Eleni Zika

Head of Sector for Scientific Impact and Feedback to Policy at the European Research Council

Eleni Zika is the Head of Sector for Scientific Impact and Feedback to Policy at the European Research Council (ERC). Over the last 20 years, Dr. Zika has been active in science policy and strategy development, focusing particularly on innovation, but also in promoting the development of a sustainable circular bioeconomy in Europe. She was the first Head of Programme of the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), a 3.7 billion Euros partnership between the EU and the industry, aiming to sustainably convert biological residues and waste into greener products. She has previously served as Head of Sector for Fundamental Life Sciences at the ERC and in the EU’s Joint Research Centre. Before joining the EU institutions, she was responsible for international policy at the UK Medical Research Council. She is a Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow of the US National Academies and holds a PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.