, and research and policy papers.

Frans Jorna, Associate Professor of Governance, Centre for Urban and Environmental Development, Enschede, Netherlands

E-mail:f.b.a.jorna@saxion.nl

Professor of Governance, Centre for Urban and Environmental Development, Enschede, The Netherlands. His research focuses on urban governance. He is director of the university-wide research programme on Futureproof cities. His own research as Chair of Governance focuses on Open Local Governance: open date, citizen engagement, community led local development, freedom of information, open working and other modes of networked non-bureaucratic public governance.

VIII. Working Group on Public Administration Education

Calin Hintea, Babes-Bolyai University, Department of Public Administration, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

E-mail:calin.hintea@polito.ubbcluj.ro

Professor of Public Management and Strategic Planning and Director of the Public Administration Department, Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Babes Bolyai University, Cluj Napoca, Romania. He is an Adjunct Professor at Michigan State University and a Salzburg Seminar fellow. He is a former Secretary of State, Prime Minister's Office (2008-2010) and a Senior Editor of the Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences.

Roger Hamlin, Michigan State University, East Lansing, USA

E-mail:hamlin@msu.edu

Professor of Urban Planning directs several projects for the Institute for Public Policy and Social Research (IPPSR) at Michigan State U. (MSU) and is Associate Dean for International Programs at Babes-Bolyai U. He was previously Associate Director of IPPSR, Resident Fellow, and Director of International Programs and was Director of the Urban and Regional Planning Program at MSU for eleven years. He also administered the Community Planning Program at Columbus State University in Georgia.He currently directs projects that build governance capacities at the sub-national level in the US and abroad. Dr. Hamlin earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Hamilton College in New York and a Master's and Ph.D. from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University. He has worked for the Senate and the Office of Planning Services of New York and has lived and worked in South America, the Caribbean, Asia and Europe. He has authored several books on public-private partnerships. Professor Hamlin has earned the White House Achievement Award, The Nelson Jack Edwards Award and the Illinois Foundation Award. He has earned national awards from the American Planning Association and the American Institute of Certified Planners. He was a CIC Academic Leadership Fellow.

IX. Working Group on Local Public Policies

Franco Becchis, Turin School of Local Regulation and Saint John International University, Italy

E-mail:franco.becchis@turinschool.eu

He has been the Scientific Director of the Foundation for the Environment since its creation, where he coordinates research programmes on the interaction between economics, energy and the environment and on local public services, as well as capacity building and support activities for local public entities. He is the Scientific Director of the initiative "Turin School of Local Regulation”. He has been contract Professor in Environmental Economics at the Polytechnic of Torino, University of East Piedmont and Saint John International University. His scientific interests and his publications range from public economics to environmental and regulatory economics.

Daniel Klimovsky, Assistant Professor, Public Policy Institute, Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences, Comenius University, Slovak Republic / Department of Political Science and European Studies, Faculty of Arts, Palacky University, Czech Republic

E-mail: daniel.klimovsky@gmail.com

His research and educational activities are focused on public administration as well as political issues linked to sub-national levels. He is the Regional Studies Association Ambassador for Slovakia, member of the Management Committee of the COST IS 1207: Local Public Sector Reforms in Europe led by prof. S. Kuhlmann and prof. Geert Bouckaert. He is main coordinator of the POL-LOC initiative that includes more than 20 universities from 15 European countries. Besides his academic activities‎, he was cooperating with the Social Watch (2008-2011), he became member of the Steering Committee of the Open Society Foundation in Slovakia in 2012, and since 2013 he has been independent/external expert of the Council of Europe. Furthermore he was cooperating with central government in Slovakia as external advisor, and he is member of the Local Development Committee in the City of Kosice. In addition, he has cooperated with the Association of Towns and Communities of Slovakia.

X. Working Group on Transition, Change and Uncertainty

György Gajduschek, Corvinus University, Budapest, Hungary

E-mail:gajduschek@gmail.com

Associate Professor of Public Policy and Administration at Budapest Corvinus University and is a senior research fellow at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Research Centre for Social Sciences. He is also the President of the Public Policy Section of the Hungarian Political Science Association. Ha has published several papers and books both in Hungarian and English – among others – on the civil service system, law and policy making and implementation in Hungary and in the post-communist region.

Eva Zemandl, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary

E-mail:Zemandl_Eva@ceu-budapest.edu

She received her B.A. in International Studies/Economics at Seattle University (USA) and her M.A. in European Public Policy at the University of Kent’s Brussels School of International Studies (Belgium). She is a doctoral candidate at the Central European University in Budapest with the Doctoral School of Political Science, Public Policy and International Relations. Her research focuses on how politicization of public organizations affects actor behavior,organizations, and governance. Her past research includes social policies in European and CEE countries and European Union governance and policy. Her previous experience includes working in the NGO sectors in both Seattle and Brussels in areas such as international trade/business, social and employment policy, and new towns/pilot cities.

XI. Working Group on Islamic Public Administration

Wolfgang Drechsler, Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia

E-mail: wolfgang.drechsler@ttu.ee

Professor and Chair of Governance at the Ragnar Nurkse School of Innovation and Governance (RNS) at Tallinn University of Technology. Honorary Doctorate, Corvinus University of Budapest, 2013. Interests include Public Administration, Technology, and Innovation; Non-Western, especially Chinese and Islamic, Public Administration; e-Governance; Municipal Autonomy; Academic Administration; and Public Management Reform in general.

Rustamjon Urinboyev, Lund University, Sweden

E-mail: rustamjon.urinboyev@soclaw.lu.se

Research Fellow at the Department of Sociology of Law at Lund University, Sweden. Currently a visiting scholar at Cambridge Central Asia Forum, University of Cambridge. Rustamjon has a PhD in sociology of law (2013) from Lund University; his research focuses on law and society, Islamic public administration legacy in Central Asia, legal pluralism, corruption, ethnography of the state with regional focus on Central Asia, and migration governance in post-Soviet societies.

His current (postdoc) research examines the interlinkages between migration and legal cultures in post-Soviet societies, specifically focusing on migration flows from Uzbekistan to Russia and the roles of informal structures and internet in shaping these migratory processes.

Abdillah Noh, Assistant Professor, Tun Abdul Razak School of Government,  Universiti Tun Abdul Razak, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia

E-mail: abdillah@unirazak.edu.my

Assistant Professor/Deputy Dean at the Tun Abdul Razak School of Government,University of Tun Abdul Razak, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He holds a DPhil(Politics) from St Antony's College, University of Oxford. In 2012, he was appointed the Imam Termizi Fellow at Oxford Centre of Islamic Studies, University of Oxford. He has worked on a number of research projects and his main research interest is in public policy, state-building and political economy of Southeast Asian countries, particularly Malaysia. He has published several articles on administrative reforms, various public policy issues and issues on Malaysian politics. He is also the editor for the Journal of Institutions and Economies.