Adrian Curaj

Adrian Curaj is former Minister of national education and scientific research, Director at the Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding (UEFISCDI).
He is the head of the UNESCO Chair on Science and Innovation Policies at the National University of Political Studies and Public Administration and professor at the Politehnica University of Bucharest.
Adrian Curaj had been working as a consultant for the World Bank, UNESCO, UNIDO, ETF and EC for studies in Tertiary Education, Science and Innovation, and Foresight. He has been actively involved as project leader, country or group leader and expert in many research projects (including FP7, H2020, SEE & INTERREG), and published numerous papers and books, most of them in regard to foresight and higher education, science and innovation policies.
Adrian Curaj is member of the Board of Directors of the U.S. Fulbright Commission in Romania and fellow of the World Academy of Art & Science (WAAS).
He has been at the forefront of developments in Smart Specialization as Europe’s contribution to the new industrial innovation policy, he is one of the co-editors and author of the book published by Elsevier, Advance in Theory and Practice of Smart Specialization.
Professor Curaj is the one of the artisans and a strong promoter of the “Laser Valley – Land of Lights” project, which is about an integrated smart territorial development of the host region, and enabling knowledge, entrepreneurial and commercial spillovers for the pan-European Research infrastructure ELI Nuclear Physics (ELI-NP) in Măgurele city (Romania).