ECIE 2026
21st European Conference on Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Biographies
Below are the ECIE Biographies of the Conference and Programme Chairs, Key Note Speakers and Mini-Track Chairs.
Conference and Programme Chairs
Florinda Matos is a Professor of General Management at ISCTE Business School, ISCTE – University Institute of Lisbon, and an associate research fellow at DINÂMIA’CET – IUL – Centre for Socioeconomic and Territorial Studies, where she leads several international projects, including the CoVE Future Skills Factory. As the editor of several journals and books, she has authored numerous works on knowledge and intellectual capital management, resilience, sustainability, and digital transformation. She is a distinguished conference chair for numerous conferences in the fields of intellectual capital, knowledge management, and innovation. Additionally, she is the Founder and President of ICAA – Intellectual Capital Association and serves as Portugal’s ambassador for The New Club of Paris.
Pedro Sebastião is a Full Professor at ISCTE-IUL and President of AUDAX-ISCTE, leading national and international initiatives in innovation and entrepreneurship. A researcher at the Institute of Telecommunications, his work covers the low-altitude economy, drone and unmanned systems communications, stochastic processes, IoT, and efficient communication systems. He has supervised numerous theses, authored over 200 publications, and led or evaluated more than one hundred R&D projects. He has also developed several postgraduate and doctoral programs, supported technology-transfer initiatives and startup creation, and previously worked in defence industries and at Nokia-Siemens. He holds a PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from IST – University of Lisbon.
Mini Track Chairs
Paul Coyle is the Director of the Entrepreneurial Mindset Network, a global community of practice, with members in 107 countries, and special interest groups for the application of the entrepreneurial mindset in business, education, healthcare and social entrepreneurship. The Network’s vision is that everybody, not just entrepreneurs, can benefit from having an entrepreneurial mindset including employees in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. An entrepreneurial mindset enables each person to make their unique contribution to the world. Paul is an expert in the entrepreneurial mindset, innovation, entrepreneurship, leadership and organisational change.
Marco Lamas holds a Post-Doc in Education (Entrepreneurship), PhD in Education (Entrepreneurship) and Bsc in International Relations. He is Senior Professor at ISLA – Polytechnic University of Management and Technology where he Leads the Business and Innovation LAB (BIL) and is the Director of the master’s degree in management, and the Director of the Postgraduate course in Entrepreneurship: Tech Startups. Marco is also a Researcher, member of CEI and CEOS.PP, both from ISCAP -P.Porto and also member of the Research Centre of ISLA-IPGT. He is a Founder member of SHINE – Scaling Higher Education Innovation for Europe (https://shine-project.eu/).
Dr. Victor (Vik) Pérez, is an educator-researcher-practitioner whose work has shaped the emergence of brain-driven entrepreneurship, integrating neuroscience, technology, innovation, and education. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the forthcoming World Encyclopedia of Neuro-Entrepreneurship (World Scientific Publishing) and is the creator of the WNYLE Method, an award-recognized, brain-based approach to cultivating the entrepreneurial mindset. Dr. Pérez also developed Cognitive Performance Music (CPM), a neuro-algorithmic intervention designed to enhance focus, motivation, and reflective learning. His book Entrepreneurship and Neuroscience: Researching Brain-Driven Entrepreneurship (Routledge) articulates the conceptual foundations of this field, while his forthcoming Mastery of Emotions in Entrepreneurship Education (MEE) (Edward Elgar) explores its affective dimension.He is the founder of the international research networks BRANET and INNOMUSIC Global, which connect scholars and creators advancing this new frontier.
Alexander Matrosov (M.Sc. Tech.) supports early-stage academic entrepreneurial teams by advising, sparring, and coordinating their initial steps toward market-oriented development. His work focuses on helping researchers and entrepreneurial teams identify opportunities, shape preliminary value propositions, and align their activities with realistic commercial pathways. Acting as a mediator between academic groups and industry stakeholders, he facilitates structured experimentation, early customer exploration, and opportunity evaluation. His practical experience across multiple radical innovation cases contributes to understanding how collaborative, cross-sector processes enable entrepreneurial value creation within university–industry ecosystems
Dr. Thao Kim Nguyen is a Lecturer in Management and Director of the International Business Master’s Program at the School of International Business and Marketing. Her research interests include interorganizational relationships, innovation strategies, and sustainable business practices. She has published and presented work on innovation ecosystems, firm innovation, and firm competitiveness development in international contexts
Carlos Miguel Oliveira has a Ph.D. in Management. He is a Coordinating Professor and Director of the School of Management at ISLA – Polytechnic University of Management and Technology. He is editor-in-chief of the Management in Review Journal and a collaborating member of CEOS.PP – Centre for Organisational and Social Studies. In recent years, he has published several articles in journals and conferences. He is a reviewer in some journals in the management area.
Outi-Maaria Palo-oja (D.Sc. Econ. & Bus. Adm.) is Head of the Growth and Commercialisation (GroCo) Research Group at LAB University of Applied Sciences. She specialises in innovation management, research commercialisation, and university–industry collaboration. Her work examines technology transfer, co-creation, and critical sensemaking in innovation ecosystems. With extensive experience in national and international research collaborations, she is an expert in qualitative and interpretive methods. Her recent publications focus on AI in innovation management, science commercialisation, and societal entrepreneurship within academic–industry partnerships